Read the full story at Great Lakes Now.
For 43 years, state regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency have ordered chemical manufacturer BASF to stop discharging up to 72,000 gallons of toxic waste-contaminated groundwater daily from its Wyandotte plant into the Detroit River.
But the waste still flows unabated. Based on BASF estimates, as much as 1.1 billion gallons of water contaminated with high levels of mercury, benzene, cyanide, PFAS, naphthalene and other dangerous chemicals have potentially moved into the river since the state first took action in 1983 and Sierra Club Michigan has warned the “staggering” volume is “comparable to a major spill daily.”
Records indicate that waste enters the river just upstream from the City of Wyandotte’s drinking water intake without being tested for certain chemicals found in high concentrations at the BASF site. Meanwhile, experts warn the waste is likely poisoning a key piece of the aquatic food chain.
The pollution persists despite consent agreements that BASF signed with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the EPA in 1980 and 1994, respectively. Those order the company to “prevent the flow of contaminated groundwater … to the Detroit River.”
Critics say the situation represents stunning cases of corporate malfeasance and regulatory failure. A trove of EGLE and EPA documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act and reviewed by Planet Detroit show how regulators repeatedly criticized BASF’s cleanup proposals for their weaknesses and noted that the company’s steps were inadequate. Still, multiple action plans detailed in the documents appear to have fizzled, and BASF has yet to address the problem.
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