Northville Township, MI
Home MenuSalem Township Arbor Hills Landfill Information
Landfills Make Lousy Neighbors
By Markus Merin, Ecology Center Environmental Storyteller Fellow
In northeastern Washtenaw County, on the border of Salem and Northville Townships, sits Arbor Hills landfill. Active since the 1970s as a gravel pit, Arbor Hills has functioned as one of Michigan’s 60-plus landfill sites for decades. More than 50 years after its creation, Arbor Hills is running out of space and is looking for an expansion. Northville residents are not pleased.
A Lousy Neighbor
“The problem you hear about always is the odor,” says David Drinan, Vice President of the Conservancy Initiative, a Northville-based organization opposed to the expansion of Arbor Hills. Based on tracking by the Conservancy Initiative, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has received hundreds of complaints about the Arbor Hills site just in the last six months. Arbor Hills Landfill has been a nuisance to the community of Northville for years. Since 2020, Arbor Hills has been owned and operated by GFL Environmental, a Canadian waste management firm. Since 2016, Arbor Hills has been hit with more than $1 million in fines under multiple owners, including a $355,109 EGLE settlement for failing to contain noxious odors. The agreement also required the landfill to invest millions in monitoring equipment and tree planting. Unfortunately, these measures have not prevented the continued uptick in landfill odor complaints since the acquisition in 2020. Locals have every reason to fear the continuation of these problems — odors from landfills are more than disgusting. The leading causes of landfill odors, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, are linked to chronic headaches, irritation of the respiratory system, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Observational studies also indicate that chronic exposure to landfill gas can lead to increased rates of lung cancer.
Beyond issues with the smell are fears of pollution and the health risks associated with waste. Arbor Hills Landfill was identified as a PFAS site by the state of Michigan in 2019, and subsequent research by independent organizations like Ecology Center and its allies has shown the problem goes beyond the waste site itself. Thanks to help from Great Lakes PFAS Action Network in 2023, members of the Northville community discovered that the forever chemical PFOS was present in nearby Johnson Creek at levels several times higher than official safety standards. PFOS is known to cause pregnancy complications, thyroid disorders, and liver cancer. Local fish also tested positive for PFAS contamination, raising concerns about wildlife preservation and health risks for fishers in the area.
While Northville residents are expected to endure the difficulties of life next to an active landfill, they are unable to reap any financial benefits, as proceeds generated accrue only to the host county of Washtenaw and the township of Salem, directly across the border from Northville. Similarly, Northville residents alone are powerless to vote directly against the expansion. This is a common problem with landfills — such undesirable industries are placed at the border between one municipality and another, minimizing the host municipality’s negative consequences while exposing those externalities to another community. Northville residents are not alone in suffering from landfill-related pollution. Many residents of the rural community of Salem use well water in their homes, raising possible concerns about PFAS contamination that are likely to increase with a larger site.
The Landfill Economy
Arbor Hills is a pollution hazard for the communities that live near it, but its expansion threatens to worsen a much bigger issue facing our state. Michigan is a state filled to the brim with landfills, afflicted with a surplus going back decades. According to a 2025 study by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, Michigan has 23 years’ worth of landfill space left, and right now, Arbor Hills is not the only landfill in Southeast Michigan looking to expand. A similar project is under consideration at Pine Tree Acres landfill in Macomb County, while the expansion of Woodland Meadows landfill in Wayne County is already underway.
Much of the landfill waste coming to Arbor Hills is coming from far away. More than 20% of waste dumped in Michigan landfills comes from out-of-state, a large portion of it from our neighbors in Canada. “In 2020,” Drinon says, “when we couldn’t cross the border into Canada, when Canadians couldn’t cross the border and come here, the trash was still coming in like always.” This booming import of waste is the direct result of the extremely low waste disposal charges in Michigan compared to other Midwestern states. Those extremely low charges are a direct result of Michigan’s enormous landfill oversupply.
Beyond the Landfill Economy
Do we want a state economy built on waste? Michigan currently aims to increase its amount of recycled waste from 26% to 30% by 2030 as part of its sustainable development goals. Still, corporate insistence on maintaining the state’s artificially high landfill capacity can get in the way of this achievement, which will almost certainly make further progress towards its long-term goal of 45% more difficult. Michigan’s consistent approval of landfill construction and expansion has created a regionally anomalous overcapacity, which can only be maintained at the expense of investment in waste recycling. Just as cheap oil reproduces dependence on oil and hampers the development of renewable energy, cheap dumping of trash reproduces dependence on landfills.
Michigan can instead choose to support investment in the recycling industry rather than landfills, making recycling an even more economically competitive option in the long run. The Arbor Hills expansion is expected to remain in operation for up to 50 years. The externalized cost may be the health of Southeast Michigan’s ecosystem and the well-being of locals in Washtenaw and Northville counties. The expansion of Arbor Hills reproduces this economy of perverse incentives and restricts the willingness to invest in waste reduction technology and infrastructure.
This is not the first time Southeast Michigan has had to reckon with a leaky landfill. In the 1980s, Ann Arbor, with the support of the Ecology Center, engineered a massive expansion of its recycling system in response to its dangerously full and out-of-compliance municipal landfill. The greater development of recycling infrastructure is one part of the shift towards a zero-waste economy, alongside reductions in solid waste and the infrastructure that enables it. In March of 2026, four state legislators proposed a bill to the Michigan Senate. SB 818 would make it more difficult to expand landfill sites like Arbor Hills by banning landfill construction within one mile of an existing dwelling. In a best-case scenario, new impediments to landfill construction and expansion could reset the state’s relationship between waste creation, recycling, and reduction.
Opposition to landfill expansion goes beyond the concerns of locals, who themselves deserve a clean township. The expansion of these landfills will lock Southeast Michigan into a cycle of cheap waste and high environmental tolls for decades. Michigan does not need to be a garbage dump for the Midwest. If the people of Michigan want a healthy environment and a green future for the state, preventing the growth of the state’s landfill surplus is a necessity.
Sources Cited:
Aghion, Philippe et al. “Path dependence, innovation and the economics of climate change.” Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. November 2014.
Conservancy Initiative website
Conservancy Initiative. “January 2026 Odor Nuisance Charts.”
James, Janelle D. “Michigan recycling rate hits high. Bottle law critics say it could go higher.” Bridge Michigan, April 22, 2026.
Mataloni, F et. al. “Morbidity and mortality of people who live close to municipal waste landfills: a multisite cohort study.” International Journal of Epidemiology. 2016 Jun;45(3):806-15.
Meerschaert, Kevin. “Michigan Senate Bill could kill Arbor Hills expansion.” WEMU, March 6, 2026.
Michigan Department of Attorney General. “AG Nessel, EGLE Reach Settlement with Arbor Hills Landfill,” March 10, 2022.
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “By the Numbers: Michigan on track to reach 30% recycling rate by 2029.” January 08, 2026.
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. “Report of Solid Waste Landfilled in Michigan. Report Period: 2025.” Legislative Report.
New York State Department of Health. “Important Things to Know About Landfill Gas.”
To learn more, visit the Ecology Center.
Ridge Wood Air Monitoring
To learn more about the air monitoring system installed at Ridge Wood Elementary including monitoring current and previous data reports, visit the GLF website.
- May Letter to Attorney General and Community Leaders - The Conservancy Initiative
- EGLE November 2019 - March 2020 Summary of Actions
- EGLE information on Michigan PFAS Action Response Team - (3/31)
Recent Violation Updates
- Violation Notice (ADS) – April 16, 2020
- Violation Notice (ADS) – March 18, 2020
- Violation Notice (Fortistar) – March 3, 2020
- Violation Notice (ADS) – February 27, 2020
Introduction
Residents of Northville Township have experienced ongoing odors from Arbor Hills Landfill, located in Salem Township, since December of 2015. The Township, on behalf of and with the assistance of, its residents is pursuing solutions to the following problems: (1) a proposed landfill expansion, (2) continuing release of noxious odors, including garbage, compost, and gases, and (3) hazardous heavy truck traffic. These efforts include seeking relief from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) formerly the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Wayne and Washtenaw Counties, and our State Senators and Representatives. The Conservancy Initiative is also working with the township and providing information to our residents through its website at conservancyinitiative.org.
Invasive Odors
The Arbor Hills Landfill currently emits gas, garbage and compost odors, which travel beyond the perimeter of the landfill into nearby residential subdivisions. The frequency, severity and duration of the odors continues to impact Township residents. It is important that residents promptly and accurately report these odors so actions against the landfill can be pursued by the EPA and EGLE.
How to Report Odor Issues
The Township recommends that residents file reports in one of the following ways:
- Contact EGLE directly at 800-662-9278 or fill in their online odor complaint form
- File an odor complaint with the Conservancy Initiative
The Conservancy Initiative is a 501.c.3 organization, dedicated to organizing, informing and assisting residents in addressing the problems created by Arbor Hills Landfill. - Contact Arbor Hills directly at 248-305-8432 or fill in their online odor complaint form
Agency Enforcement Notices
United States EPA – Violation notices issued September 29, 2016, Administrative Consent Order entered May 4, 2017, and consent agreement and final order (BFI) entered September 28, 2018. Documents are posted on the EGLE website under the heading EPA Enforcement Actions.
EGLE – Violation notices dated issued February 2, 2016, March 15, 2016, April 29, 2016, November 8, 2016, December 14, 2016, February 6, 2018, August 31, 2018, October 12, 2018. The documents are posted on the EGLE website under the heading DEQ Enforcement Actions.
The EGLE website has additional updates and new information.
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