Northville Township residents packed a meeting this week to oppose a proposed expansion of the Arbor Hills Landfill, telling Washtenaw County officials they no longer trust assurances from the company that runs the site just west of their community. Wednesday's meeting produced plenty of frustration but no decisions, leaving the fate of the 90-acre expansion proposal unresolved.
The landfill, operated by GFL Environmental, sits just west of Northville Township, and residents who spoke at the meeting say they've already watched the site grow well beyond what they were once told to expect. As reported by CBS News Detroit, resident Trisha Kunst said the landfill is now twice as tall because a prior expansion was approved. Leslie Evans, another resident, said homes are already close to the landfill and that even more homes would be close to the newly proposed expansion.
That skepticism runs through much of the opposition. Leah Michels called for a third-party examination of whether GFL is complying with existing requirements and whether the expansion is even necessary, while Karen Kilar pointed to the site's track record, saying past actions at the landfill have produced pollution. The station's report notes that Northville Township residents broadly distrust promises made by Arbor Hills and GFL.
A Landfill Straddling Two Counties, With Only One Side Cashing In
Much of the tension traces back to a geographic and financial split that predates this week's meeting. Arbor Hills sits in Salem Township, within Washtenaw County, where the landfill generates more than $1 million annually in county revenue and host fees substantial enough that Salem's roughly 10,000 residents pay no local property taxes while the township maintains a $27 million municipal reserve fund, according to the Ann Arbor Observer. Northville Township, across the county line in Wayne County, receives none of that money even though it absorbs the odors carried by prevailing winds.
GFL's proposal would add 90 acres to the site north of Six Mile Road, an expansion the company estimates would extend the landfill's operational life by 11 years. The Observer reports that current capacity is expected to run out in under six years, around 2032, and that Arbor Hills processed 1.88 million tons of waste in 2025, making it the fourth-largest landfill by volume in Michigan.
Does Michigan Even Need the Extra Capacity?
Washtenaw County leaders are weighing that scale-up against a broader question: whether the region needs the space at all, and whether reducing materials sent to landfills could ease the pressure instead. Joe Ohren, who chairs the county's Materials Management Planning Committee, said some waste will inevitably end up in a landfill, so the real issue is determining where it goes, per CBS Detroit.
State figures complicate GFL's urgency argument. Michigan's 65 active landfills disposed of more than 22.6 million tons of solid waste in 2025, a 6.35 percent drop from 2024, and the state holds roughly 23 years of remaining landfill capacity without any new expansions, the Observer reported, citing state regulatory data. That statewide cushion is part of why critics question whether Arbor Hills' six-year runway justifies a bigger footprint next to residential neighborhoods.
A History of Enforcement and Contamination Concerns
Resident distrust didn't emerge overnight. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the state's environmental regulator finalized a $2.3 million settlement with Arbor Hills in March 2022 to resolve a 2020 enforcement lawsuit, according to Northville Township. That settlement required a $355,109 civil fine, a $799,200 perimeter air monitoring system, free hazardous waste disposal for Northville residents, and a $100,000 tree buffer.
Separately, the adjacent landfill gas-to-energy facility, operated by Arbor Hills Energy LLC, agreed in September 2021 to pay a $750,000 civil penalty and implement major emission reductions under a Clean Air Act settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the EPA, and the State of Michigan over excess sulfur dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Water contamination has also drawn scrutiny: community group The Conservancy Initiative detected PFOS concentrations between 49 and 54 ng/L in a tributary to Johnson Creek, Wayne County's only cold-water trout stream, exceeding Michigan's 12 ng/L surface water quality standard, with firefighting foam used during a 2016 landfill fire identified as a primary contamination source.
A Legislative Wildcard and a Long Road Ahead
The fight could still be decided in Lansing before it reaches a county vote. Michigan state senators introduced Senate Bill 818 in March 2026, which would amend state environmental law to prohibit constructing or expanding landfills within one mile of any existing residential dwelling, according to MichiganVotes.
Arbor Hills has already weathered one abandoned expansion effort. The landfill began as a gravel pit in the 1970s, and previous owner Advanced Disposal Services dropped a planned expansion in 2016 following public backlash before GFL Environmental acquired the site in October 2020, the Observer reported. Washtenaw County officials estimate a final decision from the county Board of Commissioners is still 12 to 18 months away, with the Materials Management Planning Committee continuing formal reviews through the end of 2026. Washtenaw County leaders also plan to hold further discussions on collecting landfill revenue before a meeting on November 18, according to CBS Detroit.
