{"id":328072,"date":"2025-12-03T13:43:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/328072\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T13:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:43:18","slug":"michigan-cracks-down-on-u-p-landfill-over-asbestos-violations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/328072\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan cracks down on U.P. landfill over asbestos violations"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESCANABA, MI \u2014 Regulators are cracking down on an Upper Peninsula municipal landfill after inspectors repeatedly found asbestos waste exposed and disturbed without required safety measures.<\/p>\n

In October, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) proposed a $20,000 fine and administrative consent order with the Delta Solid Waste Management Authority after inspectors documented uncovered bags of asbestos-containing waste during several landfill visits dating back to 2022.<\/p>\n

A public comment window on the proposed order ended Nov. 30.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed consent order, the Delta County Landfill, a Type 2 sanitary landfill near Escanaba, must comply with all asbestos handling requirements, submit quarterly cover records and provide advance notice before disturbing any buried asbestos.<\/p>\n

In addition to the proposed fine, the authority could face penalties of up to $5,000 per day if the violations re-occur.<\/p>\n

According to state documents, the state issued multiple violation notices over the past three years and cited a pattern of noncompliance with rules that require asbestos waste to be sealed, buried, and safely managed.<\/p>\n

Asbestos is a naturally occurring carcinogen that is often found in older building materials and demolition debris. Landfilling rules are meant to ensure its fibers can\u2019t dispersed by the wind.<\/p>\n

Starting in late 2022, state inspectors found \u201cinadequate warning signs\u201d for asbestos, areas not being covered as quickly as required and visual checks for dust and fibers that weren\u2019t being properly recorded. An unannounced inspection this July found \u201cbags of asbestos were visible and not covered\u201d in Cell No. 6, according to the report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The landfill also excavated or disturbed previously buried asbestos without the legally required 45-day notice, records show.<\/p>\n

\"AsbestosA July 24, 2025 Michigan EGLE inspection photo shows uncovered asbestos waste bags at the Delta County Landfill.Michigan EGLE<\/p>\n

In written responses to the state, landfill manages argued that the exposure was accidental. According to a 2024 letter from operations manager David Lundquist, employees were grading near the asbestos pit to improve a berm and \u201caccidentally uncovered a couple of bags.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another response said strong winds or animals may \u201cinadvertently uncover bags,\u201d and that staff had been retrained and instructed to document daily cover with photos. Despite those assurances, inspectors found exposed asbestos again this summer.<\/p>\n

In a statement, EGLE spokesperson Josef Greenberg said the order \u201coutlines a compliance program to ensure that asbestos waste received by the landfill is managed in ways to protect the environment and public health\u201d and requires quarterly records to be submitted for agency review. <\/p>\n

Landfill managers did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s proposed enforcement order would remain in effect for at least three years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ESCANABA, MI \u2014 Regulators are cracking down on an Upper Peninsula municipal landfill after inspectors repeatedly found asbestos…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-328072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/328073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}