Yearlong demolition of Detroit incinerator smokestack completed Sunday morning
DETROIT, Mich. (FOX 2) - The City of Detroit completed the yearlong incinerator demolition early Sunday morning with the smokestack implosion.
The implosion happened between 5:30 and 6 a.m. completing the final phase of demolishing the former Waste Energy Facility; also known as the trash incinerator.
The incinerator has towered over the I-94 and I-75 interchange releasing harmful fumes into nearby neighborhoods for 34 years. The facility finally stopped operating in 2019 and Detroit household trash has since been taken to landfills outside city limits.
The City says all hazardous materials inside the complex have been safely removed and properly disposed of to dismantle and demolish the facility.
"The full demolition of the incinerator is a relief to many people in the city," Tyrone Clifton, director of the Detroit Building Authority. "We owe it to them to remove this unwanted structure from their community in as safe a manner as possible, and we have the best team in place to do that."
The City says residents have known about the complex demolition for a year. They started notifying community organizations in April as well as door-to-door outreach to homes outside the impact area.
There were no homes inside the impact area of the implosion according to the City of Detroit.
The City says now that the smokestack is down, the site will be completed by July. The future of the site is unknown at this time.