EPA provides details on Goo Smoke Shop cleanup

CLINTON TOWNSHIP — All that’s left of the Goo Smoke Shop is rubble and twisted metal. This was the backdrop for the Environmental Protection Agency as it held a press conference on Aug. 27. The event provided details about the agency's cleanup at the site since the smoke shop’s explosion.

Sean Kane, the EPA’s on-scene coordinator for Region 5, said the agency did a half-mile reconnaissance of the footprint of the explosion site in order to stabilize it following the March 4 blast. Items from the explosion were taken back to the site and sorted based and any hazardous materials were identified. Disposal of the items started in May.

Kane said the agency recovered nearly 4,000 compressed gas cylinders of nitrous oxide, three 55-gallon drums of lithium-ion batteries and 30 intact cans of ultra-refined butane. He said these items were taken away for proper disposal. Safety is key for the EPA as the cleanup continues and investigators continue to search through debris, according to Kane.

“Nitrous oxide is not flammable, but it’s an oxidizer,” Kane said. “So if you have an oxidizer next to a flammable (material), which is ultra refined butane, it’s just like going to a hospital when they say don’t smoke, there’s oxygen. It’s the same thing here. If there’s an ignition source, there’s always a potential threat that it could set off another fire.”

When asked if the materials found at the site surprised him, Kane responded “yes and no.”

“Sometimes things like this happen where things go under the radar,” he said.

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been conducting a forensic investigation at the site. Kane said the EPA will be working with all agencies, including local law enforcement, on the investigation.

Kane explained that typically, the EPA would do a site assessment before investigators come in. The Goo Smoke Shop cleanup has been different, and the agency has had to do this “on the fly,” because worker health and safety are “paramount.” The EPA will not be going underground at the site and will be monitoring air quality, according to Kane.

The agency will continue to remove potentially hazardous items and will eventually clean up the remaining debris. Kane projected 100 on-site working days for the cleanup, which started Aug. 19. Security personnel are at the site when work isn’t being done. The estimated cost of the cleanup is $2.5 million, though this could change depending on what’s found during the process.

“We’re going to be ramping up after Labor Day with more personnel on-site,” Kane said. “Be patient. It’s a work in progress. We have to proceed accordingly. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.”

The March 4 explosion left one person, 19-year-old Turner Salter, dead. Goo Smoke Shop was located near the intersection of 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway.

Noor Kestou, the owner of the business, currently faces an involuntary manslaughter charge that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Kestou has a probable cause hearing in 41B District Court with Judge Sebastian Lucido on Oct. 28.

In a previous interview, Clinton Township Supervisor Bob Cannon said he’s glad the cleanup is finally underway and urged residents to stay away from the site.

“It is still a site we don’t want people to get hurt at,” Cannon said. “There are dangerous objects there. We don’t know everything that’s underneath. The EPA, while they’re cleaning this up, has to make sure the air is clean. They have to make sure everything is good for the neighborhood. We don’t want debris falling all around.”

Call Staff Writer Nick Powers at (586) 498-1059.