Public comment at April 1, 2019 Saline City Council Meeting renewed focus on 232 Monroe Street remediation

Hoover Universal, Saline Die Casting Division, circa 1982 — Overview of Hoover Universal, Saline Die Casting Division yard at 232 Monroe Street, circa 1982 (with Curtiss Park baseball diamond visible behind). © 1982, 2019 d2 Saline, All Rights Reserved. USA

Per routine, the final agenda item for the seventy-eight minute Saline City Council meeting this past Monday was an invitation to hear citizen comments.

One resident, after stepping to the microphone, introducing himself and stating that he has “lived here just about a year,” closed with focus on the former Hoover Universal Die Casting Division site off Monroe Street. [1]

I know that the history of the site on Monroe Street that’s under control of Adient, I believe, right now — the Johnson Controls site — is a little bit in flux with the PFAS issue, and things like that. [2-4]

After having undertaken his own efforts to try and “piece together the chronological order of everything, and how they sped up the remdiation and all that,” he asked City Council to request a representative of Adient be asked to appear before this body with “periodic updates.”

The timing of this is a perfect fit when considered against the extensive presentation made to council by Adient Director of Environmental Affairs Mike Stoelton on October 23, 2017. [5]

At that time, he began with a more generalized review of 232 Monroe Street ownership history; more specific details remain readily accessible online — including our own Saline Journal aerial, rooftop, interior, and production photographs of the facility dating to the mid-1980s. [6-14]

Beyond this, Saline Journal has independently prepared the following timeline specific to contamination, litigation, and remediation history of the site.

1986— July 23. “Removal of Soil Nears Completion at Plant Site” The Saline Reporter [15]
2003— September 24. “Administrative Order on Consent for Corrective Action, Washtenaw Industrial Facility, 232-290 Monroe Street,” United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [16]
2006— May 25. “Brownfield Plan for The Banks of Saline: 232 Monroe Street, Saline, Washtenaw County, Michigan” Washtenaw County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority [17]
2008— May 6. “Saline, Mich, brownfields project gets state grant, loan” Ann Arbor Business [18]
2008— September 10. “Brownfield cleanup begins on The Banks of Saline project” Concentrate Ann Arbor [19]
2010— June 25. “Opinion & Order Denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss as to Count I and Declining to Exercise Supplemental Jurisdiction Over Plaintiff’s State-Law Claims” Saline River Properties v Johnson Controls, United States District Court [20]
2011— January 14. “Planners give developer more time for Banks of Saline condominium project” The Ann Arbor News [21]
2011— November 8. “Confusion Over Scope And Timing of RCRA Cleanup Leads to Potential Liability for Brownfield Developer” Schnapf Environmental Law [22]
2012— August 13. “Opinion & Order” Saline River Properties v Johnson Controls, United States District Court [23]
2015— August 7. “Saline die cast factory property cleanup Aug 7 2015” video [24]
2015— August 24. “Johnson Controls Saline die cast factory site cleanup Aug 24 2015” video [25]
2015— August 27. “Uncovered truck hauling debris from Johnson Controls factory cleanup Aug 27 2015” video [26]
2015— August 28. “Saline die cast factory cleanup Aug 28 2015” video [27]
2015— September 19. “Johnson Controls Saline Michigan die cast factory cleanup site Sept 19 2015” video [28]
2016— February 29. Mike Stoelton provided formal twelve-minute presentation to Saline City Council regarding plans for Johnson Controls to accelerate mediation efforts on his initiative. [29]

In his almost half-hour-long presentation seventeen months ago to council, Mr Stoelton again started with his own summary of corporate responsibilities for contamination and remediation on the 232 Monroe Street site. He also detailed the recent discovery of arsenic contamination, subsequent materials removal undertaken to address that, and steps that had been taken to plant new trees deemed appropriate at process conclusion.

At that point in October of 2017 he anticipated startup of an installed soil vapor extraction unit as mechanism of remdiating volitile organic compounds as then immanent.

Finally, well in advance of the question posed before Saline City Council two days ago, it may be recalled that Mike Stoelton said that Adient would begin removal of sediments from the Saline River during the summer of 2019. That process would be completed, he said, in less than a month.

References