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By Scott Bolthouse | The Huron Hub
ScottBolthouse@HuronHub.com
Published April 16, 2020

Republic Services will host a virtual community meeting on April 20 at 5 p.m. to discuss their recent title transfer at the deep injection well on Citrin Drive in Romulus.

The meeting is at the request of the city of Romulus “to ensure residents have their voices heard,” a statement from the city said.

“Our primary responsibility is to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Romulus. While the City of Romulus has always voiced its strong objections to the operation of any Hazardous Waste Injection Wells in the city, the State several years ago, over those objections, granted a permit to operate the well on Citrin Drive, and in September, approved the transfer of the license. My team has been working hard for months to ensure the people of Romulus have the opportunity to participate in a public meeting on the deep injection well and we are pleased Republic is accommodating this request,” Romulus Mayor LeRoy Burcroff said.

“Though current circumstances have caused this change in meeting format, we think it is still vitally important to give the public the opportunity to be engaged with this process. Republic has made significant safety improvements to the facility and we look forward to hearing more about their operations during the meeting,” he said.

According to a statement, in September 2019, Burcroff and the city’s executive team met with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE) to voice concerns over the transfer of the license for the deep injection well to Republic Services.

During that time, the city requested a public hearing prior to any transfer happening.

The request for transfer was approved by EGLE before a hearing could take place, the city said.

“Though the transfer of the license was considered a minor modification to the permit and does not require public input under current statute, the city continued to urge EGLE, the Governor’s office and Republic to host a public hearing prior to the onset of operations of the facility,” the city’s statement said. “Next week’s public virtual community meeting is a result of the city’s efforts to ensure transparency and accurate information is provided to residents and establish a channel for public input on the issue.”

You can join the virtual community meeting next week by visiting bigmarker.com/detroit-industrial-well/Detroit-Industrial-Well

Those with questions or concerns should call (734) 946-1000 or visit DetroitIndustrialWell.com.

The well’s location in Romulus:

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