LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) —Thanks to strong local objection, Wayne County succeeded in diverting about 6,000 cubic yards of low‑level radioactive soil and concrete to a facility in Texas. 

On July 23, County Executive Warren Evans confirmed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will reroute the material to Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas, instead of landing it at Wayne Disposal.

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Wayne Disposal Inc. in Van Buren Township stands out as one of only five sites nationwide—and the sole facility east of the Mississippi—vetted by the Army Corps’ Radiation Safety Support Team to process Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM).

The waste originates from the Manhattan Project’s Niagara Falls Storage Site in western New York, a World War II‑era uranium processing and storage hub now under federal remediation.

“Although I certainly do not envy the community that will receive this waste,” Evans said in a statement, according to The Detroit News, “it was my job to fight for the people of Wayne County and that’s what I did to the best of my ability.”

Andrew Kornacki, public affairs officer for the Corps’ Buffalo District, confirmed shipments began the week of July 14 and emphasized that the change ensures “the safe and timely remediation of the site.” He noted that cleanup debris from the Harshaw Chemical Company facility in Cleveland and the Luckey site in Ohio will still head to Wayne Disposal.

Residents laid out their objections at a September town hall at Wayne County Community College District. “I understand there has to be a place to put this stuff, but why aren’t we talking about Montana, or the desert?” Van Buren Township’s Susan Stauch asked. 

As of last fall, Wayne Disposal had already handled waste from five other Manhattan Project cleanup locations.