By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TRENTON – Local officials and environmentalists have strong opinions about not only the McLouth site cleanup, but its future use and the impact on Downriver.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-12th District) said her priority has always been to ensure that the site is cleaned up.
“From the day I walked into office, the McLouth Steel site has been a deep concern of mine,” she said. “I immediately found it was already a candidate for the National Priorities List and designated as a Superfund site.”
Dingell said she is concerned about potential contamination of the water in the surrounding communities, and said she worked with the Environmental Protection Agency, state and city governments to address what needed to be done.
She said Trenton officials rejected buying the site themselves, which would have allowed them to determine the site’s future.
Dingell said that while completion of the site cleanup is still a significant way down the road, after the dangerous chemicals are removed, groundwater studies still need to be done, as well as additional remediation and cleanup.
“Superfund money is not contingent on MSC’s continued involvement in the project,” she said. “Cleanup under the Superfund agreement is based on current zoning and the future and intended use of the property.”
MSC refers to MSC Land Company, LLC, which has the same address as Crown Enterprises in Warren.
Dingell said the Trenton planning commission’s report, a four-year study, reviews all the zoning requirements in the city, not just the McLouth site.
“My understanding is it has more protections for waterfront properties than currently exist,” she said. “My focus is on making sure the site is cleaned up and that nobody is in immediate danger.”
Dingell said that while local leaders and residents will determine the McLouth site’s future use, her priority at the federal level is to ensure is it properly cleaned up and not a threat to human health or the surrounding environment.
Trenton City Councilwoman Wendy Pate said no date has been set for the city council’s vote on the zoning proposal, and she said it is likely that the council will discuss it in a study session first, so they can get some questions answered before they have to vote on the rezoning proposal.
“The rezoning is for the whole city,” she said. “There are several things that I do not agree with and have questions about, especially (industrial waterfront) on the southern portion, and some semantic issues I have found, so as it stands, I do not support the proposal. There is more work to be done.”
Pate said the EPA will ensure that the site is cleaned up whatever its zoning is, but added that it is more realistic to see it used in a non-residential application.
“I need to know what the intention is for the use of the property, and the risks of exposure that people will have in interacting with the property,” she said. “Non-residential clean-up actually covers any use from a park to an industrial site, and anything in between. The EPA will do a feasibility study and recommend remedial action once they know that intent.”
Pate said Crown/MSC will complete the Phase 1 cleanup, which will be followed by the EPA’s Superfund cleanup.
“If Crown/MSC wants to build/develop before the EPA is ready to make recommendations, they can as long as it does not impede the EPA work,” she said. “The EPA would let them know if they can build or not, if they want to clean it up themselves, or wait for the EPA to do it.”
John Hartig, Ph.D., a Downriver resident, and a visiting scholar with the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, a University of Windsor Great Lakes science policy advisor, and with the International Association for Great Lakes Research, said he opposes the rezoning of the McLouth site to be a waterfront industrial district, and supports the mixed use designation.
“We need to support a bold vision for a post environmental waterfront,” he said. “Throughout the Great Lakes, cleanup of rivers and harbors is leading to reconnecting people to their waterways via greenways and blueways that is leading to waterfront revitalization, including mixed use development.”
Hartig said the Detroit Riverwalk is a good example of mixed-use development, as is the former Chrysler site on the Detroit River which was cleaned up and redeveloped into the Refuge Gateway to the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.
“The community has stepped up and shown the courage to lead on a post-industrial waterfront,” he said. “Now, the leaders must follow. We have a once-in-a-century opportunity to reclaim another portion of the Detroit River waterfront, improve public access and create a more livable and sustainable community as a gift for future generations.”
He said Trenton has not taken advantage of its Detroit River location like it could.
“Trenton is a wonderful place to live and raise a family, but it has not embraced nor taken advantage of the Detroit River like it should,” he said. “Mixed use redevelopment of the McLouth site will make Trenton an even better community in which to live and work.”
Residents protest former McLouth site zoning change from mixed use to industrial