The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said there is no threat to drinking water.
Hexavalent chromium was found at at 0.14 milligrams per liter. The standard for drinking water is 0.10 milligrams per liter.
The storm sewer eventually enters Lake St. Clair miles away, EGLE said. By the time the substance would get to the lake, “concentrations would be well below detectable levels although still a significant concern for incremental accumulation in the ecosystem,” EGLE said.
Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller is concerned about the initial cleanup at Electro-Plating Services. It was a massive undertaking in 2016 after multiple citations were issued to the business.
“Whoever said that they cleaned up that site, no one would agree with that,” Miller said.
Miller said she is contacting the EPA to ensure the site is properly cleaned.
“I’m trying to raise the alarms here to make sure that the proper officials, the EPA and the state EGLE department, the environment, make sure that the cleanup that happens now is much, much more aggressive and impactful than what they did initially,” she said.
Below are photos from inside the business during the initial cleanup:
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Sludge drying in basement -- hazardous waste used as berm material (WDIV)
South side of 901 E. 10 Mile Road building (WDIV)
Representative container storage inside adjacent building (WDIV)
Laboratory area inside main building (WDIV)
View of missing wall area on top floor of main buidling (WDIV)
Laboratory area inside main buidling (WDIV)
Representative container storage (WDIV)
View of plating bath floor (WDIV)
View of plating bath floor (WDIV)
Sludge drying in basement -- hazardous waste used as berm material (WDIV)
No description found
South side of building facing 10 Mile Road (WDIV)
Representative container storage in adjacent (WDIV)
Representative container storage in adjacent building (WDIV)
Representative container storage in adjacent building, some unlabled and compatability with acid unknown (WDIV)
Hydrochloric acid storage in adjacent building (WDIV)
Corroded container in adjacent buidling (WDIV)
Recently installed plastic and foam berm in adjacent building (WDIV)
Missing bay door on north side of building (WDIV)
Representative container storage on top floor. These containers had been consolidated and numbered by inventory contractor (WDIV)
Representative container storage on top floor (WDIV)
Representative container storage (WDIV)
Representative container storage on top floor (WDIV)
Representative container storage on top floor (WDIV)
