Tri-City Record: Orchard Hill Sanitary Landfill responds to detractors and offers insights

This article was original published in the October 29, 2015 edition of the Tri-City Record.

Since 1976, Orchard Hill Sanitary Landfill has been meeting an important need in southwest Michigan: Providing a safe, reliable, and cost-effective place to dispose of the solid waste generated in this area.

“Meeting this need is an important responsibility that we take very seriously,” said Chris Phillips, Public Relations and Compliance Representative for Best Way Disposal & Landfill Management Co “In the past, solid waste ­­­­­­­– from food scraps to orchard byproducts to sofas and more – was often dumped in a hole in the ground with no regard for the environmental impact this would have. Often these improperly managed dump sites would catch on fire. Aquifers were polluted. Rivers carried contaminants downstream.

These sorts of problems have never occurred at Orchard Hill Sanitary Landfill, which is owned by Landfill Management Co. It was sited wisely and expertly engineered, and has been carefully operated and tightly regulated according to the landfill’s officials.

Virtually every aspect of a landfill operation is subject to a thick set of state and federal rules and regulations. State regulators can arrive without warning to examine records and operations to ensure compliance with these rules.

Some of the things regulators will look for include water that is ponding, inadequate fencing, materials blowing off the premises and evidence of improper materials entering the landfill.

They have the power to issue hefty fines – and an even issue an order closing the landfill immediately and indefinitely of they believe conditions warrant it.

At Orchard Hill, state regulators have conducted 36 evaluations of the land fill since 2008. Only once since then have regulators found an issue of concern that was elevated to a violation. The regulators determined that waste was not being adequately covered on the working face of the landfill.

The landfill took immediate corrective action and paid a $4,500 fine. According to Phillips, covering waste is a normal part of the daily process at the facility. It’s smart. It’s not that difficult. However, an error was made that day.

They took immediate steps to fix the problem and to ensure it would not happen again. After Orchard Hill took corrective action, the regulators again came to inspect the landfill and found it to be back in compliance.

“We are proud of our compliance record,’ said Phillips. “We do not want to be in violation of any regulation. In addition to our compliance efforts, we have worked hard to limit any negative impact on the community by purchasing neighboring properties and taking measures to limit truck traffic on local roads.”

Those at Orchard Hill Landfill believe the facility is, in fact, an asset to the region. Places without easy access to properly run landfills end up with much higher disposal costs and roadside dumping.

Another way the landfill directly benefits the community is by being a sustainable energy source. They’ve invested in a system that captures naturally occurring landfill gas and converts that gas into energy for use in the area. This system also has the benefit of minimizing odors.

“Part of our company’s philosophy, which we instruct all of our employees on, is that part of their job is to make community members’ jobs and lives easier,” said Phillips. We train our divers to take care and respect the neighborhood and businesses they serve. We train our equipment operators at the landfill to meet and even exceed regulatory requirements. We expect everyone who is a part of our organization to abide by this philosophy.”

According to Phillips, Orchard Hill Sanitary Landfill also takes pride in giving back to the community. Phillips shared that they’ve helped build baseball diamonds just west of the landfill and worked with Berrien County Sheriff’s Department to provide a shooting range location so that law enforcement officials are well trained and can protect the community.

That’s why those who operate the landfills are perplexed by some recent complaints about their operation – some made by people living far away from the landfill.

Those who run the facility know landfills can carry a negative stigma. They are, after all, where our society dumps what it doesn’t want. People usually don’t want to live near a landfill.

“But our business has been here for many years,” said Phillips. “We are following the state’s laws and regulations today, just as we always have. We are operating this facility in the most responsible way possible.”

According to landfill operators, they feel perhaps it’s their newer neighbors that take issues with the landfill’s presence. Most of the surrounding property used to be farmland.

Farmers understand their neighbors may not care for certain aspects of their operations. They know sometimes in the spring, spreading fertilizer can be an odiferous matter. They know in the fall, their harvest equipment will delay traffic. They know that when you make wine or cider, you are left with tons of waste that needs to be disposed of.

In recent years, however, there’s been a recent development of more tourist-oriented farm operation on our borders. And some people have built homes within sight of the landfill, and then seem surprised to find it nearby, according to Phillips.

Those at Orchard Hill Sanitary Landfill welcome these neighbors, and welcome the chance to serve everyone in the community. A modern society needs clean, properly engineered, safe places to dispose of its waste.

Phillips feels Orchard Hill has been that place in the community for 40 years and has an excellent compliance record to back it up.

“We make this offer to this offer to the people of the community: If you have any concerns about how we are operating our landfill or how it is affecting you, please give us a call at 269-463-5588.

We want to know of any issues so we can address them as quickly as possible, or explain to you what is happening. We’ve been a good neighbor for 40 years, and we intend to continue that tradition in the years to come.”