No. 40
NEWS YOU CAN USE, NEWS YOU CAN TRUST
75¢
Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2011
w w w . a s s o c i a t e d n e w s p a p e r s . n e t
A candidate for Wayne City
Council has been arraigned on
charges stemming from a peti-
tion drive to ensure fire
department staffing levels.
See page 2.
RobertoScappaticci is the
newassistant director of the
Department of PublicWorks,
andwill bemanaging the larg-
er infrastructure projects,
alongwithother duties, in
Romulus.
See page 4.
Members of the the
Plymouth Community Arts
Council will lead the exhibit
schedule for Speaker of the
House Pro-Tempore John
Walsh's Art in the Capitol pro-
gram.
See page 5.
The Solstice Run organiza-
tion recently presented a
$10,000 gift to the Northville
Educational Foundation to
benefit programs for
Northville Public Schools stu-
dents.
See page 3.
Members of the Van Buren
Board of Education have
agreed to hire the Michigan
Leadership Institute to facili-
tate the search for a new
superintendent of schools.
See page 4.
Vol. 126, No. 40
Vol. 64, No. 40
Vol. 64, No. 40
Vol. 11, No. 40
Vol. 11, No. 40
Vol. 126, No. 40
Vol. 64, No. 40
Vol. 64, No. 40
More than 275 families
attended the 2nd Annual
Literacy Day Extravaganza
last week at the Booker T.
Dozier Recreation complex in
Inkster.
See page 3.
For home delivery of The Eagle call 734-467-1900.
A detailed report of how
taxpayer dollars are utilized
and a Financial Dashboard,
required by the state, have
been launched on the official
citywebsite inWestland.
See page 2.
Officials in the City of Romulus
said they were shocked and dis-
appointed to learn on Monday
that five members of the police
department-along with former
Police Chief Michael St. Andre
and his wife, Sandra St. Andre-
were arrested and charged with
several felonies by the Wayne
CountyProsecutor.
“This is not about the
Romulus Police Department, this
is about individual officers who
may have committed crimes,”
said Mayor Alan Lambert to a
packed city council chamber, with
television news cameras lined
along the wall. “We have good,
hard-working officers in this com-
munity. They do what they do,
they do their jobs every day; they
put their lives on the line for the
residents of this community. I
stand behind our police depart-
ment.”
The charges follow a nearly
three-year corruption investiga-
tion of the special investigative
unit of the Romulus department.
The investigation was conducted
by the Michigan State Police and
the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. Evidence was then
submitted to the office of Kym
Worthy, the Wayne County
Prosecutor who announced the
charges onTuesday afternoon.
St. Andre and his wife turned
themselves in to police on
Monday and they others were
arrestedby state police.
St. Andre announced his
retirement from the department
Sept. 13 and was almost immedi-
ately replaced by former Wayne
County Sheriff Deputy Robert
Dickerson. Dickerson, who is also
a former Wayne City Council
See
Police,
page 4
A special Gandhi Jayanti
Celebrationwill begin at 2 p.m.
Oct. 2 at The Village Theater at
Cherry Hill. Doors are set to
open at 1:15 p.m.
See page 5.
This is not about the Romulus Police Department,
this is about individual officers
who may have committed crimes.
”
Former police chief, wife and 5
officers arrested on corruption charges
Officials blast decision to reopen waste wells
Long before personal health
became a national pastime,
Oakwood healthcare was promot-
ing the benefits of leading a
healthy, active lifestyle to people of
all ages.
The Red October Run, which
takes place on Oct. 1 at Oakwood
Annapolis Hospital inWayne, is no
exception. The event, which fea-
tures a 10k and a 5K run as well as
a 5K walk and the “Kids' Jr.
October Mile” a 1-mile fun run or
walk for children, is part of the
Oakwood Youth and Family
Fitness Initiative, according to
Cynthia Cook, who has organized
the run since it originated 21 years
ago.
“It's designed to promote a
healthy lifestyle and provide an
opportunity for healthy activities
to children and their families,”
said Cook. “We think it's a great
way to promote youth fitness.”
When it returns this year to the
streets of Wayne, it will include
additional children's activities. In
addition to the October Mile, there
will be an Arts & Scraps
Scrapmobile for children to “make
& take” an art project, a children's
ID kit station, and the Wayne Fire
Department will be on hand-com-
plete with a fire truck-to lead chil-
dren in safety activities.
“We wanted to offer more for
the kids who come to the event
with their parents and grandpar-
Wayne County Executive
Robert Ficano and Congressman
John Dingell joined State Sen.
Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor)
and Rep. Doug Geiss (D-Taylor) in
harsh criticism of the
Environmental ProtectionAgency
(EPA) and Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ)
decision to allow operations to
begin again at the former EDS
hazardous waste injection site in
Romulus.
The officials took strong objec-
tion to circumstances surround-
ing the permit application, name-
ly the ongoing federal investiga-
tion into bribery charges directly
connected to the site. Hopgood
and Geiss also noted that the
applicant, Jim Papas, is a restau-
rateur with no qualifications or
experiencewithhazardouswaste.
“It is ridiculous that these per-
mits would be granted while
there is a question of fraudulent
activity surrounding the applica-
tion and Jim Papas' involvement
with Sam Riddle,” said Hopgood.
“The decision should have been
put on hold until the federal
bribery investigation had been
completed. The potential public
health risk demands that extreme
caution is exercised in consider-
ing these permits.”
Past contamination issues at
the site have also raised many
concerns with local residents.
The City of Romulus has spent
more than $1 million in legal fees
fighting these wells during the
past 20 years according to Mayor
Alan Lambert who spoke about
the issue several weeks ago.
Hopgood and Geiss noted the
reassurances that safeguards are
in place to prevent future prob-
lems do little to ease public fears
because the same promises were
made the last time the wells were
operational. They argued the per-
mit conditions are meaningless if
the operators are already engag-
ing in potentially illegal activities
before they even receive their
approvals.
“I'm very disappointed that the
EPA and MDEQ chose to grant
operating permits to EGT for the
deep injection well facility in
Romulus today,” said Geiss.
“We've all heard the promises and
assurances of reform in the past,
but time and again violations
have occurred that threaten both
the environment and the citizens
of Romulus and all of the down-
river area. The simple fact
remains that this well is a danger
to the environment and the peo-
ple that call the downriver area
home. I have not given up on this
issue and will continue the fight
to get this environmental hazard
shut downpermanently.”
Ficano also expressed his con-
cern about the federal decision.
“I am extremely disappointed
in a federal ruling to allow the
reopening of two hazardous waste
injection wells in Romulus.
Residents of Romulus and nearby
communities have repeatedly
expressed opposition to having
what amounts to a hazardous
waste dump in their area.
“Although Wayne County has no
regulatory authority in this mat-
ter, we will continue to look for
ways to make sure our citizens
and the environment are protect-
ed.”
BothHopgood and Geiss point-
ed to pending legislation as evi-
dence that the fight to keep the
wells shut is not over. The law-
makers introduced legislation,
Senate Bill 646 and House Bill
4930, to change the permitting
statute so that a permit may be
denied if the applicant is convict-
ed of crimes related to the pursuit
of the permit. Should the bills
pass, theDEQwould have author-
ity to revoke Papas' permit if he is
found guilty of wrongdoing in the
Riddle bribery case.
On the run
Annapolis event promotes
healthy lifestyles for all
See
Run,
page 2