The Clinton Township blast that killed a young man and rocked central Macomb County last winter is still under investigation for potential additional criminal activity, township Supervisor Bob Cannon said Tuesday after an EPA news conference was held at the site.
Cannon said immediately following the press gathering at the site conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the matter is the subject of an “ongoing investigation.”
Already, Noor Kestou, the owner of the Goo Smoke Shop, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Turner Salter, 19, who was hit in the head by flying debris from the March 4 explosion at Groesbeck Highway and 15 Mile Road.
The series of loud explosions and fire over several hours sent cannisters, knives and other items from the warehouse flying in central Macomb County, sending debris into the air for miles.
Cannon spoke after the EPA provided details of its $2.6-million clean up over the next 100 working days.
“They (the EPA) are here, onside cleaning things up, and the prosecutor is going to make sure somebody pays for this crime that has been committed,” Cannon said. “It was illegal to have that kind of quantity” of the hazardous materials on site.
A spokesperson for the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday the department has not received any additional warrant requests related to the site.
A call to a Clinton Township police official was not immediately returned Tuesday.
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The EPA conducted an initial clean-up in May to de-gas and recycle 3,582 intact compressed gas cylinders, and to remove three 55-gallon drums of lithium-ion batteries.
The clean-up will include removal of items that may have been illegally stored at the warehouse facility from where items were delivered to retail outlets. EPA personnel will converge on the scene this week to locate and identify remaining hazardous materials, including uncovered cans of butane, intact compressed gas cylinders, vaping pens and lithium-ion batteries, officials said.
“They don’t know what’s underneath there,” Cannon said. “The roof fell. We know there are things that we don’t know what they are, and we don’t know how dangerous they are.”
EPA officials were negotiating with the business owner, Kestou, to cooperate in the clean-up, but Kestou indicated through his attorney he has no funds to assist.
“Our efforts are going to be primarily reduce the imminent threat, which would be removal everything above ground here, namely the compressed gas cyclinders of (nitrious oxide), cans of ultra-refined butane and the lithium ion batteries that are in the vape pens and cartridges” that were identified previously by the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said Sean Kane, on-scene coordinator for the EPA’s Region 5 Emergency Management Division.
He said the combination of “intact cans of ultra-refined butane” and “intact compressed gas cylinders containing nitrous oxide” could “set off another fire.”
“As we go in, we have to evaluate, what is the threat level here?” he said. “Are there other things in there we don’t know about? … We’re having to evaluate on the fly, so we have to take on site worker health and safety” into “prominent” importance.
Permits will have to be obtained to dispose of the batteries, he added.
Among things that might be found is a safe that was located in the facility, Cannon said.
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“It will be interesting to see what is in that safe,” he said.
Kane said during its “full removal” of the rubble, the EPA will reduce air contamination as much as possible. The site will be monitored visually and with specialized equipment.
“We do not want visible emissions off the site,” he said. “Outside of just visually seeing stuff, we can apply engineering, administration controls, wet methods. We are very cognizant of how dense this area is as far as active commercial entities and residential subdivisions.”
Kane said his division is not involved with monitoring or cleaning up any potential underground contamination.
Officials from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether EGLE will be involved in underground testing and mitigation.
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