WILLIAMSBURG -- A local company could pump waste liquids from cherry processing deep underground, if state and federal environmental authorities give the OK.
O.I.L. Energy Corp., of Traverse City, wants to pump fruit waste into a deep-injection disposal well it operates north of M-72, in the far northern reaches of Grand Traverse County's Whitewater Township.
The company applied to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for an additional operating permit to allow it to inject cherry juice waste about 2,000 feet underground.
EPA intends to approve the request, documents show.
The well, currently used to dispose of salt wastewater from oil and gas operations, is located on property owned by Cherry Blossom LLC, part of Williamsburg Receiving and Storage cherry processing plant.
Some neighbors don't like the idea.
"There's a lot of other places to inject waste," said Robbin Bustance, who lives near the processing plant.
"I'm apprehensive, to say the least," added Brad Boals, who lives across the street from the plant. "I have some questions."
Boals and others have taken part in lawsuits against the cherry processor based on waste water disposal and other environmental concerns. It's "conceivable" that fruit waste injection could damage the environment, Boals said, and he'd prefer the company continue to truck its waste to treatment plants.
Bustance worries about the well's proximity to Petobego Natural Area, including wetlands that connect to Grand Traverse Bay. She's also concerned the well will become a permanent injection site for fruit processing wastewater from Cherry Blossom and other area fruit companies, she said.
EPA officials determined cherry processing liquid will not cause significant environmental harm because wastewater will remain separated from drinking water sources.
"The new waste that will be injected is compatible with the oil field brine they are currently injecting and the formation fluids that are already there," said Leslie Patterson, EPA environmental scientist.
The well presents an "extremely minimal risk" to surface water and drinking water sources, Patterson said.
A public hearing could be scheduled, she said, if the EPA receives a significant number of requests during a comment period that extends to March 12.
The company has not applied for an amended well permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, but must do so before fruit processing wastewater can be injected there, said Robert McCann, agency spokesman.
Officials at O.I.L. refused to answer questions about the well, but issued a written statement.
"O.I.L. believes the use of this well for the cherry brine disposal would be a significant benefit to cherry processors, being economically and environmentally more practical than current utilized alternatives," Pat Thon from O.I.L. said in the statement.
Chris Hubbell, owner of Cherry Blossom, said his company is interested in using the injection well, should O.I.L. gain approval to inject fruit processing waste. Company waste currently is hauled to a treatment plant in Muskegon, he said.
"We really haven't had much discussion, we just want to follow regulations with the EPA and DEQ to use the well," Hubbell said. "A lot of farmers and fruit processors around the area are faced with this problem today. Everywhere you turn around, there's fruit and vegetable wastewater around here."
Hubbell doesn't know whether other fruit processing companies would want to use the well, nor what O.I.L. will charge, he said.
Review documents, then comment
Documents about a proposed deep-injection disposal well classification change can be viewed at the Traverse Area District Library, 610 Woodmere in Traverse City, or online at www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/uicpub.htm#pubperm. Comments can be filed online, by e-mail to patterson.leslie@epa.gov, or in writing at the EPAs Chicago offices.
Written comments should be mailed to: Leslie Patterson, EPA Region 5, Water Division (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL, 60604-3590.
