Sponsored

Gas leak at Ford Motor plant prompts evacuations

Razorbak86

Badlands
Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Threads
41
Messages
3,201
Reaction score
12,116
Location
Northwest Arkansas
Vehicle(s)
Ford Bronco, BMW R1150 GS
Your Bronco Model
Badlands
Clubs
 
Hopefully everyone building our Broncos are ok!

Flat Rock is a different plant, several miles away from the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, MI.
 

MWCK35

Outer Banks
Well-Known Member
First Name
Mel
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
182
Reaction score
527
Location
Toledo, OH
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ford Bronco
Your Bronco Model
Outer Banks
Clubs
 

Razorbak86

Badlands
Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2020
Threads
41
Messages
3,201
Reaction score
12,116
Location
Northwest Arkansas
Vehicle(s)
Ford Bronco, BMW R1150 GS
Your Bronco Model
Badlands
Clubs
 
Flat Rock Assembly stops Mustang production as Ford helps gas leak evacuees [Detroit Free Press]

TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY 8:07 AM ET 9/7/2021

Ford Motor Co. (F) continues issuing apologies for a fuel leak that appears to have come from the company's Flat Rock Assembly Plant, but the automaker says that is not enough and will make things right with families whose lives have been disrupted.

The company has decided to halt Mustang production at the plant this week, and is helping local residents who voluntarily have evacuated the area, including Ford employees, T.R. Reid, Ford spokesman, told the Free Press.

"We're not going to prioritize building vehicles this week," he said. "There are higher priorities right now."

A worker told the Free Press late Monday he received a robocall on Labor Day with the alert saying hourly workers would return Monday.

After an initial investigation determined that a fuel spill at the plant leaked benzene-containing vapors into the sanitary sewer systems last week, states of emergency were announced for both Wayne and Monroe counties. Benzene is a highly flammable, colorless chemical.

Safety concerns led to an emergency evacuation recommendation from city and state officials that left some residents confused.

The Dearborn automaker is addressing the underlying issue that led to the gas leak identified by the company Wednesday and reported to state health officials, Reid said. In addition, "the demands of the neighbors are pretty significant. We're planning a pretty deliberate and committed role in addressing those needs," he said.

The gas leak also has directly affected employees inside and outside the factory.

"Some of our own people are in the affected areas and so they're away from their homes," he said, voicing concern about the impact on schooling, ability to focus on work and other commitments.

While vehicle production is temporarily stopped, a skeleton crew of the estimated 1,900 employees remains on site to coordinate with local, state and federal officials day-by-day to find answers to questions as well as do ongoing maintenance.

The Ford worker who clocked in over the weekend at the factory, which was mostly down for the holiday, told the Free Press that bathrooms were shut down and portable bathrooms had been brought in for employee use. The worker did not want to be identified because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

When asked about bathroom changes, Reid replied, "The original concern was there was gasoline going from our sanitary sewer lines into the city's sanitary sewer network. The sanitary sewer lines would have implications for restrooms."

There is no safety issue in the plant at this time, he said.

"We're doing air monitoring and have been. The air is safe," he said, noting that Ford is looking to identify the root cause of the problem and "doing remediation."

Initially, Ford thought it had a "relatively small leak" in a pipe that carried gasoline used to fuel vehicles built at the plant, and the company shut down the fuel pipe and called experts to remove the gas and notify public officials, said Bob Holycross, vice president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering for Ford, in a statement Friday.

As it turned out, the situation involved 1,000 to 3,000 gallons of gasoline.

Now Ford is working not only to fix the current problem, but to figure out what happened to the fuel line so a similar crisis doesn't occur in other factory locations.

"We're still trying to understand why" the leak happened, Reid said late Monday.

The whole process in recent days involves sharing what's learned with Ford factories worldwide as a precaution.

"This isn't being treated as an anomaly. We hope it is. But you have to take what you learn and apply it everyplace," Reid said.

Meanwhile, Ford has worked with the City of Flat Rock to identify and secure "hundreds" of hotel rooms all around the immediate area, Reid said. "People are displaced from their homes and they need someplace safe and comfortable to go."

Ford is covering hotel costs, meals, and personal items with gift cards and the company also tried to make arrangements for social and recreational activity for the families, Reid said. A million-dollar commitment from Ford will be administered by the Flat Rock Community Fund to benefit residents affected, he said.

"Details haven't all been worked out about what it might cover and how it will be provided. The city will administer it," Reid said. "We apologized for this but that's inadequate. People are being affected. Lives are being disrupted and we've got an obligation to try and help. We've got volunteers from different parts of Ford that have been out with other folks, marshaled by the city, knocking on doors, getting information out to people."

Ford could safely run the factory now "but that's not the priority," Reid said. "We are working hard but appropriately. I'm not implying the company should be getting credit. We're doing what we think is right."

When it comes to actions at the factory, everything is prescribed by environmental and health regulations. Every agency is following protocol carefully, Reid said.

"We've got daily meetings and guidance and support. ... Our people are trying to anticipate needs and an awful lot of folks are working on things where they don't have expertise but they're figuring it out as they go. We've got marketing people working on hotels and meal cards. There's a lot of people pitching in. We're doing that because we're the source of the problem," he said.

Experts from federal, state and local environmental and health agencies continue to work to neutralize the threat.

WWJ-AM (950) tweeted photos of two men checking air quality at Flat Rock High School early Tuesday "before opening for the school year" amid "evacuation of about 1,100 homes southeast of the downtown."

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-618-1034 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.
 

Sponsored

Raptor911

Raptor
Well-Known Member
First Name
Raptor911
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Threads
161
Messages
5,347
Reaction score
11,808
Location
Broadlands, VA
Vehicle(s)
2021 F150 Raptor, 2022 Wildtrak
Your Bronco Model
Raptor

MWCK35

Outer Banks
Well-Known Member
First Name
Mel
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
182
Reaction score
527
Location
Toledo, OH
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ford Bronco
Your Bronco Model
Outer Banks
Clubs
 
how is it a PR nightmare for Ford?

Do you want Ford to make their workers stay and work to avoid any PR nightmare?

Common man.

...It's a PR nightmare because the chemical leak that caused the vapors in the City's sewer system, prompting the issues and evacuations, came from that Ford plant. Whatever they had leaked into the City's system...which is why I copied that article since it wasn't stated in the OP's video. It's also all over the news where I live.

I said absolutely nothing about the health and safety of the workers, and the people living in those areas. But okay.

EDIT: The article copied above by @Razorbak86 also states this.
 
Last edited:

Raptor911

Raptor
Well-Known Member
First Name
Raptor911
Joined
Jun 17, 2020
Threads
161
Messages
5,347
Reaction score
11,808
Location
Broadlands, VA
Vehicle(s)
2021 F150 Raptor, 2022 Wildtrak
Your Bronco Model
Raptor
My apolgies. I did not realized the leak originated from the plant itself.

...It's a PR nightmare because the chemical leak that caused the vapors in the City's sewer system, prompting the issues and evacuations, came from that Ford plant. Whatever they had leaked into the City's system...which is why I copied that article since it wasn't stated in the OP's video. It's also all over the news where I live.

I said absolutely nothing about the health and safety of the workers, and the people living in those areas. But okay.

EDIT: The article copied above by @Razorbak86 also states this.
 

MWCK35

Outer Banks
Well-Known Member
First Name
Mel
Joined
Jul 15, 2021
Threads
1
Messages
182
Reaction score
527
Location
Toledo, OH
Vehicle(s)
2021 Ford Bronco
Your Bronco Model
Outer Banks
Clubs
 
My apolgies. I did not realized the leak originated from the plant itself.
All good - but yes, that's why (in my opinion) that's definitely not a good PR look, though sounds like they are doing the right things now.
 

vrtical

Raptor
Well-Known Member
First Name
Doug
Joined
Jul 14, 2020
Threads
34
Messages
6,108
Reaction score
12,289
Location
GSMNP, TN
Vehicle(s)
Fords
Your Bronco Model
Raptor
Clubs
 
EPA is going to have a field day with this.
Sponsored

 
 


Top