Dive Brief:

• The owners of the Wayne Disposal landfill filed an application with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in October 2013 to increase the radiation limits accepted at the site to up to ten times the amount of materials it is currently licensed to accept.
• The hazardous waste site is hoping to receive approval from the agency to increase its allowable radiation levels from the current 50 pico curies per gram to 500 pico curies per gram.
• The application is still under consideration. The company operating the landfill, USEcology, announced it will suspend its acceptance of all oil and drilling waste while it waits for input from a newly-formed environmental panel created by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R). 

Dive Insight:

The landfill initially accepted radioactive fracking waste that other states refused, only to be met with opposition from Gov. Snyder. The site was one of the few remaining landfills licensed to accept the radioactive sludge in the East and Midwest regions of the U.S. Snyder is putting together a waste panel in response to the controversy surrounding the fracking waste; the panel will review current standards and assess where improvements can be made.

After a Pennsylvania site refused delivery of the waste, the materials were taken to a landfill in West Virginia. Although the WV landfill initially agreed to take the drilling sludge, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued an order for the site to cease accepting the waste. 

Ken Yale, the chief of the DEQ’s radiological protection section, said there is no timetable for a decision concerning USEcology's request. The DEQ said the agency wants to evaluate different aspects of the model before finalizing its decision. Yale mentioned that one main consideration will be the healthy and safety of the workers who will be exposed to the radioactive waste.