ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor

The sustainable business park project for the northeast corner of Dorr Township has suffered a major setback because the anchor tenant, Continuous Materials, has filed for bankruptcy. Thus spake Dorr Township Trustee Patrick Champion at Tuesday night’s Dorr Township Planning Commission.

Continuous Materials had plans to manufacture siding, roofing and ceiling parts from discarded plastic glass and other so-called recycling items that still otherwise wind up in landfills. The 250-acre site in Dorr Township, owned by Kent County, had been set aside for use as soon as the Kent County landfill is full, which has been estimated at reaching that level in three or four years.\.

The project of using the site as a sustainable business park instead of a landfill also had rough sailing of late because the Kent County Board of Commissioners is split on the issue and now the funding issue has surfaced.

Dorr Township Supervisor Jeff Miling said that about $100 million is needed for startup, and though some funding sources have come through, much more was needed.

The Dorr Township Board last year agreed to set aside $200,000 in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant money for its contribution.

Miling cautioned, “If it (the project) is paused for too long, it goes into a landfill.”

Representatives from the Kent County Department of Public Works have been checking in with township officials from time to time over the past several years, and for awhile prospects looked promising. Not so of late.

This is nothing short of a damn shame. Area residents by now ought to be sick and tired of landfills for dumping our waste. I head and read about comments from Kent County and Allegan County citizens who feel sorry for people who live near the current landfill on 100th Street, insisting there is an awful stench that is pronounced on some days.

Though some local officials have opposed this project, they don’t seem to have a viable alternative to the continued practice of tossing waste into these temporary solutions to what may become a permanent problem.

It is my hope, and that of many other people I’ve been in touch with, that some kind of resolution can be made with continued recycling efforts. But I’m cynical enough to add, “Don’t hold your breath.”