IRON MOUNTAIN — A proposal that allows a private landfill in Breitung Township to continue to accept waste sludge from a Menominee pulp mill is moving forward, drawing far less controversy than when a request was first made in 2019.

Dickinson County Board heard no objections during a public hearing Monday, which likely means commissioners will approve the Solid Waste Management Plan amendment when they meet Friday afternoon. The session is set for 1 p.m. at the correctional center conference room, mainly to discuss parks.

Under an agreement with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, Resolute Forest Products has relied for more than three years on the Niagara Development landfill off Kimberly Road for sludge disposal as needed. The company mainly uses agricultural land spreading to divert the waste and there are limited commercial uses, such as cat litter. When there is an excess, EGLE has permitted mixing the sludge with foundry sand to fill Niagara Development lagoons.

The plan amendment would allow that use to continue, along with direct landfilling when foundry sand is unavailable, said Tony Edlebeck, chairman of the Dickinson County Solid Waste Management Planning Committee.

Edlebeck updated the county board on the amendment process Monday, two weeks after Paul Killian of GEI Consultants told the board the request doesn’t alter the amount of materials or change the number trucks coming into landfill.

“It will not increase the truck traffic in any way since 2019,” Edlebeck reiterated.

Nick Ghere, property manager at Niagara Development, said the mill would rather use its other options. “We’re not the preferred outlet for Resolute,” he told the board.

Commissioner Joe Stevens said the landfill is important to the Grede foundry in Kingsford, as well as Resolute, so it makes sense for the board to keep it viable if EGLE allows it.

In June 2019, Stevens was one of just two commissioners who voted in favor of an emergency appeal from Resolute to allow up to 16 trucks daily to deposit sludge at the Niagara Development site. That request was denied 3-2 after protests from Norway City Council members and Norway and Quinnesec residents about potential road damage and traffic hazards.

There was a backload of waste then, but Resolute indicated traffic would eventually fall off to zero to three loads per day. Later, EGLE began allowing disposal of the waste sludge at Niagara Development as a beneficial reuse but asked the company to pursue a plan amendment through Dickinson County, Edlebeck said.

The change under consideration would allow the facility to accept low-hazardous industrial waste sludges from Menominee County. Unlike the 2019 emergency request, no daily or annual limit is stated.

The county has contracted with the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regional Commission to administer the plan amendment process, Edlebeck said. If the county board approves the draft plan amendment, it must then be endorsed by seven of the 10 local units of government in the county. Final approval rests with EGLE.

In 2011, Niagara Development acquired the former NewPage paper mill in Niagara, Wis., and other assets, including the mill’s landfill property in Breitung Township. The current state-approved solid waste plan allows the landfill to accept Type III wastes, or low-hazard industrial and demolition materials. While there are no limits on traffic, wastes can come only from within Dickinson County.

In late 2016, the solid waste planning committee proposed an amendment to allow Niagara Development to accept Type III wastes from across the Upper Peninsula. That change would have allowed 15 truckloads per day, with each truck carrying no more than 24 tons.

The county board, however, rejected the plan after hearing residents say traffic through Quinnesec was already extreme. The possibility of a new access point for the landfill was discussed, but nothing materialized.

On Monday, Ghere reported talks have continued about gaining access through the Quinnesec pulp and paper mill property. A change in ownership from Verso to Billerud, however, did stall the discussions, he said.

Jim Anderson can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 226, or janderson@ironmountaindailynews.com.