New report says 85 gallons of oil / kerosene dumped at Northville Downs
Jul. 5, 2024 PLYMOUTH VOICE.
Plymouth Michigan News
It is now known there was between 80 and 85 gallons of oil and kerosene that spilled from eight drums and a storage container last month at the former Northville Downs demolition site according to a recent statement by the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, (EGLE).
This information places new focus on previous reports made by Northville officials and developer Hunter Pasteur regarding the spill.
EGLE did not specify the amount of the spilled substance that leaked into the storm drain that empties into the Rouge River watershed. The accident occurred as Rouge River dredging work continued downstream to restore Wilcox and Phoenix Lakes.
Friends of the Rouge have now dispatched a letter to Northville Mayor Brian Turnbull expressing great concern.
Sally Petrella, watershed ecologist for the non-profit whose mission is to promote restoration and stewardship of the Rouge River ecosystem proclaimed,
“One quart of oil poured down a storm drain can contaminate one million gallons of water.”
FOTR have requested Turnbull conduct an investigation into the ruinous accident occurred on June 21, and they are seeking answers to what procedure, if any, has been established to prevent future occurrences.
According to EGLE, water that enters storm drains does not go to treatments plants. Used motor oil can contain concentrations of toxic heavy metals such as zinc lead, and cadmium.
One pint of oil can produce a slick of approximately one acre of water. Because oil is insoluble and cannot dissolve in water it forms a sludgy mass that suffocates marine life, such as fish, and blocks sunlight from penetrating the surface, killing plants that rely on photosynthesis.
Plymouth Voice.
