Northville Township residents showed up in force Wednesday, Aug. 19, to oppose GFL Environmental's plan to expand the Arbor Hills Landfill onto 90 acres in neighboring Salem Township, telling a Washtenaw County committee the expansion would bring more pollution dangerously close to homes, parks and Ridge Wood Elementary School.
The Washtenaw County Materials Management Planning Committee, which will recommend whether to include the expansion in the county's 10-year waste plan, expects to vote in December. A GFL presenter scheduled for the Aug. 19 meeting did not appear; the company is now expected to present Sept. 9, according to WXYZ.
GFL did not respond to WXYZ's request for comment.
"We already have this facility near a park and near a school, elementary school, so I'm just concerned that we may be getting too much of the pollution, the air, the effect on the environment," Northville Township resident Thomas Jones told the committee.
Trisha Kunst, also of Northville Township, said all residents within a mile of the landfill are concerned about their families' safety. Jones added that he was disappointed GFL's presenter failed to show.
Leslie Evans, a Northville Township resident who leads the nonprofit The Conservancy Initiative, has spent months organizing neighbors to participate in the county process. Evans told the committee that residents near the landfill cannot believe GFL would propose a second facility that could operate 30 years or more, leaving the community to deal with environmental consequences long after the company moves on.
Township already on record
The opposition is not new. On Jan. 15, the Northville Township Board of Trustees voted 6-0 to approve Resolution 2026-002 opposing the new landfill, with Treasurer Rhines absent. Trustee Roland Hwang serves on the county planning committee itself, and David Drinan of The Conservancy Initiative sits as an ex-officio member.
The township also maintains a standing Landfill Working Committee that has reported to the board throughout 2025 and 2026.
GFL's PFAS violation history
Residents' concerns extend beyond the expansion footprint. The Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority issued notices of violation to GFL on Nov. 11, 2025, and Jan. 30, 2026, for exceeding PFAS and arsenic limits in its leachate discharge permit, according to The Conservancy Initiative. GFL signed a consent order with YCUA on Jan. 5, 2026, giving the company until Dec. 31, 2026, to meet permit limits.
Then on March 25, a GFL operator intentionally bypassed the facility's PFAS pretreatment system for four hours, releasing untreated leachate into the Northville Township sanitary sewer with PFOS levels of 18,000 nanograms per liter, more than 100 times the 170 ng/l allowable limit, according to documents obtained by The Conservancy Initiative.
Approximately 100,000 gallons of leachate per day flows from Arbor Hills into the township's sewer system, according to the nonprofit.
What happens next
The approval path is long. After the committee's December vote, Washtenaw County commissioners must approve the materials management plan. Two-thirds of Washtenaw County's municipalities must then sign off before GFL can formally apply to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy for an expansion permit.
The committee's next meeting is Sept. 9, when GFL is expected to present its case. Residents can attend or monitor the committee's public schedule through Washtenaw County.
