DETROIT – Officials still don’t know what caused the road at Fort Street and Dearborn Street in Detroit to rise nearly eight inches.
Residents said they smelled a natural gas odor for weeks. DTE said methane is leaking from the cracks but that the incident is not the result of a natural gas explosion.
“We’ve talked to a lot of experts. Never seen anything like this. It is very intriguing to us, can’t wait to see what caused this,” Hakim Berry, COO of the City of Detroit, said.
The EPA, EGLE, Great Lakes Water Authority, and DTE are among the agencies trying to figure out what happened.
“At this point, there is no indication that this was a result of a natural gas leak or our infrastructure not operating as it should be,” DTE Gas Vice President Renee Tomina said.
On Saturday (Sept. 11) the owner of Stash Detroit said he felt an explosion and then smelled gas.
“The ground began to swell slowly for about 20 to 30 minutes to the state it is now and the building shifted as well,” Berry said.
People who live near the mostly industrial area have been complaining about a natural gas odor for weeks. DTE said it was contained, but that methane is now leaking from the cracks on Fort Street.
“We do have the natural gas leak in the area so our crews have been working to make sure we get that stopped immediately,” Tomina said.
“We’ve never seen this before” - officials don’t know why the road at Fort/Dearborn in SW Detroit rose nearly eight inches. Neighbors have complained about a natural gas odor for weeks. DTE says methane is leaking from cracks but this was not the result of a natural gas explosion pic.twitter.com/Grav6Dkqx2
— Priya Mann (@priyamanntv) September 13, 2021
Read: DTE, other agencies investigate apparent underground explosion in Southwest Detroit