Project Overview

For nearly 30 years, NTH, provided landfill engineering, hydrogeologic, and geotechnical consultation services to Wayne Disposal Inc. (WDI), the only fully-licensed, operating hazardous waste landfill in Michigan, and the only landfill in EPA Region V permitted to accept PCB-contaminated wastes. When WDI executives decided to expand the landfill, both vertically and horizontally, they engaged NTH to design and manage the project. NTH’s scope included developing conceptual master planning studies for various airspace and liner configurations, coordination and consultation with EGLE Part 111 and EPA Region V permitting review staff, landfill engineering design analysis, environmental assessment, hydrogeologic monitoring plan (HMP) revisions, and conducting the hydrogeologic investigation required as part of the permit application over a previously undeveloped portion of the property. The multiple vertical and horizontal expansion permitting efforts for the facility provided an additional 20 MCY of airspace capacity and 75 acres of disposal footprint. The licensed facility received approval for the expansion and began construction in 2013 in accordance with 40 CFR 264, Subpart F, and Part 111, Hazardous Waste Management, of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended.

Project Scope

The project involved both a horizontal expansion into a previously undeveloped parcel and a vertical landfill expansion, including partial waste relocation, over existing landfill cells. After extensive conceptual planning regarding liner configurations, airspace evaluations, waste relocation options, and effects on existing closed landfill cells, including coordination and consultation with EGLE and EPA Region V, a final configuration was selected and proceeded to full engineering design analysis including:

  • Geotechnical Analysis for settlement, slope stability, and liner stability;
  • Structural Analysis for existing leachate removal manhole riser retrofit and enhancements;
  • Grading Analysis for liner and final cover layers, including accommodating an active FAA runway;
  • Transfer Box Analysis for disposal traffic staging and dumping;
  • Hydrologic Analysis for leachate collection/removal and stormwater management from both proposed and existing landfill cells to multiple treatment units, including stormwater ponds and on-site waste water treatment
  • Hydrogeologic Evaluation including field investigation for the undeveloped area to fully characterize the subsurface geologic and groundwater conditions including drilling test borings, installing observation wells, laboratory testing of soil samples for physical properties, and sampling and analyzing groundwater for geochemical composition.
  • Groundwater Monitoring Analysis including a phased approach utilizing existing monitoring wells supplemented by additional monitoring wells to be installed as the new cells are constructed and come into operation.
Client Benefit

NTH’s coordinated effort of consultation and coordination with EGLE Part 111 and EPA Region V staff as well as our extensive knowledge of the site history and previous investigations, allowed for the maximum use of existing information and reduced the scope and cost of additional testing and analysis that was necessary to meet the stringent Federal and State requirements for permitting a hazardous waste disposal facility.