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By: Batoul Hassan Summary: In early September, Flat rock’s residence evacuated their home in a hurry because Ford accidentally released 1,400 gallons of benzene gasoline into the city’s sanitary sewer system. At first, Ford assumed there was a small gas leak in one of the pipes, which they quickly shut down, but it somehow became a massive gas leak resulting in Flat Rock going into a state of emergency. Ford takes full responsibility for the gas leak, resulting in the company apologizing numerous times, shutting down production for a week, and renting out hundreds of hotel rooms with gift cards and free meals to the evacuated residents. There were also family events hosted by Ford to try and soothe the disturbance they created to the residence in Flat Rock. The Ford company also pledged $1 million to residences that were affected by the gas spill. While Ford is working earnestly to fix this situation by shutting down production for a week, using firefighting foam to suppress the benzene vapors, etc., Flat Rock Officials are knocking on residence doors to recommend evacuating their homes. The officials believe that the vapors will not put the residents in imminent danger, but it would be best if they evacuate the area. There has not been any notice on when the residences of Flat Rock can go back to their home and their daily routine, while the Ford company does not understand how the gas spill grew to that size. Until then, the Ford company is working tirelessly to understand how this leak happened and to make sure this type of situation never happens again. Why we should care? As a resident living in the same county as Flat Rock, we need to be aware that the gas leak is not over yet, and the benzene vapors coming from the sewer lines are extremely flammable and dangerous.  Photo Credit: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press Example Article. usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2021/09/07/ford-halts-mustang-production-gas-spill-michigan/5755661001/ This article was fascinating to me because the Ford company quickly acknowledged that it was their mistake that created a gigantic gas leak and the company was more than willing to help the evacuated residences of Flat Rock. The company even rented out hotel rooms so the residents could be comfortable while this gas leak is occurring in their area. Not only were free rooms given out, but Ford also gave out free meal cards and gift cards to make the residents of Flat Rock more comfortable with their situation. I also find it interesting that Ford does not know why this gas leak occurred, but they are still working tirelessly to figure out why the gas spill happened and how never to let this type of situation happen again. Flat Rock is also part of my county, and I enjoy knowing what's happening in Michigan, even if I do not live in that area. Science in Action.
Dr. Stefan Schwietzke is an international senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund who studies local and global emissions inventories, methane emissions, and atmospheric measurements. Dr. Schwietzke travels around the world to look at countries' methane emissions and characterize their emissions from local to global areas. As of right now, he is working with the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to identify emissions of methane and how to minimize the emissions. Dr. Schwietzke would be extremely helpful with Flat Rock’s gas leak crisis because benzene and methane are extremely similar gases, both being organic compounds, but their chemical structures are different. Dr. Schwietzke will be able to see how much emissions are in the air locally because of the gas leak and discover the environmental issues that have occurred because of the leak. Since Dr. Schwietzke has worked in multiple corporations related to biofuels, he will also be able to help Ford with understanding how the gas leak happened and dealing with the aftermath of the gas spill.
10 Comments
Hailey Finnen
9/15/2021 10:00:31
Wow, this is very interesting. I'm so glad that Ford is taking full responsibility. I couldn't imagine being one of the families that got displaced because of this disaster. I enjoyed reading your summary, you talked about all the most important points and it was very informative. 9/16/2021 10:34:47
This reminds me of a news article which was published 2 days ago. In Detroit, residents in this area have been complaining about natural gas smell for weeks, on Saturday night, they heard an explosion and saw the road expanding upwards. It sounds crazy but at Fort Street and Woodmere in Southwest Detroit they are currently investigating the cause. The huge cracks in the road are still emitting some kind of chemical into the air but DTE insists that they have air monitors on site. The City is leading the investigation but not giving the residents much guidance or information.
Juliana Witt
9/16/2021 21:52:52
My first thought about this story is just how crazy it is. I think the fact that there was this incident is very bad, stuff like this shouldn't happen in the first place. It was good that they reacted fast but it also makes me feel like they knew it was as bad as it was. I think it is good that they took initiative and helped all the people in need I do just think there is more behind the scenes. I liked that you wrote about the article about tracking the emissions released in that area. It was cool to see that there are people out there studying the emissions for the safety of people and the world. I think there needs to be more precautions put in place to ensure that this doesn't happen in the first place. I think that the take away from this is that there needs to be more focus on environmental issues out of the safety of the animals and people on the planet.
Cameron Cornellier
9/17/2021 23:39:27
Good on Ford for taking accountability for their mistake. The Flat Rock residents that are displaced due to this mistake should have all expenses fully covered by Ford. I am curious as to the long term environmental impact of this gas leak. Mistakes like this make you think of how a simple slip up could end up in a total crisis, like the Flint water crisis.
Rachel Mangulabnan
9/19/2021 17:37:32
Although Ford has taken full responsibility, I just don't think handing out gift cards and things is enough. Incidents such as these are nothing new. Companies time and time again put residents in harms way and it's only after tragedy strikes that they then take action. I wish there would be more precautionary measures to prevent these from occurring in the first place. You mentioned how they are not sure where the leak came from, and that is even more concerning as I don't understand why there isn't a more fool proof system. Obviously the safety of the people takes priority, however has Ford or anyone looked into how this may have affected wildlife in the surrounding area? When companies have these mistakes, the environment is also impacted and I feel like sometimes we forget to take that into consideration during the clean up efforts. I also found it interesting that I personally have not seen a lot of media attention towards this. It could just be that I was not tuned in enough, however the fact that so many were affected and it was such a major leak, I thought it would have been more of a headline.
Tommy Maloney
9/20/2021 12:07:56
Hearing about this really shocked me, living not very far from Flat Rock. As a big fan of Ford and what they produce I was very disappointed in this spill, but I understand accidents happen. Seeing what they are doing to help accommodate for the people who had to evacuate their homes was nice to hear because of how hard it must be for the people that are going through that having to run from their homes, I am glad they are trying to go above and beyond to apologize for what they have done. And I hope this will be a big eye opener to other companies when they figure out just how this spill happened and led to such a great amount and help for them to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the first place. A spill like this could have been exponentially more devastating for the company and more importantly for the people it affected, and I am glad that was not the case but hopefully this can play as an example for these companies to be more careful and observant of what they are doing to hopefully never let something like this happen again. I hope that they can figure out exactly why and how this happened and that they can get it totally under control and cleaned up properly. These massive companies need to realize just how much impact they have not only on the people living around them but on our ecosystem as a whole as well.
Jenin Kaddoura
9/20/2021 23:46:36
The summary you wrote was great, as it covered all the important points without giving too many details. It was also good how you reported everything objectively, without including any biased comments on the incident. It is surprising that such a major issue took place in Wayne County, yet so many people living near that area did not seem to know about it. Ford’s approach to the issue is somehow convenient, since they immediately gave them a place to stay, and further promised them with financial assistance to make up for their mistake. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for big companies to avoid any acknowledgement of their mistakes; therefore Ford’s efforts are appreciated. Nevertheless, the company should have put in more attention to the minor gas leak in one of the pipes, and focus on the surrounding pipes to hinder any more possible leakages. However, their current efforts to solve the issue shows how serious they took it, which also assures the public that more precautionary measures will be taken for future purposes. On the other hand, the Flat Rock officials and Ford are also conjointly working to guarantee that the residents are safe without having to deal with any aftermath. Overall, Ford could have done a better job from the financial aspect to make it up to the residents who were mostly affected and assert them safety in their homes, and from their initial approach regarding the small leakage. Nevertheless, they also did a good job in generally shutting down the gas leakage and solving all the other problems encompassed by the main issue.
Alex Leh
9/22/2021 12:54:23
Huh, what an interesting circumstance. It seems as though Ford is fully accepting responsibility and helping those effected. Given the gravity of the situation, im sure they wanted to evacuate more? A few years ago a gas line exploded by my house in Lake Orion and the flames were visible from Detroit!
Keara McLaughlin
9/27/2021 19:41:41
Having worked on the Flint Water prosecution team, this reminds me of that crisis. The key difference is that those at fault (Ford) took responsibility. While I believe that what they have done is good, it is the bare minimum. I think they could do more. Ford is worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they donated hotel rooms and a million dollars to families that were displaced, causing this kind of damage and risk to both public health and the environment is something that could have been prevented. When causing this kind of damage, the restitution should cover more than just the basic damages.
James Bevel
9/28/2021 00:35:38
What a travesty. I didn't know that such a catastrophe had happened so close, so recently. I commend The Ford Motor Company for owning up their ecological error, if in fact that is what happened. However, I am a skeptic and believe a thorough investigation needs to be carried out by state and Federal environmental enforcement agencies to insure that their is accountability for this negligent act by Ford. Ford also needs to pay for all restorative implementations for the physical damage to the infrastructure, the negative ecological impact on the environment and inconvenience of the residents due to Fords negligence. Lastly, there needs to be stricter safeguards implemented to insure that benzene gas or any gas does not leak, spill, or is wasted in manner that can cause this type of catastrophe again. Lastly, I will emphasize and and contend that the inconvenienced residents aren't getting anything free except inconvenienced lives. So as a result I think coercive legislation best suits this situation and set a future precedent with very high fines. Leave a Reply. |
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