A Van Buren Township landfill is barred from accepting shipments of radioactive waste from Manhattan Project-era sites, a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Kevin Cox’s order, issued following a February bench trial, sides with Wayne County and communities that sued Wayne Disposal by making an Aug. 6, 2025 preliminary injunction permanent.
The injunction bars the shipments of elevated radiation waste from sites managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Wayne Disposal. The hazardous waste facility is owned by Republic Services.
The harms from the waste are long-lasting or permanent and cannot be offset with monetary damages, and monitoring and engineering controls at the landfill are insufficient, Cox said.
“Acceptance of any additional FUSRAP TENORM at the WDI Landfill facility would unreasonably interfere with rights common to the public and therefore constitutes a public nuisance,” Cox wrote, referring to elevated radiation waste, known as TENORM, from Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP) sites managed by the Army Corps.
