Overview:
- Residents held signs that said "stop odors now," "we can't breathe," and "end the stench, dust, fumes, fires, asthma, waste" at a Monday press conference regarding US Ecology Detroit South.
- The hazardous waste facility's license renewal application is pending with the state.
- "No one should have to endure what people living near this site have had to endure," says Wayne County Commissioner Martha Scott.
An environmental coalition is calling for the shutdown of US Ecology Detroit South, a hazardous waste treatment facility on Detroit’s lower east side with a pending license renewal application.
Residents held signs that said “stop odors now,” “we can’t breathe,” and “end the stench, dust, fumes, fires, asthma, waste” at a press conference held Monday by the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments.
Neighbors of the hazardous waste facility, elected officials, and environmental activists urged the state to address odor and safety concerns and deny US Ecology’s license renewal.
No permits should be issued for US Ecology until it shows it has followed the law, said state Rep. Tonya Myers Phillips, whose district is located just north of US Ecology’s location at 1923 Frederick St., southeast of the I-75 and I-94 interchange.
“Every family in this room and in our community has the right to breathe clean air,” Myers Phillips said at the press conference, held at the Hamtramck Public Library. “Simply put, US Ecology has to follow the rules like everybody else.”
Resident KT Morelli said that US Ecology should “shut down, at the very least, until the odor problem is resolved.” If the permit for the facility cannot be denied, the state should put a hold on the process, she said.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, or EGLE, “has tolerated serial permit violators for too long,” she said.
The Wayne County Commission unanimously approved a resolution brought by Commissioner Martha Scott Oct. 2 in opposition to a license renewal for US Ecology.
“No one should have to endure what people living near this site have had to endure, in terms of odor, dust, and the outdoor storage of hazardous, flammable, and potentially hazardous materials,” Scott said in a statement.
Kinga Osz-Kemp, who moved to her home a half-mile from US Ecology 18 years ago, said she thought for a long time that the problem in the neighborhood was the trash incinerator.
The notorious Detroit Renewable Power incinerator closed in 2019 after 30 years of operation.
After the trash incinerator’s closure, Osz-Kemp said she “was able to smell the isolated smells from US Ecology,” describing the odors as rotten fish, lime, and “weird chemical smells.”
State reviews public comments, awaits resolution of US Ecology’s air quality violations
EGLE, which regulates US Ecology, is still evaluating comments it received during the public comment period for the license renewal, spokesperson Josef Greenberg Stephens told Planet Detroit in an email Monday.
The agency is also awaiting resolution of air quality violations issued to US Ecology, Greenberg Stephens said: “A final decision will not occur until these steps are completed.”
The environmental regular appreciates the engagement of the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments and the Wayne County Commission in the licensing progress, Greenberg Stephens said.
“EGLE is aware of the issues and is working with US Ecology South to identify and implement effective, sustainable solutions.”
Melissa Quillard, a Republic Services spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that US Ecology provides a “safe, essential hazardous waste disposal for hundreds of businesses across Michigan and the Midwest.”
Recent upgrades at the facility include a “state-of-the-art tank system, improved storage processes, enhanced waste handling procedures, and a new on-site lab for material testing,” she said in response to a request for comment on the calls for a shutdown.
“To address community concerns about odor, the facility recently updated its odor management plan, added a fourth air monitoring station and is evaluating additional air pollution controls,” Quillard said, adding that US Ecology hosts quarterly public meetings and has a website where residents can sign up for email updates and connect with the company.
US Ecology has received dozens of state violations for air quality noncompliance at the Frederick Street facility since 2014, as Planet Detroit reported in September.
The most recent violation issued by EGLE, dated Oct. 10, followed the investigation of an odor complaint. The state found “persistent and objectionable fishy/oily/gas odors of moderately strong intensity” that it attributed to US Ecology’s Chem-Fix operations, “impacting residential areas downwind of the facility.”
In its response to the state agency, US Ecology said no odor was identified in its Chem-Fix operations. The company said the source of the “alleged offsite odors” is a facility slightly downwind of US Ecology.
In July 2024, the state and US Ecology reached a consent agreement that redresses multiple violations issued to the facility between 2021 and 2023, including improper storage of hazardous waste, a fire, and a leak that posed a contamination threat to groundwater.
US Ecology Detroit South’s license renewal application was filed Sept. 11, 2008. The application has gone through multiple revisions to correct deficiencies. It was declared administratively complete in 2012, allowing US Ecology to continue operating until a final decision is made, according to the state.
🗳️ What’s next? Tips for civic action
Why it matters
⚡ The US Ecology Detroit South facility at St. Aubin and Frederick, which impacts the air quality on Detroit’s lower east side, is seeking a 10-year license renewal from Michigan’s environmental regulator.
Who’s making civic decisions
🏛️ The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
How to take civic action now
- 📱 Call the Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) hotline 24/7 to report an environmental or public health emergency at 800-292-4706.
- 📩 Contact Tracy Kecskemeti, acting director of EGLE’s Materials Management Division, at 517-284-6551; KecskemetiT@Michigan.gov; or by mail at the Deborah A. Stabenow Building, P.O. Box 30241, Lansing, MI 48909. The Materials Management Division oversees hazardous waste programs.
- 👣 Attend a monthly community meeting hosted by the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Environments, a community group made up of residents and concerned individuals who live in zip codes surrounded by industry on the east side.
What to watch for next
🗓️ A final decision on US Ecology Detroit South’s permit renewal application — first filed in September 2008 — from Michigan’s environmental regulator.
Civic impact
🌍 Reporting environmental complaints and participating in Michigan’s environmental regulation process creates a public record of the concerns of citizens, a fuller picture of air quality in the community, and presents more information for state officials who make decisions on polluting facilities.
⭐ Please let us know what action you took or if you have any additional questions. Please send a quick email to connect@planetdetroit.org.
MORE PLANET DETROIT REPORTING
Wayne Disposal fails to loosen court order blocking Manhattan Project waste shipments
Wayne County judge denies modification to injunction that bars waste shipments with elevated radiation from Army Corps sites to the Wayne Disposal landfill in Van Buren Township.
‘Mind-boggling’ Wayne County landfill expansion draws heat from residents
Community members tell regulators Wayne Disposal’s expansion would add pollution and truck traffic, and endanger the Huron River and Great Lakes.
US Ecology hazardous waste facility’s neighbors urge license rejection: ‘Who wants to live in a place that’s massively polluted?’
Michigan’s environmental regulator issued an air quality violation for a US Ecology hazardous waste facility in Detroit on the same day as a public hearing on its license renewal.
