Contaminated dirt in Detroit at heart of $100M lawsuit

Dirt contamination lawsuit underway in Detroit

The owner of a shuttered contractor is suing the city of Detroit for $100 million after the municipality accused him of using contaminated dirt to backfill demolition sites of torn down homes. 

(FOX 2) - On one side, a demolition company. On the other side, the city of Detroit. And at the heart of a $100 million lawsuit the former has filed against the latter are piles of contaminated dirt.

Brian McKinney Sr., owner of the now-shuttered Gayanga Demolition Company, is accused by Detroit's Office of Inspector General of using polluted dirt to backfill possibly a hundred different sites of demolished homes throughout the city.

While there is little question about the toxic materials found in the soil, the debate over who is at fault for using the contaminated dirt is now the focus of legal action between the two parties.

Timeline:

Detroit's demolitions have been ongoing for years as the city has sought to remove thousands of blighted properties.

But the dirt used to fill the holes left behind by those removals was filled with toxic materials like arsenic, lead, chromium, and other cancer-linked chemicals, according to environmental testing of hundreds of properties.

McKinney headed the firm that was tasked with backfilling the lots since 2016, and according to him, the polluted dirt came from sites approved by the city of Detroit.

He argues the city is looking for McKinney to be the fall guy.

"We were provided public sources. We didn't question the public source," he said at a press conference. "It’s just like there is an email from the city they are saying you can use them. For us it was like a blanket of security. I gotta drive a lot farther and pay a lot more, but you're paying is assuming that this thing will be fine."

One of the piles of contaminated dirt can be found at the Northland Mall in Southfield. 

What they're saying:

McKinney's reason for the $100 million lawsuit is because of the accusations that caused clients and customers to walk away. 

Business eventually got so bad he had to close the company down.

"He did not do anything wrong, then he hasn't done anything wrong, now and that’s why we have this $100 million lawsuit," said Attorney Todd Perkins.

The other side:

The city of Detroit declined to comment on the civil suit, pending litigation.