Contaminated water is still migrating off the property of Electro-Plating Services, despite pumps installed inside the building.
That's according to Tracy Kecszemeti, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy's district supervisor of materials management.
Read more: First day of trial: regulators paint grim picture of conditions at Electro-Plating Services
So the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is trying a new mitigation tactic.
Environmental regulators say the problem is the highly contaminated chemical overflow pit dug into the ground inside Electro-Plating Services. That's the source of the green ooze that poured onto I-696 in December.
The pit continually fills up with groundwater, and despite the installation of pumps, it's quote, "not enough," Kecszemeti testified at a trial on Monday. The City of Madison Heights is suing Gary Sayers, the owner of Electro-Plating Services, to force him to pay to demolish his own factory.
Kecszemeti said the EPA is now digging an interceptor trench on the service drive of I-696 to try to funnel the contaminated water away from the stormwater sewer and collect it for proper disposal.
She also testified the building on the site will have to be torn down for a longer term solution, because there's no way to remove contaminated soil under the building until it is gone.
