WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Residents in White Lake Township are still looking for answers after an explosion at an oil refinery shook nearby homes Friday, Nov. 24.
The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has released some details discovered during its investigation.
The facility is known as White Lake 29 Central Production Facility. It’s owned by a company called Hound Resources and sits near Young and Bogie roads, just south of M-59.
The explosions from the plant could be felt by people who were miles away at the time.
EGLE said the first explosion was at 10:16 p.m.
The company told EGLE that the first started in the tank battery at the produced water tank. That water tank and a small vessel both exploded during the fire.
EGLE said the crude oil within the secondary containment caught fire. A catwalk collapsed during the fire and fell onto a valve at the bottom of the tank.
With so many chemicals washed away or burned up, neighbors who had to be evacuated at the time are concerned about toxins potentially getting into their drinking water or in the air. They want to know what caused the explosion and fire and the health risks for those living nearby.
