Officials: Contaminated soil disposal claims in Attica Twp. unfounded
ATTICA TWP. — State and local officials say concerns that contaminated soil from the New Haven-based Bazco Oil Co.’s gas station site at Lake Pleasant and Newark roads was improperly disposed of were unfounded.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy received two phone calls and the Tri-City Times received an anonymous email claiming contaminated soil from the 13-acre site had been dumped in area fields.
Part of the site was used as a farm dump for decades, and one of the conditions of Attica Township’s special land-use approval was properly disposing of the contaminated soil.
Jerry Fackler, Attica Township’s zoning administrator, said he and county health department officials have visited the site and found nothing amiss.
Fackler said, “What was taken over to the field at Newark and Lake George is what is clean either fill or topsoil. It is the excess dirt that needed to be pulled out to get to the grade they needed.”
EGLE spokesman Josef Stephens said EGLE staffers conducted a site inspection and “found no evidence of soil being transported off the site. Additionally, we did not receive any Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) calls regarding the site, or any photographic evidence of offsite dumping.”
Stephens said material from the old dump site was piled on the southwest corner of the property. He added, “The spoils pile soil samples were sent to the lab, and the excavation contractor is waiting on lab data for disposal requirements.”
He said the results of those tests will ultimately determine where the material is taken. Until then, he said, any excavated soils containing dump debris will remain segregated and piled on-site near Newark Road, but still within the silt fence.
In the meantime, work continues on leveling the rest of the site in preparation for construction of a 7,000-square-foot convenience store and drive-up restaurant with five diesel pumps, 10 gas pumps and 14 electric vehicle charging stations.
In 2021, Bazco representatives sought special land-use approval for a truck stop including a convenience store, showers for drivers and charging stations for electric vehicles on the B-2 General Business-zoned site. Initial site plans showed a 7,020-square-foot service center, 10 fuel stations, five diesel fuel stations and dozens of parking spots for both passenger vehicles and trucks.
That led to serious community opposition. In August 2022, Attica Township Planning Commission members voted 3-2 to reject those plans, citing citizen concerns over lighting, traffic impacts and the possibility of increased crime.
Following threats of lawsuits, the township Zoning Board of Appeals approved a scaled-down version of the project in December 2023, reducing parking spaces for commercial trucks and eliminating shower facilities. Zoning Board of Appeals members also required 24-hour security — either video or in person — and limited business hours.
