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A Pioneering Partnership to Dispose of PFAS-Contaminated Waste Solids: Ionia and Republic Services
City of Ionia, MI partners to safely dispose of Waste Solids produced from The Ionia Public Utilities Department which oversees water supply, water distribution and wastewater treatment operations for the city of Ionia, MI and the surrounding area.Byline: BTB Editor
February 16, 2024 / Time to read: 3 minDespite growing regulations designed to prevent PFAS contamination, it sometimes pops up where you don’t expect it to. That has been the case in some areas in Michigan, including Ionia, a town about halfway between Grand Rapids and Lansing.
Because PFAS are forever chemicals that are harmful to humans, cleaning it up quickly and preventing further contamination is critical. Luckily, Republic Services was able to help dispose of the PFAS-contaminated waste in Ionia while helping local regulators and wastewater treatment plants develop further PFAS waste management policies.
Discovering the PFAS Contamination
In 2019, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) found PFAS contamination in Ionia’s wastewater. Like some other municipalities in the US, Ionia’s wastewater system provided biosolids created during water treatment to local farmers to use as fertilizer. Fortunately, no evidence of contaminated food was discovered.
The contamination was caused by a local electroplating facility unknowingly dumping PFAS waste into the wastewater system. PFOS was the
Taking Immediate Action
Right away, the electroplating facility stopped dumping contaminants into the water and the wastewater treatment facility stopped providing biosolids to farmers for fertilizer. Next, Ionia leaders consulted a respected environmental engineering firm in Grand Rapids to find a waste partner. The consultant called US Ecology, a recent Republic Services acquisition, to safely transport and dispose of the PFAS in our subtitle C landfill in Belleville, MI.
Challenging the Elements: The Winter Cleanup
When we stepped in, the tank water and sludge in the wastewater system were beginning to freeze in the cold seasonal weather. We knew we needed to act quickly so Ionia could resume treating its wastewater before temperatures dropped further.
We emptied the 1.6-million-gallon tank and cleaned it completely to remove the PFAS contamination. Then we removed 1,700 tons of PFAS contaminated solid waste and safely transported them to our Belleville landfill for disposal. We were expedient, safe, and thorough.
Returning to Normalcy & The Road Ahead
Now that the PFAS is gone, Ionia Department of Public Utilities is back to treating its wastewater, and local farmers can once again rely on the collected solid wastes for fertilizer — a practice that incurs little to no cost to the city and minimizes the environmental impact of wastewater treatment.
PFAS regulations and EGLE standards evolve often, and we’ve helped other nearby municipalities as well. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, we removed 1,800 tons of PFAS-contaminated waste from city water. And we continue to work with federal and state lawmakers to assess the regulatory framework around PFAS management to develop solutions that help leaders achieve compliance and ensure peace of mind while ending the PFAS mobility cycle.
Nationwide, we’ve completed hundreds of environmental remediation projects, including:
- Low-level radiation decontamination
- Excavation and onsite remediation
- Superfund projects
- Treatment and removal of contaminated soils
In fact, we offer the most integrated environmental services and disposal package in the industry.
End-to-End Remediation with Republic Services
Republic Services has turnkey, innovative solutions for PFAS-contaminated waste, including:
- Arid-climate disposal
- Deep-well injection
- Thermal treatment
- Remediation
- Transportation
