MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency collected roughly 11,000 gallons of water from a contaminated industrial site in suburban Detroit, officials said.
Groundwater and soil samples were taken Friday from Electro-Plating Services in Madison Heights, The Royal Oak Tribune reported.
High levels of multiple contaminants were found in soil and groundwater at the site when an inspection was launched after brightly-colored ooze was seen last month seeping through a concrete barrier along Interstate 696.
Officials said the tests will evaluate the contamination level. Results were expected within weeks.
Electro-Plating Services, under scrutiny by regulators for two decades, was shut down in 2016 for mismanagement of industrial waste. The EPA conducted a 2017 cleanup but it “was not intended to address all environmental impacts,” state officials have said.
State officials concluded earlier this year that the site posed no risk to drinking water and there was a low risk for the migration of contaminates off site.
The owner of Electro-Plating, Gary Sayers, was sentenced in November to a year in federal prison for illegally storing hazardous waste. He reported to prison Friday, according to The Detroit Free Press. In 2005, he had pleaded guilty in state court to illegally transporting hazardous waste.
Featured image: This photo provided by Michigan Department of Transportation shows toxic chemical substances leaking along Interstate 696 in Madison Heights, Mich., on Dec. 20, 2019. (Michigan Department of Transportation via AP)
