Officials Investigate Strange Sewer Smell At DMC

DETROIT (WWJ) - Detroit fire crews were on the scene Tuesday afternoon of a hazardous materials situation at the city's biggest medical complex.

Officials tell Newsradio 950 that there was an odor coming from the sewers near the Detroit Medical Center at Brush Street and Canfield.  It was about 9:30 a.m. when the first calls came in about the smell.

Crews are not sure what may have been dumped into the sewer but the water department has been called out to flush out the system.

Acting Fire Chief Bob Valgoi told WWJ's Marie Osborne it's likely someone dumped something illegal into the sewer, but the water is being tested and the substance is "not volatile."

Valgoi said the thinks it's probably some kind of paint product. But exactly where the substance was dumped may be difficult to determine.

"We have no idea. It could have been a mile up the road, it could have been two miles up the road," he said. "The sewer systems obviously runs for a long way in the city. And we just found out too that the main that this is running through is big enough to drive a truck through."

The water is being diverted to a waste water facility to be processed.

Brush and Canfield were closed off for the investigation, but there were no evacuations.

There have been no illnesses or injuries reported.