Polar Attributes Friday Night Smell to Employee Error, Apologizes

President Robert Crawford issued a letter of apology Tuesday after the company released an oily odor in more than 400 calls to Consumers Energy.

The odor, which was , was caused by employee error, the letter states.

"On Friday evening, an employee failed to turn off the heat on one of the oily-water processing tanks at our facility and, as a result of a higher-than-normal temperature, a vapor was created by the overheated oily-water," Crawford wrote in his letter. "The heat was immediately turned off upon discovery, but due to wind direction and atmospheric conditions the surrounding neighborhood experienced what can only be described as an awful stink.

"We sincerely apologize for the odor, but we can tell you that the emission of vapor from the tank posed no threat to the health or safety of the surrounding community."

Crawford said in the letter that he has ordered an independent engineering firm to collect samples and data to find out exactly what created the "terrible odor." He also said the company is working in cooperation with the MDEQ Air Quality Management Division to prevent this from happening again.

"I have asked both my facility operation staff and the independent engineering firm to provide a list of the best options available or preventing this type of thing from happening again and the company will be welcoming the input of the MDEQ Air Quality Division regarding this issue," Crawford wrote.

Polar Environment Service Corp. is an industrial wastewater and oil treatment facility. It removes contaminants from the Detroit region's water supply, and it recycles and helps facilitate the reuse of oil.

"Our company prides itself on providing first-class products and services to
our customers and on being a conscientious corporate citizen and neighbor and the events of Friday evening are both uncharacteristic of our company and unacceptable," he concluded.

Do you live near Polar? How often do you smell "oily" odors in the air?

Stick with Ferndale Patch as we look into the "awful stink" further.