VAN BUREN CHARTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Work is underway at the Niagara Falls Storage Site in Lewiston to remove approximately 8,400 tons of radioactive material.
As we previously reported, the 191-acre site has had Manhattan Project-era waste stored there since the late 1940's.
Phase 1 of contamination removal began several weeks ago at the site, and shipments of that material to a disposal facility in Van Buren Township, Michigan are set to begin on September 25.
But lawmakers and residents in Van Buren Township are upset that they weren't notified about the shipments until August 12, after the decisions were made.
"I'm willing to do what it takes to protect our community and our state," said Representative Reggie Miller. "The bill that I submitted will ban radioactive waste in Michigan."
Michigan State Representative Reggie Miller introduced the bill on Wednesday seeking to ban, as she said, all radioactive material from Michigan, that includes the shipments of from Lewiston. Rep. Miller also proposed a bill to significantly increase the fees charged to trucking companies for transporting material.
"We're sending a message that hazardous waste is not welcome here in Michigan," Rep Miller said.
Van Buren Township is home to one of five facilities in the United States that are licensed to accept the material. The other facilities are located in Idaho, Texas, and Utah.
Rep. Miller said she modeled her bill off of a "New York bill and they are banning this. They won't even allow low-level radioactive waste to be placed in New York."
That isn't true. A spokesperson for Governor Hochul's office confirmed no such law is on the books in the state.
There are also numerous storage sites throughout New York State, including a landfill in the Town of Tonawanda that contains low-level radioactive waste.
The closest thing to a radioactive waste ban is the Save the Hudson bill signed by Governor Hochul in 2023. That bill prohibits any potentially radioactive wastewater from being discharged into the Hudson River.
Army Corps Response
Work at the Niagara Falls Storage Site has been underway since mid-August.
According to published plans for the removal of the waste, 25 truckloads of material will be removed from the site per week beginning on September 25.
The work, and shipments, are expected to finish by the end of January 2025.
Why was Van Buren Township selected?
"As part of our process for these types of projects, we seek to find where there are permitted disposal facilities," said Steve Pylypiak, chief of special projects for the Buffalo District of the Army Corps of Engineers. "Wayne disposal being one of them."
Plylpiak says that the other sites that can accept this material can also accept material with higher radioactivity than what is currently being sent from Lewiston.
"Those we don't tend to go to unless we are sending that," Plylpiak said. "We're trying to minimize and keep that capacity for the higher level waste."
When the second phase of removal begins, everything under the clay cap on the NFSS property, that material will likely be shipped to Texas.
Plylpiak confirmed that the Army Corps didn't notify Van Buren Township and other officials until August 12, but said there are assurances that all federally mandated safety protocols will be met.
"We periodically inspect and audit disposal facilities to ensure that safety standards are met," Plylpiak said. "That Wayne disposal facility was audited by the Corps in 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2022."
Plylpiak says that the contractors shipping the material will follow all mandated federal DOT guidelines for transporting radioactive waste.