Frustrated with the City of Detroit's “lack of oversight" of its demolition contractors, the state is pushing for fines and additional penalties against the city after environmental inspectors found dozens of properties where deadly asbestos was mishandled.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has already demanded thousands of dollars in penalties against Detroit's demolition and asbestos abatement contractors after finding violations at more than 100 properties across the city since 2014, including multiple homes that were torn down before crumbling asbestos was removed.
The findings suggest the possibility of a larger problem with demolitions in the city.
DEQ can hold both contractors and the property owner — in this case the city, the Detroit Land Bank Authority and the Detroit Building Authority — equally responsible for asbestos violations. Until now, however, DEQ had sought fines against only contractors.
Since 2014, when Mayor Mike Duggan took office and launched his ambitious effort to tear down 40,000 blighted buildings in neighborhoods, DEQ investigators have found dusty bags stuffed with asbestos siding and tossed into a garbage bin, pulverized asbestos-containing floor tiles left in a pile of demolition debris, and a dry pile of construction debris littered with asbestos.
DEQ isn't the only agency taking a hard look at the city's demolition program, which has cost $166.6 million to date. The FBI and the inspector general of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Trouble Asset Recovery Program, which provides a large source of the funding, launched an investigation. The city's auditor general has been auditing the program.
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/05/20/detroit-demolitions-blight-asbestos/101520078/
= new reply since forum marked as read
