Update: Stellantis Detroit Assembly Complex
So, is it fixed or not? Residents are still smelling fumes and getting sick AFTER the big fix was announced on June 26, 2023. On July 12 WDIV reported the strongest fumes their crews had experienced and spoke with Justice for Beniteau resident Robert Shobe. Council Member Johnson followed up with a public statement.
- WDIV Coverage https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/07/12/strong-paint-smell-persists-outside-stellantis-plant-on-detroits-east-side-despite-new-equipment/
- Council Member Johnson’s statement - https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2023/07/14/detroit-city-council-member-asks-stellantis-to-report-on-odor-at-mack-assembly-plant-requests-action/
For the last four years Detroit People’s Platform have supported Justice for Beniteau Residents group who are most impacted by the plant’s expansion and the first new assembly line in Detroit in decades. Since day one residents have asked for funds to make their homes safe to live in or for voluntary relocation and they continue to do so in the face of what appears to be another failure.
Stellantis made $17.9 Billion in net profits last year!
The majority of Stellantis’ profits come from plants in North America including plants in southeast Michigan and the Detroit Assembly Complex. The complex has now had eight (8) violations and a consent order from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy EGLE).
Resident demands remain the same: Funding to make homes safe to live in or for voluntary relocation. Robert Shobe reaffirmed his belief that there needs to be a large buffer between the plant and people’s homes; “we need a buffer, a safety zone that puts space between people and the plant.”
Frontline Detroiters and the impact of climate change
Beniteau residents are in a unique yet common predicament faced by Black and low-income residents across the city and state. It is unique in the fact that the paint fumes and health impacts are very localized and specific to their proximity to a polluting facility. Unfortunately, it is also common for large corporations like Stellantis to perpetrate environmental harms to their neighbors who are mostly Black and low income.
As with the COVID pandemic, the recent string of air quality alerts associated wildfire’s have reinforced the dangerous intersection and impact of climate, environmental and racial injustice on the health and well-being of vulnerable residents.
