Hello all,
The agenda for the public health and safety committee this past Monday included both the explosion and petcoke storage.
Petcoke
City Council members voted and passed a motion to allow law department to file an injunction to stop the storage of the petcoke on the riverfront which will include removal until they follow the city process for open storage permission. The Koch Carbon Co (Koch Brothers) own the petcoke (buying it from Marathon Oil) but Detroit Bulk Company is storing for the Koch brothers. They are storing it illegally. Open storage requires a permit that involves a public hearing and they did not start or seek that process until the community starting asking about the piles.
The City Council also asked that an ordinance be created to address this issue similar to what they did in Los Angeles. I passed out the following article regarding pet coke issues in LA: http://articles.latimes.com/2002/may/17/local/me-coke17
I showed them that it took years of studying the impact before it was confirmed that air pollution in the area of the pet coke in LA increased up to 15% that leads to heart disease and respiratory issues.
My office found the regulation in California and sent it to the law department attorney working on this issue.
Marathon Explosion
The Council seemed more concerned in preventing another explosion ( a bit hard to do when it’s a private company) then discussing how they can protect the community and hold the company accountable. Tyrone brought up the fact that Melvindale local government is represented at the CAP meetings but Detroit is not. It was very clear that there was a communication breakdown between the City and Marathon when the explosion occurred which lead to decision on whether or not to evacuate at 8:15 pm, more than two hours after the explosion. The Fire Commissioner acknowledged the breakdown. He said that there is an evacuation plan created in Oct 2012 and held it up but did not pass it out. It was very odd because it was not clear who developed the plan and when would that be shared.
There is an after explosion meeting (they called it something else, Tyrone—do you remember what they called it?) tomorrow. Tyrone—please email the details of that meeting. I will not be able to attend because I have session on Thursday.
The committee agreed that Marathon and the City needed to work together to create a better system of communication to the community. I mentioned the need to test the external sirens—find out how many, are they wowking?
Anything else Ty?
Rashida
From: Aaron Goodman [mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ]
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:29 PM
To: Rhonda Anderson
Cc: Rashida Tlaib
Subject: Re: Marathon
Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:29 PM
To: Rhonda Anderson
Cc: Rashida Tlaib
Subject: Re: Marathon
Rhonda,
I came into the City Council sub-committee meeting in the middle of the discussion on the Marathon fire. Here is a summary of what I heard:
- Discussion of the need for better and effective communication with Detroit residents in the case of emergencies: There is no functioning reverse 911. Talking about using text messaging to get the word out - other alternative measures. How to avoid the situation where residents are just left to wonder and worry the worst about what is going on.
- I did not hear much about an evacuation plan beyond that one exists
- The lack of participation of City of Detroit representatives in the Marathon CAP meetings. It was brought up that there is no reverse 911 in Detroit and that Also, a recognition The Fire Commissioner (present at the meeting) committed to making sure that there will be Fire Dept. representation at the CAP meetings.
- I hear nothing about air-monitoring testing. I thought I heard the Fire Commissioner say that the evacuation in Melvindale turned out to be unnecessary! Not at all sure I heard that correctly!
I am not clear on what kind of action will come out of this meeting. Perhaps Rep. Tlaib could fill in the details I missed. Also Tyrone Carter ( from 48217) participated in the meeting - and may have a better sense of the outcome and future steps. It could also help to follow up directly with Gary Brown ( chair of this sub-committee) or the other council members: James Tate and Brenda Jones.
Hope this helps!
On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 1:13 PM, Rhonda Anderson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > wrote:
Hi Aaron I received a message from Rashida late yesterday about city council and Marathon but was unable to make it. Can you share what was discussed relating to the fire and any plans that city council might have to address the issues of evacuation and the cities response. Was there any discussion regarding the air tests?
peace
rhonda
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Aaron Goodman | Coalition Coordinator
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Dir: 313.833.3935 x60 | Fax: 313.833.3955
4750 Woodward Ave., Suite 414 Detroit, MI 48201
