Gov. Whitmer says her office reviewing criminal charges against 'green ooze' polluter

Steve Pepple | Detroit Free Press

The owner of a metal coating factory believed responsible for toxic "green ooze" that flowed onto a shoulder of I-696 in Madison Heights this month could face additional criminal charges — this time from the state.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday her administration is “actively reviewing all means of accountability, including further criminal charges against the polluter who caused this mess." She said she has also directed the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy — or EGLE — to conduct a formal review of its pollution inspection procedures to strengthen enforcement and accountability.

More: Photos show I-696 green ooze site may have been leaking since at least 2016

A Free Press review of Google Map photos on Monday showed some type of liquid appears to have been seeping in from the same spot on the I-696 retaining wall for several years prior to the Dec. 20 discovery of the green ooze.

Regulators from EGLE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have traced the source of the pollution to the nearby Electro-Plating Services factory on 10 Mile Road, which was shut down by the state at the end of 2016.

Its owner, Gary Sayers, was sentenced by a federal judge in November to a year in prison for operating an unlicensed hazardous waste storage facility. He was also ordered to repay the EPA $1.5 million for cleanup costs.

Electro-Plating Services was the site of a $1.5-million cleanup after regulators found numerous deteriorating drums and tanks brimming with toxic chemicals stored inside the factory in December 2016.

Sayers for years, stonewalled state efforts to get him to legally deal with the hazardous wastes, the federal government said. The chemicals stored at the plant included cyanide, chromium, nickel, chloride, trichloroethylene, and various acids and bases that were used as part of the plating process.

Whitmer said the situation in Madison Heights demonstrates "the need for broad reforms to address problems of critical underfunding and understaffing at the department following eight years of one-party control in Lansing."

"It’s time for Republicans in the Legislature to ensure EGLE has the technology and resources it needs to keep the public safe," the governor said. "They should also pass ‘Polluter Pay’ legislation championed by Democrats in the Legislature that will force polluters to clean up the mess they make."

Since the Dec. 20 discovery, tests of water samples taken from storm sewers near the site showed levels of hexavalent chromium at 0.14 milligrams per liter, slightly higher than the standard for safe drinking water of 0.10 milligrams per liter.

Hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium-6, is the same highly toxic, cancer-causing chemical that a giant California utility let contaminate drinking water, according to a lawsuit brought by activist Erin Brockovich, whose David-versus-Goliath battle became a movie in 2000 starring Julia Roberts.

Jill Greenberg, spokesperson for EGLE, said the EPA later this week was to begin extracting dozens of soil borings to determine the extent of contamination.

Meanwhile, Google Street View images of the area on the freeway, just west of Dequindre, show what appears to be a small stream of clear liquid draining from the wall in the same spot beginning in at least July 2016.

The liquid seeping out is also visible in an August 2018 photo, and in a photo from May 2019. There appears to be a small amount of greenish liquid at the base of the wall in the May photo.

The pavement appears dry in eight Google map images of the spot taken at various times between 2008 and October 2015. The Free Press reviewed the Google photos after being alerted by a reader on Facebook.

Greenberg said the agency "can't draw any scientific conclusions from these images" but would incorporate them into its investigation.

Macomb County Public Works Director Candice Miller, who is not involved in the cleanup but has been actively monitoring the situation because of concerns about the contamination reaching Lake St. Clair, on Monday said the photos "don’t necessarily show chemicals leaking out on to the freeway but they show how such leaking could have possibly occurred."

She had previously said that "we don’t know how long these chemicals are leaking and so we don’t know where they may have traveled."

Although the EPA cleaned up the factory in 2017 to remove the “imminent threat” to health and safety, it didn’t figure on the basement of the factory gradually becoming a hidden reservoir of contaminated liquid from years, possible decades, of chemicals being dumped in a pit there.

Greenberg said EGLE and EPA workers at the site have installed sump pumps in the basement and at the expressway retaining wall as a short-term solution to mitigate the flow of chemicals. Polluted water from the site is being pumped into a holding tank.

"Once we get through this, we will start thinking about longer term solutions," she said.

A group of Democratic lawmakers from Macomb County are asking EGLE what those long-term solutions might be, saying they are concerned about the the potential for this waste to make its way into Lake St. Clair.

In a letter sent Monday to EGLE Director Liesl Eichler Clark, the lawmakers raised what they called urgent questions "regarding your plan for cleanup of the toxic waste seepage.

"As you are aware, Lake St. Clair is a vital component of Macomb County that serves as a major drinking water source for millions of people in Michigan and Canada, as well as a recreational space for residents. There are many businesses along the lake’s coastline as well."

The letter was signed by state Sen. Paul Wojno of Warren and state Reps. John Chirkun of Roseville, Kevin Hertel of St. Clair Shores, Nate Shannon of Sterling Heights, Bill Sowerby of Clinton Township and Lori Stone of Warren.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Rep. John Chirkun's last name.

October 2015

July 2016

May 2019

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Rep. John Chirkun's last name.