Stories of the 48217 Community

The 48217 area in southwest Detroit is known as Michigan’s  most polluted zip code . The communities of Melvindale, River Rouge, Delray, and Ecourse show up on Michigan’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool ( MiEJScreen ) as a deep red: the highest in the state. The higher the score, the more likely a community is to be afflicted with high measures of air pollution, polluting industry, as well as poor health and socioeconomic conditions that increase susceptibility to pollution. The residents of southwest Detroit, of course, don’t need a government tool to know this as they experience it every day. 

The purpose of this Story Map is to highlight 48217—a neighborhood in Southwest Detroit called by its ZIP code. 48217 was once a thriving Black middle class, but is now deemed to have the “highest air pollution burden of any zip code in the state.” What powers at play allowed this to happen? What are stories from residents who have seen this change over time? What are some of the community’s assets, specific incidents of environmental injustice, and methods of survival? We explore these questions and more with visuals to illustrate and end with recommendations for the state to do their part to remediate the environmental burdens on this community.

 Waawiyatanong , also known as Detroit, is Anishinaabe and Ojibwe land. Waawiyatanong is a beautiful place of life and spirit that continues to survive destruction and oppression from colonial and capitalist powers much like its people, Indigenous, Black, and people of color alike. When Antoine de Moth Cadillac, a colonial governor, settled Detroit in 1701, he attempted to fight British settlers in an attempt to monopolize fur trade. Detroit was ceded to the British in 1760. The American Revolutionary War began five years later, in part to procure “American” settlers’ access to the Great Lakes and Ohio. But settlement was prevented due to the high percentage of wetlands covering Southeast Michigan. Settlers violated the land by draining over 90% of the wetlands along the coast of Southeast Michigan to make room for lumber processing, industry, and people.  Understanding the history of colonization of this land and its people is the only way to continue forging a path toward liberation.

The second wave of the Great Migration was a mass exodus of African Americans escaping white terrorism in the Southern part of the United States during the mid-twentieth century. This mass migration included a large population that settled in Detroit in the hopes of a better life and with the hopes of secure employment with the automotive giants of the Big Three (General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford). Over the span of fifty years, the number of Black residents grew from 5,741 in 1910 to 660,428 in 1970 (Surgue, 2005). 48217 started to become industrialized in the 1920s when the Rouge River became a channel for freighters to reach Henry Ford’s River Rouge Plant (Berglund, 2018). Residents of 48217 have been forced to survive invasion by many polluting corporations such as Detroit Salt Company, Marathon Petroleum, and US Steel, among nearly 40 others.  

Theresa Landrum, a long-time 48217 resident and environmental justice activist, took our group of University of Michigan graduate students on a “ toxic tour ” of the area she has lived all her life. We drove from one major polluting industry to the next – many located along the same street. Steel plants, a giant water treatment plant, and refineries stood right across the road from rows of homes. One stop on the tour was the Gordie Howe International Bridge construction site where  PFAS contamination was recently discovered.  Amidst the stories and landscapes of environmental disaster, art served as a light in the dark. Theresa worked with U of M art students and local business owners to  paint murals  with messages of community power, resistance, and what a bright future might look like. 

The above sliding image depicts a comparison of an aerial view of the 48217 zip code from Google Maps on the left and how the area is displayed on MiEJScreen on the right. Red areas indicate a high MiEJScreen score, reflecting a high level of pollution burden and vulnerable populations compared to other communities in Michigan. The only areas on this map that are blue (score of 0) are the industrial areas of Zug Island and the Ford Rouge Plant because they have a population of 0. However, these industrial sites do contribute to pollution incorporated into surrounding populated areas MiEJScreen scores.

One example of the many events that takes place at Kemeny Center was a PFAS teach-in. The centerpiece of this teach-in was a screening of the “ No Defense ” documentary which focuses on the PFAS crisis in Oscoda, Michigan. PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as “forever chemicals”, do not break down in the environment. PFAS refers to a family of more than 9,000 known chemicals which are used broadly in industrial processes and everyday products. Exposure to PFAS is proven to increase health risks of testicular and kidney cancer, reproductive complications, birth defects, and more. Residents of Oscoda have been plagued by the environmental and health repercussions of wide-spread and decades-long use of PFAS at  Wurtsmith Airforce Base . Tony Spaniola, co-chair of  Great Lakes PFAS Action Network  and a central figure of the documentary, came with a message; we need to come together for the health of our communities. Despite clear differences in the racial makeup of these two communities, both Oscoda and southwest Detroit are fighting for their lives against pollution and the powerful institutions that create it.

The threat of PFAS is indeed everywhere, but the citizens of southwest have had cause for major concerns about the emerging contaminant in recent years. In 2018, a mysterious foam  bubbled up onto Schaefer highway  – the same road that the Kemeny Recreation Center is located, where local youth play outdoors. This foam, tested by state government, was found to have an extremely high concentration of PFAS, around  729,000 parts per trillion  (ppt). Michigan’s maximum contamination level for PFAS is 16 ppt in comparison. 

This section includes quotes from interviewees as well as some technical information to supplement the recommendations for anyone who is interested.

Recommendation 1: Implementation of further zoning laws to prevent the spread of industry, specifically Marathon, into residential areas and encroachment into essential community areas through buyout programs. 

Support: Every interviewee (48217 resident) mentioned Marathon in some way. Multiple residents expressed fear of the 48217 area turning into “one big Marathon,” with some residents uncertain about the future of 48217 as a residential zip code. As one resident interviewee said:

“...so now the community itself is shrinking. But they're letting it happen: the city. This is more money for the city. Just more tax dollars generated to the city, but guess who that money is not trickling down to? The actual community. More and more industry will push people out, and now there is going to be one big Marathon without the residents. Because they're allowing that to happen. It's going to be industrial instead of residential sooner than later.” 

EGLE should work with the City of Detroit Zoning Division to enforce and implement additional zoning laws to prevent this scenario from becoming a reality. Equally as important is ensuring that there are physical gaps between residential housing and industrial areas, even for storage facilities. Creating physical gaps between industry and residential neighborhoods in 48217 is essential for community resilience and survival in the face of encroaching refineries. These physical gaps could also serve as green spaces to increase community resilience as referenced above. One resident noted:

“These houses shouldn’t have even been built if they knew that Marathon was gonna build like they are and DTE and Great Lakes Steel. This is not a community for people. It's a community for refineries.”

Recommendation 2: Requirements for the creation of Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) for all new development by industry in and around 48217. Existing industries should be required to partner with the existing community by factoring them into their decision making and cost risk analysis.  

Support: Existing industries should be required to partner with the community by factoring residents' wellbeing and direct benefits to residents into industry decision making and cost risk analysis for the planning of new development in Southwest Detroit. Throughout our interactions with residents of 48217, the vast majority had a shared sense that generally the industries in the area are not considering their needs, and not respecting their neighborhoods. Many of the people we talked to expressed a feeling that they were being taken advantage of by the industrial companies in the area, and that they were being unfairly treated. A Community Benefit Agreement between Marathon Petroleum Company and a coalition of community organizations in 48127, for example, could help to ensure that local residents are considered and consulted for new development. 

Community Benefit Agreements are agreements signed by both a developer and community benefit groups that identify a range of community benefits the developer agrees to provide to the residents as a part of the development process, sometimes in return for local support for the project. There is a history of CBA’s being used in Southwest Detroit, for example the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, whose mission is to ensure that the Southwest Detroit community receives protections and community benefits with the development of the new nearby Gordie Howe International Bridge.

Recommendation 3: Create a cumulative health impacts regulatory framework for evaluating industry permits in the community. 

Support: EGLE should partner with the MDHHS to ensure that cumulative health impacts are accounted for and that facilities that are out of compliance with permits are held accountable. This should be done by investing in the health outcomes of residents and EJ initiatives in the area through a new EJ funding program similar to the existing Supplemental Environmental Projects program. Residents of 48217 stressed the need for additional funding to achieve more personal and community resilience. One of the largest barriers to reaching “resilience” and community survival is access to basic needs and services, which a community grant could be used to address. As one resident stated: 

“It's a lot of pollution. And we just try to make do with what we can make do with it. I wish we had a good quality of life where the air was cleaner, where the water was pure, you know, I really do. And I wish there was a grant that could make that happen. That would really help this community out.”

Recommendation 4: Prioritize the use of safe chemicals when constructing new facilities as well as when dealing with an emergency, rather than chemicals that will eventually contribute to the environmental poisoning of residents in the area. 

Support: Residents described experiences working inside of or in close proximity to these industrial factories and facilities, many of which mentioned the unsafe or unhealthy environments that they were exposed to and their concerns around the human health impacts. One resident and employee of these industries mentioned the use of asbestos as a fire retardant in smokestacks nearby their residence. 

Additionally, the increased awareness of PFAS contamination has also raised concerns around the use of industrial fire retardant, for example those that would be used in an event of an explosion in a nearby facility, and the potential for those to introduce more contaminants into the environment. For example, the PFAS chemicals used in the response to the recent train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio have local residents and experts concerned about potential PFAS contamination into local ecosystems and drinking water (Perkins, 2023). EGLE should partner with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to prioritize the sole use of safer chemicals for construction and preparation of disaster and emergency management scenarios.

Recommendation 5: City officials should be encouraged or required to partner more with the community in an effort to have them see the reality of life in 48217, and the proximity to industry that they may have allowed to be built here. 

Support: Residents expressed concern that people in charge of making decisions that will affect community health should actually be here in 48217 to see the impacts of those decisions. Decision makers for Detroit, especially elected representatives and officials, should have to see and live with the direct and indirect effects that their decisions have on community survival in the area. As one resident said,

“If you are making decisions here, you need to be here to see it.”

Community Survival Recommendation 1:  Support and fund churches, community centers, and organizations that promote community and strengthen the social fabric of 48217. 

Support: Ninety percent of interviewees took pride in the social fabric and sense of community in the area and want to continue to foster the kinship and neighborly mindset with special mention to the Original United Citizens of SW Detroit, Block Clubs, Congress of Communities, 48217 Air Monitoring Group, 48217 Business Association, Citizens with Challenges, Wayne County Association of Black Veterans, SW Detroit Environmental Vision, SWD Community Benefits Coalition, New Mount Herman Church, and the Kemeny Center. Churches and other places of worship have special roles within this community as they are areas of high community engagement and involvement, churches can provide many programs and events, and are used to keep in touch with community members. Pastors and church leaders are also seen as leaders within the community. 

To provide context of the kinship present in the area, one community member expressed that:

“I was raised by a village. Your neighbors looked out for you so your neighbors were your extended family. And you still have that. What's the word for it? You still have a vested interest in seeing this neighborhood thrive, and you got that love and that passion for it because this is the area who made you what you are.” 

Community Survival Recommendation 2: Invest in the community through incentivizing anchor stores such as grocery stores, pharmacies, health clinics, hospitals, barber shops, bakeries, banks, and beauty stores that can support the area, provide job opportunities, and increase the quality of life. 

Support: Ninety percent of interviews mentioned that there are no new business opportunities or investments coming into the area from the local or state level, and point to historic disinvestment and legacies of racism that have left 48217 without basic necessities. Interviewees also mentioned that they are paying higher taxes than other areas and have nothing to show for it. Outside sources, such as James Tatum from Citizens Research Council of Michigan, have corroborated this claim, reporting that “Detroit’s property taxes, which are among the highest in the nation, create a disproportionate tax burden on its residents” (2021). Promoting business development could look like subsidizing small and family owned businesses, providing low interest loans and grant opportunities, or other tax incentives. 

To speak directly to the disconnect between people and the services present, one interviewee mentioned that:

“[politicians are] lining their pockets and not really putting their money [our taxes] out to the community, you know, where it's supposed to go. Not investing that money back into the community. Why are you collecting these tax dollars, if you're not putting that money back into the community?”

Community Survival Recommendation 3: Beautify the neighborhood and provide local climate adaptation in the form of providing upkeep of lots and alleys in the neighborhood, providing funding for planting more trees, supporting the creation of more green spaces, and the creation of buffer zones between the industry and the community. 

Support: Sixty five percent of interviews mentioned that this could be done in the form of providing upkeep for lots and alleys in the neighborhood, allocating funding for planting more trees, and supporting the creation of more green spaces and buffer zones between the industry and the community. Interviewees also advocated for the tearing down or fixing up of dilapidated housing and providing assistance for the weatherization of homes, increasing walkability in the neighborhood, addressing the problems that come from the interstate dividing the community, and the historic occurrences of flooding. To express these concerns, one interviewee stated that:

“There are no buffer zones, no really green spaces where the vegetation is supposed to capture the pollution, help mitigate the soil and mitigate the air, we don't have enough of that right. We don't have industries using their profits to invest in resiliency as far as businesses, we used to have all kinds of businesses, up and down, that we don't have anymore, they died out.”

Community Survival Recommendation 4: Collaborate with the community to devise a community safety plan to address drug and crime occurrences. This includes the opportunity for the community to decide on the role and presence of lack thereof, police. 

Support: Fifty five percent of interviews mentioned the presence of drugs and crime in the area usually leads to shootings and increased gun violence and felt as though they could not walk outside at night or have their kids playing outside without feeling worried. Many interviewees have been affected by gun violence themselves or have family members that have been affected. Also connected to this recommendation is the lack of police and emergency response due to the lack of hospitals and urgent care facilities in the area. If there is an emergency, it takes police a long time to get to the area and this leads to an increased worry residents could not get to the hospital or to medical care in time. Because of this concern, the safety plan should include the opportunity for the community to decide on the role and presence of, or lack thereof, police. To speak on their experience, one interviewee mentioned that:

“A police response, I guess that's one of my main issues here. High crime rate, drug infestation, [we are] surrounded by drug infestation in this area. Matter of fact, I was affected by two crimes within the past two weeks.”

Community Survival Recommendation 5: Create, educate, and distribute a community specific emergency evacuation and management plan that includes input from the community at all phases such as the creation, finalizing, and distribution. This plan should address evacuation routes, communication plans, resource distribution and answer questions such as: If the bridge is shut down or the highway is closed, how will residents flee the area?

Support: Thirty percent of interview participants mentioned they want an emergency plan for when/if Marathon or another industry in the area explodes or has an emergency disaster. This plan should address evacuation routes, communication plans, resource distribution and answer questions such as: If the bridge is shut down or the highway is closed, how will residents flee the area?  Many residents explained how they remember when there was a gas leak and police showed up with gas masks and told them to leave the area, but did not tell them where to go or give them gas masks themselves. These plans should be actively updated to keep them up to date and relevant and providing funding for these emergency situations should be dispersed according to community needs. Esri Emergency Management Operations could aid in statewide Emergency Planning. 

An interview participant expressed their concerns and said:

“when people around here get sick or it's an emergency, they have to get an ambulance to go all the way downtown. What if the freeway is being worked on? What if the bridges are broken? Then what? Where do we go? You know what I'm saying? So there needs to be a hospital here. There needs to be all those resources that all the other neighborhoods have. We need to have them as well, and we don't have them.”

Community Survival Recommendation 6: Utilize Resource Provisioning to Address Poverty: Public Transportation and Energy Burden 

Support: Forty percent of interviews mentioned concern around affordability and access to resources. The concern is the high rate of poverty in the area exacerbated by high utility rates, fixed incomes, and overpaying for taxes. Around utility bills, community members want lower utility bills and taxes in the area, especially for the high percentage of fixed income community members. Frequent rate increases for both water and energy are a major issue since a lot of the population is on a fixed income and the service is not reliable with frequent black outs and bad cell phone service. There was also mention of the lack of public transportation in the area which is an essential service for the older population that may not be able to drive, as well as because all the resources they need are outside of the community and are too far to walk to.

Community Survival Recommendation 7: Provide resources to care for the growing Hispanic population in 48217.

Support: Eight percent of residents in the area are Hispanic with the population continuing to grow (US Census Bureau, 2022). This means there needs to be special resources deployed to aid this community properly, including publishing all state and city materials in Spanish and providing translators to the community when there is an environmental disaster, air quality issues, or emergency evacuation plan.

Health Based Recommendation 1: Meet the everyday health needs of the community in an accessible and equitable way by investing in a Black-owned healthcare center run by and for the community. Partner with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and other relevant agencies to create environmental health-focused treatment and programming. The clinic should include workforce development and training for residents as healthcare providers with an environmental health focus. The clinic should also address community concerns such as those frequently named in interviews: substance abide, mental health, and environmental toxicant poisoning (respiratory disease and cancer) with an intersectional approach. Partnerships should be established with local public health departments to provide environmental health communications and interventions to tri-city residents.

Support: Sixty-five percent of interviewees identified a lack of equitable healthcare as a detriment to the 48217 community. Pre-segregation, Southwest Detroit had multiple Black-owned and operated emergency and general practice healthcare centers located in the community. Currently, residents have to either travel to downtown Detroit or to Ann Arbor to receive care. A third of participants mentioned experiencing racism during their care at such institutions. Where neighbors used to walk to Outer Drive to work and receive care at the hospitals, now there is not even a pharmacy in the community. A community member commented:

“We need health facilities that understand the health of Black people … we really don't have medical people invested in learning about environmental impacts of the area.” 

Health Based Recommendation 2: Establish emergency health infrastructure in the community. Invest in locating emergency health services such as EMS, ambulances, emergency rooms, and urgent cares in the tri-city area. Due to disparate impacts of industry on the health and overall life expectancy in the community, Environmental Justice Programs (expanded upon in the Industry and Regulation section) should provide funding towards such development. The Community Resilience plan should plan to overcome the current lack of emergency care and transportation barriers in the case of an emergency. Routes, meeting places, and emergency shelters should be established for each neighborhood of the tri-city area with Anti-Racism frameworks. For example, the concern was raised that nearby predominantly White communities would act as hostile hosts during a crisis. Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals released by industries in the tri-city area should be studied and classified into different categories of risk and community-wide plans developed specifically for those risks. 

Support: This community has disparate exposure to environmental and human health hazards, yet according to interviewees they have poor access to emergency services and plans (Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate, 2021). Moreover, interviewees and community advisors emphasized that environmental emergencies are commonplace in the community (Allnut, 2020). While better regulation and enforcement are needed for reducing the risks present in the community, real protective health measures as well as emergency services must bridge the gap. Many interviewees referred to the 2003 blackout and subsequent threat of the Marathon refinery exploding as an example of the unique threats the community faces and why an evacuation plan is needed.

Health Based Recommendation 3: Invest in and expand community health and quality of life institutions that already exist in the community - particularly, the Kemeny Recreation Center. 

Support: Many community members referred over and over again to the Kemeny Recreation Center as a central location for promoting community health. By acting as an organizing, celebration, education, and recreation space, the Center strengthens both physical and mental health. This asset is in direct contrast with the fact that 65 percent of interviewees commented on the reduced life spans and untimely deaths of neighbors from treatable or preventable illnesses. Community members are taking the initiative to invite healthcare professionals to do screenings and tests at the Kemeny Center - this should be supported by EJ funding and the community resilience plan. Asthma and cancer clinics would address the majority of interviewees concerns. Youth engagement at the center was also seen as an important invention in children’s development that acts as a preventative health measure.

Health Based Recommendation 4: Continue and expand environmental monitoring and testing in the community. This includes increased testing for lead, PFAS, and other emerging contaminants in local air and water systems. Air monitors presently in the community should be maintained and improved. Community water supplies should be tested more frequently than federal regulatory requirements and private wells should be tested for baseline results. 

Support: Ninety-five percent of interviewees responded that environmental toxicant poisoning by industry was a major concern in their community. Community Advisor expertise, the Toxic Tour, PFAS teach-in, and interviews all called for more proactive testing of the air and water quality in environmental justice communities such as this one.

Community Mapping Recommendation 1: Include community assets in mapping and screening tools, including but not limited to, businesses, healthcare, historical maps, grocery stores, and recreation.

Support: Residents often spoke about these assets being the most important to map. Mentions of once thriving local businesses including a bakery, carwash, and theater, amongst many others, are now gone due to the historic disinvestment explored in previous recommendations. This change over time reflects the consequences of industrial expansion and lack of autonomy the community has over what resources stay. A map should illustrate this, including the narrative and policies that allowed this to occur. To contextualize this recommendation, one interviewee mentioned that:

 “We don’t even have a grocery store anymore. We have a Dollar Tree now.”

Community Mapping Recommendation 2: Develop and implement community mapping in narrative form, centering lived experiences of the communities represented.

Support: Without centering lived experiences of communities represented, the map or screening tool will be a step removed from the community and therefore will not align with their voice and needs. Documenting the oral history of residents on a community map through a narrative format would help ensure the effort aligns with the principles of EJ.

Community Mapping Recommendation 3: Include the historic and racist disinvestment that has caused a lack of economic activity in these communities.

Support: Residents described witnessing the process of disinvestment over time, seeing resource after resource disappear from their neighborhood—e.g., grocery stores and hospitals. The economic and racist powers at play must be highlighted on the map to show who and what is responsible for degrading the environment and devaluing the people of this vibrant community.

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