Dearborn Sues Scrapyard Over Air Pollution, 'Fugitive Dust' Concerns

DEARBORN, MI — Dearborn city officials filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Pro-V Enterprises, LLC, claiming the trucking and scrapyard company creates excessive amounts of dust that endangers the health of residents in the area.

Officials said vehicles at the industrial scrapyard, located on Wyoming Avenue between Interstate 94 and Southern Avenue, create excessive amounts of "fugitive dust." Officials said the scrapyard has been ticketed at least 16 times for violating the city’s fugitive dust ordinance. The scrapyard is less than one mile from residential streets in Detroit and Dearborn.

"Fugitive dust" is an airborne particulate matter that has been linked to various respiratory problems such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and chronic COPD, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The lawsuit asks justices to prevent the scrapyard from "occupying and operating their business out of the building on the property, unless and until the nuisances are abated."

"As these legal actions show, the City of Dearborn won’t hesitate to seek justice on behalf of our residents when their health and well-being are threatened," Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said. "We want to build strong relationships with our local businesses, but those relationships must be grounded in accountability and respect for public health."

Patch reached out to Pro-V Enterprises for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

Pro-V says it provides transportation and processes metal processing for manufacturing, automotive, construction and machine shops at its "full-service scrapyard," according to the company's website.

Federal health officials say there are multiple ways to help control significant amounts of dust from being released into the air, such as covering or watering down materials in storage piles, paving unpaved roads and capping speed limits to 5 miles per hour on unpaved roads and 10 miles per hour on paved roads.

"Fugitive dust has profound and devastating health effects in populations that are both near to, and distant from, the original dust sources, and its proliferation in Dearborn neighborhoods cannot be tolerated," Dearborn Director of Public Health Ali Abazeed said. "I applaud Mayor Hammoud for sending a clear message that our residents’ health always comes first."