State of Michigan Files Violations For Air Quality At New Mack Facility:

According to an article released last week by The Detroit News, the State of Michigan has filed a violation notice against Stellantis’ brand-new Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack facility on the eastside of Detroit. The Mack facility was a $1.6 billion investment from Stellantis to convert two of its smaller engine plants into a state-of-the-art assembly facility for the company’s all-new fifth-generation Jeep® Grand Cherokee (WL). The new assembly complex was part of a $4.5 billion investment that impacted five existing facilities in Michigan and aimed at creating 6,500 new jobs for the area. 

The violation notice comes after a series of investigations into nuisance odor complaints were filed about the facility. The new plant has created issues and concerns from some local residents living in the area around the plant, which is located just a few hundred yards from another Stellantis facility, the Detroit Assembly Complex – Jefferson (former known as the Jefferson North Assembly Plant or “JNAP”). 

The Detroit News reported earlier in the month, that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) Air Quality Division was conducting investigations regarding the complaints. The investigation resulted in the EGLE group finding “persistent and objectionable paint/solvent odors” of a moderate-intensity (Level 3) impacting residential area downwind from the Mack facility on August 27th. Other findings found “moderate or strong (Level 4) odors” on August 31st and September 3rd according to the notice.

The notice states that Stellantis has until October 11th, to submit a written response about the actions it is taking to solve the cited violations to the Michigan Department of EGLEs and correct them by that date. Stellantis can also object to the violation’s legal application according to the report.

“Stellantis is currently reviewing the notice it received today from EGLE,” the automaker said in a statement to The Detroit News. “We take all environmental issues seriously and understand our responsibility to be a good neighbor. We are working with EGLE to identify and resolve any concerns in an affirmative manner.”

In a post on the company’s blog in November 2020, Stellantis said “we’re proud to say that our new Detroit assembly plant is one of our most efficient and sustainable manufacturing operations and that it will have the lowest achievable Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emission rate of any auto assembly plant in the country, our neighbors expressed the need for more accurate data on the local air quality”.

“We listened, and it became clear that residents in the area around our new plant did not have access to robust air quality data. In fact, the nearest air monitoring station was nearly five miles away,” the blog post went on to say. “Not anymore. The new air quality monitoring station we’ve installed on the north end of our Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack will monitor nearby particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).”

Stellantis said that it would submit the collected data from the new air quality monitoring station to the EGLEs, quarterly starting in 2021.

Source: The Detroit News