It's widely accepted that the Detroit demolition program is good for progress, but it may not be good for residents' health.
Jennifer Dixon and Joe Guillen of the Detroit Free Press report:
- Contractors in Detroit were under so much pressure to knock down thousands of abandoned properties that they cut corners, mishandled deadly asbestos at dozens of sites, and, in two cases, appeared to falsify inspection reports, according to documents the Free Press obtained under the state Freedom of Information Act.
- One employee of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality blamed city officials, saying that at a meeting they acknowledged putting "production over compliance" with asbestos regulations.
- City officials dispute the DEQ employee's account of the meeting, but admit mistakes and are cooperating with a previously undisclosed criminal investigation of the inspection reports. Detroit personnel now oversee more stringent asbestos inspections, they add.
