Officials rule out an explosion on Detroit’s Fort and Dearborn streets, a cause of damage still unknown

DETROIT – Officials still don’t know what caused the road from Fort Street and Dearborn Street to Detroit to go up nearly eight inches.

Residents said they had been smelling natural gas for weeks. DTE said the methane escaped from the cracks, but that the incident is not the result of a natural gas explosion.

“We have spoken to many experts. I have never seen anything like it. It’s very intriguing for us, I can’t wait to see what caused this, ”said Hakim Berry, general manager of the city of Detroit.

EPA, EGLE, Great Lakes Water Authority and DTE are among the agencies trying to find out what happened.

“Right now, there are no indications that this is the result of a natural gas leak or that our infrastructure is not working as it should be,” said DTE Gas Vice President Renee Tomina.

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On Saturday (September 11), the owner of Stash Detroit said he smelled an explosion and then smelled gas.

“The terrain started to grow slowly for about 20 to 30 minutes to the state it is in now and the building also changed,” Berry said.

People living near the mostly industrial area have been complaining for weeks about the smell of natural gas. DTE said it was contained, but that methane is now escaping from the cracks in Fort Street.

“We have natural gas leakage in the area, so our crews have been working to make sure they stop immediately,” Tomina said.

Read: DTE, other agencies are investigating an apparent underground explosion in southwest Detroit