KINGSLEY -- Lucille Zenner can't imagine why federal bureaucrats chose a spot 25 miles from her home for a public hearing about a deep-injection disposal well in her township.
Zenner, the clerk in Grand Traverse County's Mayfield Township, said a public hearing set for Williamsburg, on the opposite end of the county, should be held closer -- much closer -- to the well site.
"It doesn't make any sense. I think it should be held in our area, not in Williamsburg," she said.
Team Completion Services LLC, of Kalkaska, applied to state and federal regulators for a landfill leachate permit for its existing brine disposal well near the Miller Road and M-37 intersection in Mayfield Township, about six miles west of Kingsley. The company needs permits from both state and federal regulators.
A public hearing will be held April 7 at Mill Creek Elementary School, 9039 Old M-72 in Williamsburg.
"It's going to affect these people (in Mayfield Township) more than anyone in Williamsburg," Zenner said.
She said adequate facilities could be found closer to the well site, perhaps Kingsley Area High School. Zenner wonders if that's an attempt to keep the well's neighbors from attending the public hearing.
Not so, said Lisa Perenchio, a section chief with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which set the hearing site and date.
"We try to do it so people can show up," she said.
The EPA chose Mill Creek because it's held public hearings there before, specifically for a permit that would allow a nearby well to take fruit processing wastewater. That well is in Williamsburg. The Mayfield well is not.
"People are normally willing to travel to this sort of thing," Perenchio said. "In my opinion, 25 miles away is not denying people access to the meeting."
Perenchio said the hearing could be rescheduled for another location, but likely would delay it until mid-April to accommodate rules about giving at least 30 days notice.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Pertinent documents can be reviewed at the Traverse Area District Library, 610 Woodmere Ave. in Traverse City.
Call the EPA at (312) 886-6594, or the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment at (517) 241-1532 for more information.
