posted 11-26-2002 08:28 PM
Mysterious airborne dust sprinkles Trenton
Gritty residue perplexes city, stateBy Craig Garrett / The Detroit News
Morris Richardson II / The Detroit News
Tests at Parkview Estates have yet to find what is releasing a dust that ruins car paint. "You could sand a piece of wood with a car hood," said Gerald Lozon, who lives nearby.
Where to call:
Trenton City Hall, (734) 675-8600.
Local office of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, (313) 456-4685.
Natural Resources Defense Council, (202) 289-6868.
Environmental Watch Group, (202) 939-9131 or www.ewg.org.
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TRENTON -- It may be some time before cars and plastic patio furniture are safe at a Trenton mobile home park, state air-quality authorities have told the city.
Air testing at the Parkview Estates on Jefferson Avenue has yet to provide experts with an industrial culprit releasing a gritty dust into the air that ruins car paint and outdoor plastics.
Across the United States, scientists are investigating the health effects of inhaling dust, from urban centers near aging industrial facilities to farms.
The Centers for Disease Control has documented cases of farmers getting sick from dust contamination and calls it Organic Dust Toxic Syndrome.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued an alert saying people should avoid inhaling the dust from dirty humidifiers.
And at the World Trade Center site in New York, environmental officials have been monitoring the impact of dust contamination and inhalation by residents and emergency workers. Many have complained of health problems. The National Resources Defense Council said at least 10,000 people suffered short-term health effects from inhaling dust near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan.
History has shown that coal-powered plants -- electricity, steel and auto manufacturing -- create much of the air debris that falls on cities like Trenton, said Alex Sagady, a Lansing-based environmental consultant. But tougher air standards created in the 1970s have slashed air pollutants, he said.
The good news ends there, said John Walke, a spokesman for the National Resources Defense Council in Washington, D.C. Federal officials last week issued new rules for industry, limiting plans to further toughen air standards and hold companies that pollute more accountable, he said.
"Smog is still a real killer," he said.
In Trenton, some residents living at Parkview speculate that the debris is escaping from a defective air-scrubbing device at a nearby auto plant or from a coal-powered electric plant on Jefferson Avenue.
The dust has some microscopic components from coal and steel -- and a dozen other sources not related to industry, state air quality experts said.
But the real cause is still a mystery, according to investigators.
"We can't point fingers. You don't want to bring anyone down if they're not the culprits," said Debra Schonsheck, a member of a Trenton environmental board looking into the matter. "But we've got to start answering these questions."
Tests of the gritty dust have been taken by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the agency responsible for air and water quality rules. Three samples gathered by state investigators have produced three different results, a state environmentalist said.
"I've never experienced a situation like this before," said Mike Gruber, the environmental engineer handling the investigation for the state agency. "I'd love to name a chemical (in the tested dust) and then go looking for a match. But I don't have it."
The dust also has brought criticism. For years, many had worked to change Downriver's belching smokestack image by insisting air quality rules be enforced. It was difficult because industry supplied so many jobs and fueled the economy.
There's also a much more frightening image. Studies show a link between living near industry and higher rates of cancer and asthma.
But the battle against poor air quality Downriver has been strengthened by tougher federal standards and a changing economy. Once a hub of chemical and steel production, most industry along the Downriver shoreline is gone or reduced in size.
"There had been a hundred different sources" of air pollution in past years, said Blair McGowan, a Grosse Ile activist. "But society is slowly evolving. We're not going to tolerate this anymore."
State health officials have tracked Trenton's gritty fallout since residents started complaining in June. What's alarming for some is that car paint absorbs the dust, leaving a sandpaper finish. Many car owners are stuck with dulled paint finishes because insurance deductibles are too high, one resident complained at a recent hearing.
This month, test results of the last sample collected showed a biological component, or something that might fall from trees or get carried in the breeze. The two other samples had traces of insect parts, glass, paint chips, fly ash -- a byproduct of coal -- and road debris like asphalt and rust. Still, investigators have found no real culprit.
Some Parkview residents suggest that the dust is coming from a nearby DaimlerChrysler plant, something plant officials say is not likely. Plant spokesman Woody Woodruff said air debris in the manufacturing process is recycled back into the plant. The government ordered air scrubbers in most American auto plants to filter fouled air, Woodruff said.
To verify DaimlerChrysler's innocence, state engineer Gruber took metal shavings from the engine plant. The samples at Parkview and the auto plant didn't match, he said.
Parkview is situated near industrial sites that supply car engines, electricity, steel and chemicals. There's also an incinerator that burns waste collected from a sewage plant.
But scientists have not found solid evidence that any of the plants produce the stuff that falls on the nearby homes and cars at Parkview, or a neighboring apartment complex north of the mobile homes.
"It gets so bad, you could sand a piece of wood with a car hood," said Gerald Lozon, who lives on Jefferson near Parkview. "When you do get it, the items in and around your home are shot."
Resident Peter Ambs knows one certain fact about the dust. It comes to town every few years, sprinkling cars and homes with a gold-flecked powder that eats into the paint of his car, he said.
"There's no real pattern," Ambs said. "I have a couple of friends with brand-new cars, and it's been real bad for them. It's something in the wind, something way out beyond the city."
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