Michigan environmental regulators have once again hit Stellantis with a violation notice for one of its Detroit auto factories.
The company has been hit with a slew of state environmental violations for its Mack Avenue facility over the past year and a half. Now, it’s been cited for violating its permit at the Jefferson North plant that’s also on Detroit’s east side.
According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Jefferson North emitted more volatile organic compounds per vehicle than its permit allows this September.
Bob Byrnes is with EGLE’s air quality division. He says the plant is only allowed to emit 4.8 pounds of volatile organic compounds per vehicle each month. “And the facility has reported in September of 2022 that they have exceeded that limit, and they have emitted 5.01 pounds per vehicle produced,” he said.
Byrnes said that because of supply chain shortages and other production issues at Jefferson North, “overall mass emissions are down at the plant,” he said. “But this one is more of a performance standard. It's based upon how much is emitted per vehicle produced. And when you lower the amount of vehicles produced, it becomes harder to achieve those lower values.”
Byrnes said Stellantis received the violation notice this week, and has 21 days to respond and “tell us how long it's been ongoing, how long they might anticipate it ongoing, and what mitigation measures they will take to come back into compliance.”
Stellantis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
