MI ENVIRONMENT
Cleanup at plant in Hamtramck near neighborhood makes way for new meat processing center
Date: December 10, 2020
When Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) staffers inspected the Michigan Industrial Finishes plant in a Hamtramck neighborhood in 2004, it discovered a substantial amount of flammable, toxic, hazardous waste being stored on-site in an unsafe manner.
Much of the hazardous waste was stored outside, in drums that were in poor condition, unprotected from weather, in areas without secondary containment, and in some cases on pallets of questionable stability stacked three-high or in containers that were observed leaking and impacting the environment. To further assess the hazard presented by the facility s illegal operations, EGLE coordinated a follow-up inspection with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emergency response staff in April, 2004 and based on their findings, it was determined that the storage condition