August 30, 2024

Honorable Michael S. Regan, Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Steven A. Pylypiak, P.E.
Chief, Special Projects Branch (Environmental Remediation & Interagency Support)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District
1776 Niagara St, Buffalo, NY 14207

Dear Administrator Regan and Chief Pylypiak:

As the state-elected representative for Michigan House District 31, covering the counties of Lenawee, Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne, and Van Buren Township, I am extremely concerned about recent reports of a plan that will transport elevated radioactive waste from the state of New York to the Wayne Disposal facility in Van Buren Township.

As I am sure you are fully aware, the plan calls for the transport of 6,000 cubic yards of soil and concrete and 4,000 gallons of groundwater contaminated with elevated radiation from a site in New York where the Manhattan Project developed the atomic bomb during World War II. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has oversight over this project. It is unacceptable that this waste will navigate through Michigan’s public roads and highways and be deposited in our community.

Radioactive waste could be harmful to the citizens of my district and could have a potentially harmful impact on Michigan’s great lakes. I am calling for bold action to protect our communities and our fresh water from potential contamination, and we must do this by looking for waste disposal sites of these materials that are far from the Great Lakes and populated areas. This is essential to advancing EPA’s environmental justice priorities, as predominantly lower-income communities and communities of color suffer the brunt of toxic waste disposal and area contamination.

While recognizing that waste management in the United States remains primarily a function of state and local regulation, Congress has long provided that “the problems of waste disposal” represent “a matter national in scope and in concern,” necessitating federal action according to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 U.S.C. § 1002(a)(4) and other federal laws.

Under the RCRA, it is the EPA that is authorized and provides funding to states to conduct RCRA programs, including programs for issuing permits for the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes. You can help in identifying, constructing, and monitoring sites that pose no threat to the nation’s largest supply of fresh water and dense urban populations. The EPA also exercises federal authority under RCRA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 et seq., and other federal laws to ensure the protection of human health and the environment through responses to contaminated sites.

Furthermore, states are severely challenged when attempting to unilaterally limit or tax hazardous waste transported from out of state, based on decisions handed down by the United States Supreme Court that make doing so impossible.

However, responsible parties conducting cleanups at sites send hazardous and/or radioactive waste to facilities permitted to receive them by EPA or a state under an authorized RCRA hazardous and/or radioactive waste program. These facilities must also be on EPA’s list of facilities qualified to receive the waste materials under the EPA’s Off-Site Rule. 40 C.F.R. § 300.440. Thus, other facilities around the country can receive and dispose of the waste being removed from the Manhattan Project site. My communities and my state are not the only options.

For the health and safety of the residents of my district and all Michiganders, I request that you immediately stop the delivery of this radioactive waste to my communities and my state.

I look forward to discussing this matter further with both of you.

Thank you for your prompt attention.

State Representative Reggie Miller
Michigan’s 31st House District