WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan has no shortage of landfills, but it does have a shortage of communities willing to host bigger ones.

The Arbor Hills landfill is again eyeing land north of Six Mile Road for expansion—the same direction residents blocked in 2016 after organizing against odor problems and constant truck traffic. 

The proposal is back with renewed community opposition.

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Back then, Republic Services walked away. Now, under new ownership by GFL Environmental, the proposal is back.

Local opposition is already reforming. The Conservancy Initiative, created during the first fight, plans a public meeting Jan. 12 at Northville High School to brief residents on the proposal and the approval process.

GFL says the plan would extend landfill operations onto 90 acres of company-owned land, roughly 400 feet from current activity. The company argues the expansion is needed to keep services running and notes the site includes recycling, composting, and energy capture, with revenue shared with Salem Township.

Groundwater concerns.

Nearby residents dispute the need, arguing the region has decades of remaining landfill capacity and pointing to Arbor Hills’ history of odor violations and groundwater concerns.

State regulators say no expansion permit has been submitted, and the proposed site is not included in Washtenaw County’s waste plan—a required step before any project can move forward.

“I just don’t think that Michigan should be the dumping ground for the Midwest,” Dave Drinan, vice president of the Conservancy Initiative, said.