The infamous Clinton Township smoke supply shop destroyed in a massive explosion in March could end up being placed on the EPA’s Superfund priority program.
And that’s not necessarily an ideal outcome, local officials say.
According to township Supervisor Bob Cannon, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to begin its pre-removal work of the site later this week. The land could be placed on the EPA’s Superfund list of contaminated sites, “which isn’t a good thing for the community,” Cannon said Tuesday.
Township officials say Noor Kestou, the owner of the Goo Smoke Shop/Select Distributor, has indicated through his attorney he lacks sufficient funds to proceed with cleaning up the property on 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway, which is is expected to cost millions.
Kestou, 31, of Commerce Township in Oakland County, who has a court hearing on involuntary manslaughter charges later this month, is expected to try to defer the bill to his insurance company. Ultimately, officials say, the site will be assumed by the federal government.
Clinton Township doesn’t have any money allocated for the massive cleanup, so the cost could eventually be charged to the EPA and taxpayers.
“That’s my worry,” Cannon said.
“Is the EPA going to pay for it or expect the community pay for or will it be placed on the Superfund list. That property could be sitting there a long time, but I want it out of there. I know the people who live and work over there want it gone, too.”
EPA officials on Tuesday confirmed the agency will oversee the cleanup of the site. They expect to soon issue a news release outlining additional details, said spokesperson Rachel Bassler,
Township: Explosion caused by improperly stored canisters
The March 4 explosion and subsequent fire at Goo Smoke Shop rocked central Macomb County and sent debris up to two miles away. One of an estimated 1,000 metal canisters at the scene fatally struck a 19-year-man and another injured a township firefighter.
As cleanup stalls, former Goo Smoke Shop owner scheduled for court next week
Clinton Township officials and prosecutors have said the explosion and fire were caused by thousands of improperly stored canisters of butane and nitrous oxide. Investigators said there was a large amount of combustible gases inside the building when the fire and non-stop explosions took place.
In the days after the explosion, a work crew erected a safety fence around the site and security guards were placed at the scene to make sure no one removed items from the property that could be called into evidence. The fence remains around the site.
As owner of the property, Kestou is viewed as the likely responsible party to pay for the process, but his attorney has informed the EPA he doesn't have the funds to sign an order, similar to a good faith and voluntary effort, to conduct a cleanup under the government's oversight, township officials said.
Defense attorney James Thomas was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
EPA to begin its oversight role
The environmental agency will set up what's known as an infrastructure mobilization facility at the Goo property to begin the removal plans associated with the cleanup. That will include:
- A workplan spelling out what needs to be addressed
- An air monitoring process to calculate what, if any, harmful fumes remain in the area
- Emergency contingency plans
- And a health and safety plan.
Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said a slew of government agencies including the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the EPA, and Clinton Township Fire Department have conducted their own investigations.
As part of the discovery process in Kestou's criminal case, the defense attorney and insurance company have been notified of the findings, which may help determine if the insurance company has a duty to pay for the cleanup.
According to Lucido, if the insurance company determines the Goo operators didn't have the correct zoning permits or deviated in some way from the property's intended use and allowed those explosive materials to be stored there, it may say the loss isn't covered by the policy.
"I want to know if Mr. Kestou doesn't have the money and the insurance wont' pick it up, I don't want the cost to be placed on the taxpayers. I know it's an eyesore that I don't want to see but somebody has take care of business there," Lucido said.
Superfund list designation likely
Eventually Goo could make the EPA's Superfund list, which includes some of the country's most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills and natural disasters.
It would become Macomb County's fourth cleanup site on the list after the Liquid Disposal, Inc. (LDI) in Shelby Township, the South Macomb Disposal Authority landfill in Macomb Township, and the Ten Mile Drain at the intersection of Bon Brae Street and Harper Avenue in St. Clair Shores. The Ten Mile Drain site remediation was a more than two-decade long project that cost millions.
According to the EPA, Superfund program is funded by a trust fund financed by a combination of taxes and appropriations from the general fund. Superfund's goals are to protect human health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated sites; make responsible parties pay for cleanup work; and involve communities in the process.
Included with the cleanup costs is the cost of the public safety response from several Macomb County fire departments.
Goo was a smoke shop that sold tobacco, smoking paraphernalia and various items. Select Distributors provides marijuana-related items and equipment to the local cannabis industry.
Marijuana sales are prohibited in Clinton Township.
Kestou, the property owner, was arraigned in April in 41B District Court in Clinton Township on charges of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony. He was released from jail after posting a $500,000 bond.
He is scheduled to face a probable cause conference on Aug. 20. Two previous court dates were adjourned.
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