Shelby Township Orders Company To Clean Up Former Visteon Site

Shelby Township has ordered Indiana Metals LLC, the company that owns the former Visteon plant on Mound Road, to clean up the site, which is set for demolition.

In addition to graffiti, the former plant, located at 50500 Mound, is littered with debris piles, overrun with weeds and trash, and is wide open to the elements at certain locations.  

Indiana Metals LLC, which purchased the plant in Nov. 2010, has 30 days to complete restorative work which includes: painting over graffiti, closing building openings, and removing all debris piles. The work order was issued Nov. 21 by the township and it appears as if Indiana Metals has started some of the cleanup, as some graffiti was covered earlier this week. 

“The blight conditions need to be removed and the site secured,” said Tim Wood, Shelby Township Building Director. “Our hope is that this is the first step in moving forward.” 

Indiana Metals started demolition in May but stopped after the township issued a lawsuit claiming work was not being executed safely and properly, including improper removal of asbestos. The township issued 32 condition demolition guidelines to Indiana Metals, which put all demolition on hold. Work will continue when Indiana Metals agrees to the township’s conditions, which included removal of concrete slabs. Ford Motor Company is responsible for remediation contaminated soil. 

There are several buildings on the 208-acre site, totaling 1.87-million square feet. All are to be leveled except for one 264,0000-square foot building. The township expects the site is left environmentally clean and development ready.

“We are aggressively trying to resolve this,” Shelby Township Supervisor Richard Stathakis said of the demolition. “We are pursing all of our options right now with our attorney.”