Flat Rock family still has safety concerns despite state officials saying it’s safe to return home

Family still has concerns about safety

FLAT ROCK, Mich. – On Thursday residents in zone one in Flat Rock were told it was safe to return home after being evacuated due to a gas leak at the Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant.

State officials said recent tests show the air is safe from toxic benzene gas, but some homeowners aren’t ready to head back.

“I feel confused about the situation because we were informed that people would contact us to check all the houses I believe at one of the meetings we had they said that clearly all the houses would be checked before the all-clear would be given,” resident Walter Dudzinski said.

The family is concerned about toxic, cancer-causing benzene fumes seeping into their home.

Flat Rock officials said 1,100 homes had to be tested before people could return but this week families in both zone one and zone two were given the all-clear.

Health officials only checked a handful of homes. They said the compared the indoor air quality data in 12 homes with test results for sewer lines and confirmed the gasoline-related sewer vapors were substantially prevented from entering indoor air of those homes.

The Dudzinski family doesn’t want to return home until they are certain their home is safe.

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About the Authors

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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