EPA takes charge of Detroit-area cleanup of vaping supplies warehouse destroyed by explosions

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The federal government is leading a cleanup of the hazardous remains of a Detroit-area storage site for vaping supplies, five months after explosions destroyed the building, sent debris flying for miles and killed a man.

Goo Smoke Shop in Macomb County's Clinton Township was stuffed with vape pens, butane cannisters, nitrous oxide cylinders and lithium batteries. While loads of debris have been recovered in the surrounding area, there is still more work to be done.

“We don't know what we're going to find in there,” Sean Kane of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told reporters Tuesday, though more butane and nitrous oxide are likely.

“We are actually going to go in and start segregating all the hazardous materials, and we will be doing a full removal of everything that you see in the background,” Kane said.

Behind a fence, the 28,000-square-foot property is in ruins. The roof collapsed during the March fire and explosions. Mounds of charred, twisted metal framed by a few steel girders still remain.

“We're going to be ramping up after Labor Day with more personnel on site,” said Kane, who is coordinating the effort.

Authorities said the disaster was caused by the poor storage of volatile materials. The owner has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 19-year-old man who was struck by a nitrous oxide cannister a quarter-mile away.

Kane said the EPA took on a larger role when cleanup talks between the government and responsible parties reached a standstill. The estimated cost is more than $2 million.

“There's a stockpile of materials here the local fire department didn't know about, the state of Michigan didn’t know about,” Kane said.

Clinton Township's top elected official, Supervisor Bob Cannon, said the EPA “grabbed it by the horns” and has been “fabulous.”

The owner said through his attorney that he doesn't have enough money to fix the mess, Cannon said.

“When they're done, this property will be pristine and it will go for sale, and we will have something here that we can be proud of again,” he said.