DETROIT – Residents addressed concerns about air quality and semi-truck traffic near industrial neighborhoods in Detroit during a town hall Wednesday.
The Eastside Community Network Climate Action Coalition hosted the event, attracting elected officials and environmental group representatives.
“Is it just air quality from the plants around here?” said Lawonda Jenkins, who lives on Detroit’s east side. “Is it from the truck and the traffic? You really don’t know, and you can definitely tell a difference from when you are in other neighborhoods as opposed to ours.”
During a Q&A session, a panel of officials answered questions about how to address these concerns.
Andrew Bashi with the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center said Detroit is past due for a semi-truck routing ordinance.
“Detroit is one of the few that hasn’t reined this problem in,” Bashi said.
Detroit City Council Member At Large Mary Waters said they’re working on it.
“There are conversations going on about implementing truck routes, making sure we plant the necessary trees and do all of those things that you talked about,” Waters said.
Moving forward, the Eastside Community Network Climate Action Coalition plans to ramp up outreach and education efforts and continue data collection by monitoring air quality and semi-truck traffic.
Stellantis issued the following statement regarding continued air quality and trucking concerns regarding its Mack Assembly Plant.
“Stellantis has resolved all of the air permit violation notices at both of its Detroit plants with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Air Quality Division and has administrative consent orders in place at each site.
Both plants have been in compliance with their respective permits for more than six months. Further, ambient air monitoring data continues to demonstrate that the air in the neighborhood is consistent with other areas of the city and is well within the applicable U.S. EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
We also are aware of the concerns about truck traffic in the area. We have already implemented a number of actions to redirect and reduce the amount of traffic into and out of the facility and are continuing to do so.”
Stellantis
Click here to learn more about the efforts of Eastside Community Network and how to get involved.