ELECTRO-PLATING SERVICES

(CBS DETROIT) – Madison Heights Mayor Roslyn Grafstein says although Electro-Plating Services made headlines in December 2019 following a chemical spill on I-696, the business raised concerns in the city for years. The green ooze that was found leaking on the highway is hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen. The public health hazard pushed city council to approve for the site to be demolished. “We have some funding from the state and from the county to help with demolition costs,” Grafstein said. “Because of the nature of the contamination, it’s not just oh, it’s going to be demolished, here’s a recking ball, It all goes to landfill,” Grafstein said.

The green slime was groundwater contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak, crews are still working on cleaning up the toxic green ooze that leaked onto I-696. Since the pandemic began, new precautions were put in place to make sure those working to clean up the ooze were safe at all times. The legal battle between Madison Heights and Sayers is ongoing. In November 2019, Sayers was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after he pleaded guilty to storing hazardous waste without a permit. At Electro-Plating Services, inspectors found an estimated 5,000 containers of hazardous waste and materials that were improperly stored, unlabeled, open and corroded or in very poor condition.

click to enlarge Michigan Department of TransportationGreen liquid oozing from retaining wall along I-696. The owner of a contaminated factory that sent a hazardous, bright green ooze onto I-696 in Madison Heights will be released early from federal prison because of the coronavirus pandemic.Gayer Alfred Sayers, owner of Electro-Plating Services, was supposed to be jailed until Nov. 9, according to the Bureau of Prisons Instead, the 70-year-old will be released from FCI Morgantown, a minimum security detention center in West Virginia, on May 20 to serve house arrest, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Detroit.In March, Attorney General William Barr ordered prisons to immediately maximize the release of inmates to home confident to help stem the spread of COVID-19.In November, Sayers was sentenced to a year in prison on a charge of illegally storing hazardous materials at Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights.Some of the hazardous materials were stored in a dirt hole in the basement, where the chemicals seeped into the ground and eventually found a path onto the freeway. The green slime was groundwater contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium, which was made famous by Erin Brockovich.The EPA spent about $2 million and nearly a year to clean up the waste, but officials now acknowledge they underestimated how much toxic waste ended up in the ground. The EPA continues to clean up the property.The City of Madison Heights has filed a lawsuit against Gary Sayers in an attempt to require him to pay for the demolition of the building to make the clean-up more effective.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – On Friday officials from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy released updates on the investigation into the Electro-Plating Services contamination in Madison Heights, and additional properties owned by convicted polluter and Electro-Plating owner Gary Sayers. You can read the latest updates from the state environmental agency here:Tests of Madison Heights drinking water showed no detection of PFAS compounds and no other contaminants at levels of concern, city officials reported Friday. A public informational meeting on the Electro-Plating Services contamination will take place 6-8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, at Madison High School, 915 E. 11 Mile Road. The city of Madison Heights is organizing the event with U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, state Sen. Jeremy Moss, state Rep. Jim Ellison and Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter. A public information session for Electro-Plating Services is scheduled for Feb. 3.

LANSING, Mich. – The State House Appropriations Committee called a hearing on the Madison Heights contamination for Wednesday at 9 a.m. in Lansing (watch it live here). State officials and local leaders have been asked to attend the hearing to explain how Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights was allowed to turn into the hazardous mess it is. READ: Discovery of green substance on I-696 leads to multi-county contamination investigationThe business owner, Gary Sayers, owns two other properties where environmental investigators are taking samples. Sayers history of noncompliance with state regulations is lengthy. State Rep. Shane Hernandez, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, said he doesn’t want Wednesday’s meeting to become a yelling match.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – The city of Madison Heights has already condemned Electro-Plating Services on 10 Mile Road and is asking an Oakland County judge to force the owner, Gary Sayers, to tear it down and clean up the land. Gary Sayers headed to prison recently after he pleaded guilty to storing hazardous waste without a permit. Hexavalent chromium was discovered on the eastbound side of the roadway, near the Couzens Road exit, on Dec. 20, 2019. “This is the worst site I’ve ever seen,” Jeff Lippert, with the EPA, told the court. Not only did Sayers not follow correct protocol, according to the witnesses, but he wasn’t permitted for these chemicals either.

New concerns raised about contaminated site in Madison HeightsPublished: January 13, 2020, 11:09 pmThe city of Madison Heights has already condemned Electro-Plating Services on 10 Mile Road and is asking an Oakland County judge to force the owner, Gary Sayers, to tear it down and clean up the land.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – A substance that looks like the one found on I-696 in Madison Heights last month was discovered in a Detroit building Friday. Sayers owned the now-condemned Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights. The pits had a substance that resembles the green ooze on I-696. In the meantime, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently evaluating test results of water and soil samples taken from near Electro-Plating Services. Test results from inside the building revealed high levels of PFOS.

Could the man responsible for contamination at Madison Heights site have also done it elsewhere? Published: January 3, 2020, 11:17 pmThe Environmental Protection Agency was at the now-condemned Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights collecting more soil samples.

U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyPit in the basement at the factory responsible for toxic ooze on I-696. The toxic, bright green liquid discovered oozing onto I-696 in Madison Heights came from a shuttered factory that environmental officials spent about $2 million and nearly a year to clean up.So how did the green slime, which was groundwater contaminated with cancer-causing hexavalent chromium, end up on a freeway?State and federal regulators are investigating.Heres what we know: Environmental regulators forced Electro-Plating Services to close in 2016 after inspectors discovered hundreds of containers of hazardous waste at the site. The owner, Gary Sayers, was sentenced to one year in federal prison on a charge of illegally storing the waste.Environmental Protection Agency records indicate that much of the hazardous waste was dumped into an overflowing dirt pit. Clean-up crews emptied the pit and filled it with gravel, concluding that the site posed no immediate harm.But now it appears chemicals seeped into the ground beneath the defunct factory before it found a path onto the freeway.State and federal environmental officials continue to insist there's no risk to the public's health. More test results are expected Friday.Photos showing contamination at the factory responsible for the toxic ooze are available here

click to enlarge Michigan Department of TransportationGreen liquid oozing from retaining wall along I-696. A bright green liquid that was oozing onto I-696 in Madison Heights is likely a cancer-causing chemical featured in the movie Erin Brockovich, according to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE).The substance was discovered Friday coming from a retaining wall along the freeway, prompting a multi-jurisdictional investigation and cleanup.State officials believe the substance was hexavalent chromium, a toxic and harmful chemical that appeared to come from Electro-Plating Services, which regulators forced to close in 2016 after inspectors discovered hundreds of containers of hazardous waste at the site. The owner, Gary Sayers, was sentenced to one year in federal prison on a charge of illegally storing the waste.The substance is known to cause cancer and is harmful to the respiratory system, liver, kidneys, skin, and eyes, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tested the substance Friday and is expecting results back early this week.State and federal officials said there was no immediate danger to the public.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. – A days-long cleanup has been underway in Madison Heights after a green substance started seeping onto I-696. MORE: Cyanide, other contaminants found near condemned Madison Heights businessIt was oozing from the embankment. Officials say a substance leaking onto I-696 is from Electro-Plating Services, a condemned Madison Heights business. More: Officials say green contaminant on I-696 is likely headed to Lake St. ClairAccording to the EGLE, the “release likely contributed contaminants to the storm sewer system before it was discovered.”A green substance oozes onto I-696 in Madison Heights. Crews have been cleaning up a substance that seeped onto I-696 in Madison Heights.