Melvindale resident Anne Marschner (second from left) asks Wayne County Commissioner Cara Clemente (fifth from left) about preventing toxic waste dumping in Michigan during the March 1 Melvindale City Council meeting, as Councilmembers Dawn Cartrette (left) and Stan Filipowski, City Clerk Linda Land and City Attorney Larry Coogan listen.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Wayne County Commissioner Cara Clemente (D-4th District) answered residents’ questions about how out-of-state toxic waste can be kept out of the area during the March 1 City Council meeting.
Clemente represents Melvindale, Lincoln Park, Ecorse and part of Detroit on the Wayne County Commission.
She addressed residents’ concerned after it was recently learned that a Romulus site received hazardous waste from an Ohio train derailment.
Clemente said she expects the topic to be discussed repeatedly among Wayne County commissioners.
She said there are many federal regulations with which they must contend.
“By law, they don’t really have to tell us it’s coming, so that’s where some changes might be made,” Clemente said. “But that’s all in the works right now.”
She said the toxic waste in deep injection wells and the downed powerlines from the recent ice storms were the hottest topics for the commission right now.
Clemente said that, while the toxic waste from the train wreck was no longer being brought to a local site, there are currently no laws in place to prevent future toxic waste from being brought to southeast Michigan for disposal, because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency and the federal government.
City Attorney Lawrence Coogan said federally licensed facilities can accept toxic waste.
“The state of Michigan can make laws that are more stringent, but you are looking at potential lawsuits for interfering with interstate commerce when a private organization is getting waste from somebody,” he said. “So, ultimately, Congress does have authority and the state or the county doesn’t have that much authority. Neither does the municipality in Romulus.”
Coogan recommended activism as a way to effect change, and recalled how, in the past, people prevented hazardous waste from being stored in the area salt mines.
“Ultimately, community involvement, picketing and doing those things will generate public interest in it,” he said.
Clemente agreed on the important role of activism.
“You can’t just tell your neighbor — you have to be a little more vocal,” she said.