“There’s a lot of people who have the same problems,” he said. “There’s people that have it worse because we’ve had people that had to go to the hospital with their children for asthma. It’s unacceptable what’s going here.”
The city says its hands are tied. “This is strictly an EGLE regulatory and enforcement issue,” city spokesman John Roach told Crain’s.
The Oct. 20 air quality violation is the second for the plant in as many months.
In September, EGLE inspectors cited the Auburn Hills-based automaker for a “moderate to strong” paint or solvent odor emitting from the assembly plant’s new paint shop.
EGLE’s air quality investigators documented the odors on three separate occasions — Aug. 27, Aug. 31 and Sept. 3 — after fielding complaints about nuisance odors, according to the first violation notice.
Stellantis, then still known as FCA, invested $1.6 billion into the 2.5 million-square-foot assembly plant, the combination of two old engine plants and the newly constructed paint shop.
More than 4,900 workers at the Mack Avenue plant assemble Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs.
As part of its required Community Benefits Agreement, Stellantis and the city agreed to a $35 million investment in neighborhoods around the complex centered on “workforce development and training programs, education, neighborhood and housing improvements, and sustainable operations,” according to the automaker.
