Ford is facing a lawsuit from more than 130 homeowners living in the Alden Village neighborhood in Livonia.
The suit, which will be filed in Wayne County Circuit Court on Wednesday, will allege that dangerous chemicals from the nearby Transmission Plant have migrated into their neighborhood, contaminating the groundwater and soil and fumes have intruded into their homes.
The suit alleges the chemicals "Vinyl Chloride" and "Trichloroethylene" were spilled, poured or dumped at the Plymouth Road plant decades ago. Attorneys argue they then formed an "enormous toxic chemical pool" that is "hundreds of thousands of square feet in area" in the local soil and groundwater.
he plant used to use Vinyl Chloride to clean grease from auto parts until the 1980s.
Last year, Ford sent out notices to residents declaring they would be testing the groundwater in the area and held a community meeting.
The suit alleges that the chemicals have contaminated the home owners' yards and that the air in the neighborhood and in their homes is threatened with toxic chemical vapors, injuring the value of the home owners' homes and interfering with their ability to use and enjoy their homes.
Tuesday, Ford released this statement:
We will continue to work closely with the City of Livonia and the MDEQ to address the issue. Importantly, all samples collected to date show no health risk to residents, and drinking water is not at risk.
Bruce Tenniswood and his wife, Donna Coppola are the residents at the forefront of the lawsuit, the press conference about the issue will be held on at their home on Wednesday.
”We’re not anti-Ford people, there's a Ford sitting right there, there's another one sitting right there. We're not anti-Ford. What we are is anti-poisoning our groundwater and contaminating our property,” said Tenniswood.
He said the groundwater is putting all of the residents health at risk and it’s diminishing their home’s value.
"We want the problem cleaned up, we want our homes protected and we want to be compensated for the loss that we've taken,” said Tenniswood.
The lawsuit comes on the heals of a similar lawsuit Ford is currently facing from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
A news conference has been called for 1:00 p.m. Wednesday.
