LANSING – U.S. Rep. John Conyers is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to deny permits for the controversial commercial hazardous waste injection well in Romulus that he once supported, Gongwer News Service has learned.

The move comes as Conyers (D-Detroit) considers whether to run in a new congressional district that includes Romulus, where opposition to the wells, shuttered since an above-ground leak in 2006, runs high.

In 2007, Conyers wrote a letter to the EPA urging its support of transferring control of the wells to a company owned by Detroit businessman Jim Papas. At the time, the state and federal government had just shuttered the wells less than a year after opening because of an above-ground leak. And the Detroit Police and Fire Retirement System had invested $40 million in the wells.

That 2007 letter became part of the bribery scandal that snared Mr. Conyers’ wife, former Detroit City Councilmember Monica Conyers, now serving time in a federal prison. Conyers’ former political consultant, Sam Riddle, also serving time in prison from the scandal, which involved a variety of issues beyond the wells, told the Detroit Free Press in 2009 that Conyers generated the letter after she arranged a $20,000 consulting contract for Riddle with Papas. Conyers had Riddle pay her a $10,000 finder’s fee from the $20,000, Riddle said.

Federal authorities have said Conyers did nothing wrong. But since that time, Conyers has refused to answer questions about the letter and the allegation of Conyers’ role in it. Now, as he considers whether to run for re-election in the new 13th U.S. House District, which includes Romulus and other western Wayne County suburbs, some Democrats say Conyers can expect political problems from his 2007 position on the wells. Prior to that 2007 letter, Conyers had given well opponents the impression he opposed the wells although Conyers allies say he had only made vague statements on the issue.

So it struck Democrats as curious when they saw a letter dated June 27, 2011, that Conyers sent to the EPA stating his opposition to the wells.

In the letter, Conyers explained that his 2007 support for transferring control of the wells centered on giving the pension system a chance to recoup its investment.

“Another four years have passed, and I have seen no new data or persuasive evidence to suggest that this facility could be profitable,” Conyers wrote. “My constituents believe it would be unwise for the Police and Firefighters Union pension fund to continue to invest into this project. The markets for this facility have worsened, as the volumes of liquid hazardous waste generated in Michigan have continued to decline.”

Conyers recounted the overwhelming opposition directed toward his office regarding the wells and nonexistent support.

“Based on the latest findings, including the August 27, 2009, MDEQ report that found unequivocally that violations occurred, the absence of evidence that the project can be economically viable and the strong opposition from the community, I believe these permits should not be issued,” he wrote.

Wayne County Commissioner Ray Basham of Taylor, a former legislator who has staunchly opposed the wells for years, said he was shocked by Mr. Conyers’ new letter and viewed it as an attempt to mitigate political damage to Conyers in western Wayne County.

“He was for us before he was against us before he was for us,” Basham said. “It gives me great pause that he flops his positions on important issues that the community spent millions of dollars on in attorneys fees opposing that well.”

If Conyers does run in the 13th – he has not yet stated his plans – he will face considerable opposition in the Democratic primary. Rep. Shanelle Jackson (D-Detroit) and Sen. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) have said they are running while Wayne County Commissioner Burton Leland (D-Detroit) and Sen. Glenn Anderson (D-Westland) have expressed interest too.

“I personally will be looking for someone else to throw my support behind” besides Conyers, Basham said.

Rep. Douglas Geiss (D-Taylor) said he has spoken with Democrats in Romulus, and they will oppose Conyers should he run.

“I don’t think that his change in position on the subject has helped him or really endeared himself to the people of Romulus or Inkster or the surrounding communities that have long stood in opposition to the well,” he said. “No matter what he attempts to do, I don’t think the folks in that area are going to forgive him for his position in support of that well.”

But Conyers officials said Conyers sent the letter after Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor) asked him to do so. Hopgood sent Conyers a letter requesting his opposition to the wells June 27, the same day Conyers wrote the EPA, which had set a June 29 deadline for public comment on the well permits.

At that point, the new maps for the state’s 14 U.S. House districts had not passed the Legislature, but it was generally considered settled how they would look. Technically, Conyers lives in the 14th District, which runs from Detroit into Oakland County. But U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke’s (D-Detroit) decision to run for the 14th instead of the 13th has most expecting Conyers will run for re-election in the 13th, which includes more of his Detroit base than the 14th.

“Senator Hopgood was very vocal in the weeks and months prior to the June 29 EPA deadline,” Conyers spokesperson Isaac Robinson said of Hopgood’s requests for Conyers’ opposition to the wells. “If (Commissioner) Basham is trying to insert politics into this, it’s not helpful, it’s not helpful to the real sincere community coalition-building strategies by Senator Hopgood.”

Robinson said while Hopgood welcomed Conyers’ joining the opposition to the wells, Basham’s comments were hard to understand.

“I think (Commissioner) Basham should be commended because he was very consistently vocal in the community in opposing these wells,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that now when officials from Detroit are joining with him, he’s inserting politics. He asks folks to get on board and when they do, there’s criticism.”

The EPA and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are currently considering whether to grant permits that would allow the wells to reopen. The EPA has jurisdiction over the well while the DEQ regulates above-ground storage on the site.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

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