By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The City of Howell is continuing annual monitoring and sampling of the Lucy Road landfill site.

Back in 2012, the City achieved a no further action designation or NFA from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy or EGLE. That agreement required a long-term monitoring commitment for sampling and maintenance from the City and M.A. Hanna. At its last meeting, the Howell City Council approved a proposal with GHD Engineering of Plymouth to perform the work, which is said to have done an excellent job for the past five years. The City shares the cost with M.A. Hanna, the company that was partially responsible for the contamination in that area.

City Manager Erv Suida commented during the meeting that the NFA plan with EGLE means they are not required to do any additional actions. He said they’ve capped the mound and do monitoring and testing throughout the year, which is required for the next 30 years, and they have to submit annual reports to EGLE that are reviewed and comments are given back.

The proposal submitted from GHD had no increase in the original fee schedule and testing costs from the last approved proposal. However, a new task was added to the scope of work to address a state request for Polyfluoroalkyl Substances or PFAS sampling.

The proposal approved by Council covers the cost of annual monitoring and sampling for an amount not to exceed $33,500, of which the City will be responsible for 40% of those costs.

A memo states that both City staff and M.A. Hanna agree that GHD has been doing an excellent job meeting the NFA requirements while maintaining adequate cost controls and they have been very satisfied with their overall performance.