pine tree acres landfill - your community connection · 2014. 9. 22. · courtney first toured pine...

News from Waste Management’s Pine Tree Acres Landfill

Courtney joined the staff at Pine Tree Acres this summer for an engineeringinternship. She is currently enrolled at Michigan Technological University

majoring in Environmental Engineering.When not in school, she resides innearby New Baltimore.

Courtney chose environmental engi-neering because she knew she wantedto make a difference in the world. A GirlScout since first grade, the experienceshaped Courtney’s “go green” attitudeand her love for helping others and theplanet. Her activities at Michigan Tech

include an organization called “Engineers Without Borders” where studentsbecome involved in projects in Bolivia and Guatemala providing ways for

communities to have clean drinking water and latrines.

Courtney first toured Pine Tree Acres while a student in highschool. She pursued Waste Management for two years to obtainthis internship. Her persistence paid off this year, and she wasable to spend 20 hours a week from June through August tolearn about the waste and environmental industry. Courtneychose Waste Management because “…it is a great companyand I am interested in finding new ways to reuse our wasteand reduce the amount that goes into landfills. I have learnedso much over the summer here at Pine Tree Acres; I am veryexcited to graduate and start changing our world.” Dave Rogers,District Manager at the landfill said, “Courtney did a wonderfuljob at Pine Tree Acres…she met and even exceeded our expecta-tions, it was a pleasure to have her work with us this summer.”

Waste Management is a proud supporter of the Wildlife HabitatCouncil (WHC), www.wildlifehc.org. Pine Tree Acres Landfill is acertified WHC site with a Wildlife at Work program and over100 of its acres surrounding the landfill are dedicated to wildlifehabitat. When the MDNR asked if they could pay a visit to thesite to see if it might be a good location for an annual waterfowlbanding program, staff at Pine Tree Acres were happy to assist inthis important wildlife management effort.

Waterfowl banding in the migratory flyway of southeast Michiganis a joint effort. It is managed by a partnership between theState of Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and provincial andgovernment agencies in Canada. Waterfowl banding activities helpthe MDNR gain important information about migratory patterns,recovery rates, and other species’ biological information. Collectively

this partnership is knownas the Mississippi FlywayCouncil (MFC). Theseefforts help the MDNRand MFC to track andbetter manage importantwildlife natural resources.

With the help of WasteManagement and otherdedicated volunteers, theMDNR was able to band 128 geese at Pine Tree Acres Landfill andobserve an additional 5 previously banded birds. This year the MDNRexceeded its quota of banding 900 geese in Southeast Michiganby banding just under 1,700 geese at several locations throughoutthe area.

Your Community ConnectionVol. 2, 2014

Pine Tree Acres Landfill36600 29 Mile RoadLenox, MI 48048

Telephone586-749-9698Fax586-749-6440

Call for current hours of operation as hours maychange seasonally.Monday–Friday 7 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Saturday 7 a.m.–11a.m.

For tours or public education presentations, please call the site.

Meet Courtney Fournier

Did you Know?

Recycling HoursEvery day during normal business hours

Courtney Fournier, Pine Tree AcresEngineering Intern

pinetreeacres.wm.com

Printed on recycled paper.

LANDFILL CONCERNS HOTLINE1-877-360-8582

Please keep this number handy.

The Pine Tree Acres Wildlife Habitat Program is designed to engage the local communityin outdoor activities, and to grow respect and appreciation for our natural environment.Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy, www.sixriversrlc.org, is a local non-profit agencythat works to protect and preserve natural areas in southeast Michigan. The organizationis working to develop a SEMI-WILD website http://semiwild.org/ to inform families offun outdoor recreational activities in SouthEast Michigan, hence the name SEMI Wild.The website will provide information about opportunities for families to get “unplugged”and explore the great outdoors in their local area, encouraging families to become betterstewards of their natural environment.

Speaking of wildlife

Chris Bunch., Executive Director, Six Rivers Land Conservancy

Pine Tree Acres Landfill36600 29 Mile RoadLenox, MI 48048

In June of this year, the Lenox Township Board recognized severallong serving members of the Lenox Township Fire Department.The members recognized for 25 years of dedicated service to thecommunity are Chief Dennis Fouchia, Assistant Chief Martin Hartwayand Captain Cameron Trombly.

Each year on the first Saturday of August Waste Managementsupports the Lenox Township Fire Department by donating totheir annual “Steak Out” fundraiser at Huron Pointe Sportsman’sClub. The funds raised at this event are spent on fire safetyeducation in the community

Lenox Township Fire Department Awards and Steak Out Event

The Petty’s are special people. Theyhave faced some challenging life circum-stances with the health of their childrenbut that never seems to get them down.One of their friends reached out toWaste Management because of thefascination the Petty twins have for thebusiness of picking up the weekly wasteand recycling. Dad, Jeremy, even createda mini-version of a Waste Managementtruck for the twins. Waste Management crew tooktime out of their busy week of cleaning up flood debris to pay a visit to thePetty family. Hailey Petty has Rett Syndrome and has limited mobility. Haileycannot communicate through voice but she can use eyegaze technology.Her eyes focus on a computer screen and select the words she wants to say.Hailey is 12 and had just one word to say about her Waste Managementcrew, Mel Baldwin and Levi Sanders, “Handsome!” October is Rett Syndromeawareness month (www.questforacure.net). For the full story visitwww.clickondetroit.com/news/trash-company-makes-specialvisit/27743380

Meet a very special Macomb County family

As a resident of Lenox Township, you are entitled to aDisposal Card to dispose of regular household waste andrecyclables at Pine Tree Acres. This was negotiated for itsresidents by Lenox Township and the original owner of thelandfill (S&V). Cards are available at the Lenox Townshipoffices with proof of residency. Please be advised–thereare restrictions onwhat can be dis-posed of under theprivileges of thecard. Please beaware of theseconditions. At rightis an example ofthe Disposal Card.

And did you know this? Lenox Township Disposal Card and Restrictions

wm.com

wm.com

Justyn, Joslyn and Hailey Petty withMel Baldwin and Levi Sanders