Neighborhood Environmental Action Report: Health, Environment and Race in Grand Rapids

Published by LINC Up

A wave of shock, apprehension, and anger went through the southeast Grand Rapids community in May 2016 after an air sample taken by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) from the duplex mixed-use property at 401 Hall Street SE and 1168 Madison Avenue SE tested positive for the presence of toxic chemicals, including tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE).

Hazardous levels of the chemicals had already been found at the site four months earlier by the MDEQ, but the Department had failed to notify the building’s occupants or local health authorities of the hazard...