As violation notices from Michigan environmental regulators pile up against Stellantis for issues at its new Jeep plant on the east side of Detroit and another plant in Warren, residents and activists are again raising the alarm over what they call environmental racism.
The automaker was permitted to offset higher emissions at its Mack plant on Detroit's east side, which makes new versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, by reducing emissions at Warren Truck Assembly in Macomb County following the announcement in 2019 that the company would build the first new vehicle assembly plant in Detroit in three decades. The new development, on the site of a former engine complex the automaker owned, was and continues to be touted as a jobs engine for the city.
But that’s been cold comfort for critics who have used terms like environmental racism to describe the impact of the plant on the neighborhood, and it comes at a time when more people are acknowledging the outsized burdens industrial activity often places on communities of color.
Residents have protested odors and pollutants near the plant, part of the Detroit Assembly Complex, which also incorporates what was formerly known as Jefferson North Assembly, and they have pushed for the company to do more to address their concerns.
The Mack plant was cited twice by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, EGLE, with violation notices in September and October. And last week, both Mack and Warren Truck, where the company’s top-of-the-line Jeep product, the 2022 Grand Wagoneer, is built were cited by EGLE with additional violation notices.
It was the third notice at Mack, two for odor and one for a ducting issue, and the first at Warren, related to volatile organic compound emissions. On Monday, the company said the issue at Warren was related to ducting, similar to the second notice at Mack. EGLE, when asked about about that, said "the Warren permit violation notice is for uncontrolled (volatile organic compound) emissions vented to atmosphere related to improperly installed equipment."
EGLE has set up a special page on its website with information about Stellantis facilities in metro Detroit and links to the notices.
Robert Shobe, who has been one of the most outspoken neighbors of the Mack plant, blasted the legal basis under the Clean Air Act and Michigan law for permitting the additional pollution in Detroit.
“The fact that they could do this is crazy. It’s ludicrous,” Shobe said. “I think that’s just not right. (The pollution) doesn’t have to be distributed fairly. One neighborhood can take on much more than another.”
Nick Schroeck, an associate law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy with an expertise in environmental issues, agreed that Shobe’s complaint is a valid criticism.
In a project summary from March 2019, the state noted that the automaker intended to increase its volatile organic compound emissions at Mack by greater than 100 tons per year, which would require a corresponding decrease at Warren. The state noted a lesser increase for nitrogen oxides so the only offset needed would be for volatile organic compounds.
“People living next to these facilities are going to experience more pollution so then you get to the question of environmental justice, and the question of equity as far as ... who is being overburdened with pollution,” Schroeck said. ”It does not help the people next to the Stelllantis plant that emissions are being offset in Warren. It doesn’t help their air quality there. It just doesn’t, right?”
Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson, however, defended the use of offsets as well as the Mack plant itself in responses to several questions from the Free Press, saying it was “designed from the ground up using some of the most advanced technology to minimize emissions. We set the lowest achievable emission rate for automotive assembly plants — not just in the state of Michigan, but the entire country.”
She said that higher emissions in Detroit are related to the scale of the operation.
“... It is a fact that the new assembly plant, which employs nearly 5,000 people and builds hundreds of vehicles on three shifts every day, emits more emissions than the former Mack engine plant, which employed fewer than 700 people and was a fraction of the size,” she said. “Under state law, such an increase in emissions at our new assembly plant above what they had been at the much smaller engine plant is required — not ‘allowed’ — to be offset by reductions at a different location in Southeast Michigan. The Mack investment could not have happened without offsetting reductions at another site.”
Stelallantis received its permit in 2019 and the facility, which includes a body shop, paint shop and general assembly area, can make almost 262,000 vehicles per year, according to the state.
Tinson noted that “in the last several decades, many companies have chosen to locate production — and the economic development and jobs that go with it — outside the state. When Stellantis chose to build the first new assembly plant in 30 years in Detroit and committed to hiring Detroiters first, we made a long-term commitment to support the community for this and future generations.”
Although not referenced in the response, the recent decision by Ford to locate three battery plants and thousands of jobs in Tennessee and Kentucky as part of its electric vehicle push has sparked significant debate about why Michigan was not in play for that development.
Regardless of development issues, the impact of local pollution is something to keep in mind, according to Schroeck, the University of Detroit Mercy professor.
Much of environmental law is about limiting risks to bad health outcomes, he said, but the long-term exposure of living next to an industrial plant adds to that challenge because those neighbors are exposed to more pollution.
“Collectively, we’ve made that determination that that’s something we’re willing to live with. We know that people will be exposed to higher levels of pollution and that that is permissible under the law so long as ... they’re meeting these permitting requirements,” Schroeck said. “I think that’s certainly problematic and it's unfair and it’s not equitable, but that is kind of the way the laws have been designed and the way that they operate.”
Stellantis, which formed earlier this year from the merger of Peugeot maker PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler Autombiles, has said, however, that it intends to address the issues raised by EGLE.
"We take these concerns very seriously and want to get this right. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor and, more importantly, take action as necessary to keep the community enjoyable," according to the company.
EGLE said it’s hands were tied when it comes to the issue of emissions offsets.
“EGLE recognizes the environmental justice implications raised by community members regarding air emissions at Stellantis. However, the state is obligated to permit emissions offsets that are in accordance with the laws and applicable statutes, as this one is,” according to a statement from the department.
In a letter to the community dated Nov. 5, Stellantis addressed the violation notice it received in October, its second of three notices to date, related to volatile organic compound emissions:
“The plan calls for the installation of additional ducting and equipment, which, once complete, will ultimately direct VOC emissions to the system that destroys volatile organic compounds. We have already begun design and procurement of components and electrical controls necessary to operate the system. We plan to begin work on the project later this month and anticipate completing installation by the end of the year. Correcting this condition, as well as addressing odor complaints, remains our top priority.”
The company has previously said its emissions control equipment was working properly and that it had hired an engineering firm to investigate odor complaints, with EGLE staff describing the smell as moderate to strong paint or solvent.
The Detroit City Council has urged the company this month to submit a supplemental environmental project proposal, which could allow for additional remediation measures, but the company was non-committal when asked by the Free Press about its willingness to do so. The company said that “addressing odor complaints is our top priority” but that the company respects the issues under discussion at council. Stellantis said it will submit findings from its own investigation to EGLE by Jan. 9.
Nick Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center in Detroit, said the pollutant at issue with the Stellantis permit was ozone because a seven-county region of southeast Michigan was designated as “a nonattainment area for ozone in 2018,” meaning the area falls short of air quality standards.
The requirement to offset a pollution increase with a decrease in the same area generally make sense, he said. But ozone is a unique pollutant because it’s not directly emitted by any source and is instead formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds mix with sunlight, often forming downwind of the emissions.
“So, as a means of regulating ozone pollution, allowing Stellantis to offset their increase in ozone causing emissions with a decrease at their Warren plant makes sense. However, VOCs are more than just a precursor to ozone. VOCs are a family of chemicals, some of which are toxic. These pollutants can have more localized impacts than ozone pollution. In that respect, allowing Stellantis to offset its increase at its Detroit plant with a decrease at its Warren plant would be a cause for concern,” he said.
The issue of allowing more emissions in Detroit, which is a majority Black population, because the company has agreed to lower its emissions at a plant in a whiter suburb is a problem, according to activists.
Eden Kasmala, a coordinator involved in public education and outreach for Detroit People’s Platform, a community activist group, said there’s a discrepancy between the company’s public statements about its commitment to its neighbors in Detroit and statements about racial justice.
The company, like other automakers, released statements in the wake of George Floyd’s death last year, that conveyed concern about racism, Kasmala noted.
“Those corporate gestures really fall short. Three violations in and residents are still smelling paint and getting sick,” Kasmala said.
One other issue that Kasmala has raised is a hotline the company set up to receive odor complaints at Mack. Kasmala and others want residents to continue calling the state pollution hotline — (800) 292-4706 — to make reports rather than Stellantis, which is the subject of the complaints. Stellantis indicated that when residents call the company's number it allows potential odor issues to be addressed immediately.
The company told the Free Press that as of Thursday it had not received any calls since the number — (833) 310-2313 — went live on Nov. 1. The company said it intends to share a summary of the information and a description of the complaint as part of its report to EGLE on Jan. 9 and then quarterly with EGLE and the community.
