Source: Detroit Free Press, July 16, 2012
Posted on: http://envfpn.advisen.com
Reduce the smell of decomposing yard waste, or stop composting.
That’s what Clinton Township is hoping a Macomb County Circuit Court judge will order in a lawsuit the township filed against Uni-Dig, a dirt and recycling business on Quinn Road.
“What we’re requesting is public abatement of this nuisance, the stench and things of that sort,” township attorney Charles Towner said.
The complaint, filed July 3, also states that the site — zoned light industrial — does not allow for composting operations under the township ordinance.
It states that Uni-Dig has not requested or received approval to conduct a composting operation by special land use or other appropriate means.
Renee Michaels, manager at Uni-Dig, said she has not been served with the lawsuit and could not comment. Since last year, when complaints started to pour in, Uni-Dig has said that it was doing its best to control any smell from its property and that other companies in the area could be contributing to any odor.
According to the lawsuit, the township has received hundreds of complaints from residents and local businesses of noxious odors emanating from the site.
A few residents have filed civil lawsuits against Uni-Dig seeking class-action status — which attorney Josh Lushnat said was certified June 4 in one of the cases. He said the class-action status is to include residents and businesses within a 3/4-mile radius of Uni-Dig.
“The goal is to bring some relief to the neighborhood,” Lushnat said. “Allow these people to enjoy their residences and not worry about being outside that day and have full access to their property.”
Last year, the township cited Uni-Dig in district court for failing to eliminate the smell. Uni-Dig pleaded no contest to misdemeanor blight, paid an $895 fine and was to abate the odor.
This year, it pleaded no contest to contempt of a court order for not doing so and paid a $300 fine, according to district court records in the township’s lawsuit.
According to the company’s reports included in the lawsuit, Uni-Dig responded to complaints by screening and spraying odor control and not loading trucks.
Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said officials don’t want to shut down Uni-Dig, but want to get compliance. He said in previous years, Uni-Dig could abate the smell if a complaint came in. But, he said, there is more yard waste than before and when the wind blows, the odor spreads.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has cited Uni-Dig for having too much yard waste at its site. Uni-Dig sought a variance to allow more yard waste at the property, where MDEQ has not confirmed odor violations. MDEQ denied the variance request.