Fact Sheet: EGLE Meeting Stellantis (FCA) Environmental Update

January 27, 2022
Good Governance
The Commons

Fact Sheet: Stellantis (FCA) Environmental Update

EGLE Community Meeting - Thursday January 27th at 6pm

Download this Fact Sheet prepared by Great Lakes Environmental Law Center

How do I attend the meeting? You can either join online or over the phone. In both cases, registration is not required. To join online or pre-register visit https://bit.ly/34rgxYL. To call in dial 636-651-3142 and use conference code 374288.

The Stellantis (FCA) Detroit Assembly Complex is located on the City’s eastside and houses two large plants, Mack Assembly and Jefferson North. In recent months, the Complex has received three (3) violation notices from Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). Two (2) of these violations were due to paint and solvent odors impacting nearby neighborhoods. In another, issued in October, EGLE found Stellantis to be ducting Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions directly into the environment without any treatment. Treatment of these emissions was a mandatory condition of their air permit. The violations went undetected as the plant operated for eight (8) months. EGLE allowed the plant to continue operating in violation of the permit even after the violation was issued until Stellantis corrected the issue in December.

What is the agenda for this meeting?

EGLE, EPA, and MDHHS plan to describe these air sampling activities and share the results they have obtained so far at the community meeting on January 27th. There will be time for public questions after each presentation and after all presentations are completed.

What has been done since the violation notices were issued?

After issuing the violation notices in September, October, and November of last year, EGLE began a process called “escalated enforcement.” Mobile air monitoring was conducted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over a period of two (2) days, November 16 and 17. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) also hired contractors to collect air samples that occurred on two dates, November 22 and December 8.

What is escalated enforcement and how can it be used to benefit impacted community members?

Escalated enforcement usually ends in the company entering into a legally enforceable agreement with EGLE. This agreement might require a violating company like Stellantis to fulfill additional monitoring and reporting requirements, pay fines, and sometimes to fund a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP). For the community, the main priorities for this meeting are to make sure EGLE uses escalated enforcement in a way that most benefits the people impacted by Stellantis’ violations. This includes ensuring EGLE:

  • determines exactly what is being emitted from the facility and how much
  • adds long-term frequent monitoring requirements for these emissions
  • requires Stellantis to fund a large community led investment through a SEP

How do I attend the meeting?

You can either join online or over the phone. In both cases, registration is not required. To join online or pre-register visit https://bit.ly/34rgxYL. To call in dial 636-651-3142 and use conference code 374288.

Sample Questions

EPA: Air Monitoring

  • What long-term and regular monitoring is going to be done to determine what IS being emitted and measuring levels of each of these compounds at the stack?
    • Monitored for hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methane (CH4), benzene (C6H6), toluene (C7H8), and p-xylene (C8H10).
    • The facility should not release much of the VOCs or other gases that EPA measured.
    • Despite lower levels of the compounds tested for, EPA field staff observed odors near the facility when conducting the testing. Something that is not being tested for is clearly being emitted.
    • The community deserves to know what the facility is putting into the air we breathe.
    • We know that EPA collected several air samples in containers for lab analysis. This is a good start, but a handful of samples taken over a very short period of time is not enough.

EGLE: Prioritization of Public Health

  • What mechanisms is EGLE going to put in place to discover and address issues like this faster and in a way that prioritizes public health?
    • The VOC ducting violation went undetected as the plant operated for eight (8) months.
    • EGLE then allowed Stellantis to operate in violation of its permit conditions for several more months until the ducting was corrected.
    • This resulted in several additional tons of VOCs to be emitted into the community that should not have been there.

EGLE: Enforcement Action

  • What increased monitoring requirements will be incorporated through the enforcement action?
    • VOC emissions are currently tested only once a month. This should be increased to require real-time readings both at the stack and at more locations in the nearby neighborhoods.
  • Will EGLE ensure funds from fines levied against Stellantis go back into the impacted community through a community led Supplemental Environmental Project?
    • Community members have suffered from a wide range of health impacts since this Complex became operational.
    • These specific violations have most impacted those living closest to the facility.
    • Supplemental Environmental Projects should focus on those that have been most impacted.
    • The design of these projects should be heavily influenced by a community led process.

Read EGLE Must Make Stellantis Pay

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