The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun removing hazardous chemicals and materials from a closed chemical plant in Detroit.
EMCO Chemical Inc.’s facility at 4470 Lawton Street produces and distributes specialty industrial chemicals until it closes in August 2023. The site was vandalized on May 28, 2024, when a car was set on fire at the site. The fire spread to a building annex that contained more than 400 55-gallon chemical drums. The Detroit Fire Department extinguished the blaze before the drum ignited.
Within days of the fire, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy and the city assessed the site and discovered more than 1,000 55-gallon drums and laboratory samples, several large above-ground storage tanks and one underground storage tank. EPA testing found several barrels containing flammable, corrosive or chlorinated chemicals.
More than 1,000 55-gallon drums and other hazardous chemical containers were discovered at the former EMCO Chemical Company plant at 4470 Lawson Street in Detroit after a fire on May 28, 2024. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to remove and safely dispose of this waste.
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At the request of the City of Detroit, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assisted in the investigation and removal of hazardous materials. EPA initially worked with EMCO to secure the building, temporarily strengthened the fire-damaged structure, and began removing waste for appropriate disposal.
“After EMCO notified EPA of the lack of funding to continue the cleanup, EPA took the lead and will ensure that hazardous chemicals are safely removed and no longer pose a risk to the community,” EPA officials said in a statement on January 29.
Officials said the cleanup is expected to be completed by the summer.
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: EPA begins cleanup of hazards at former EMCO chemical plant