Plan Would Store Coal-Based Byproduct Near Detroit River

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - More piles of 'pet coke' could be showing up along the southwest Detroit riverfront.

A business wants to store potentially hundreds of thousands of tons of coal-based byproduct, limestone, and gravel at a site along the Detroit River.

City officials are considering an application from Waterfront Terminal Holdings II for a permit for the materials, including coke breeze, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. Storage of coke breeze along the river last year at the former Revere Copper site prompted concerns.

Waterfront Terminal President Harry Warner says using the site as a transfer point from ships to trucks "is a viable thing."

The company's application also raises the possibility of storing petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining, at the riverfront property in the future. In 2013, piles of petroleum coke in the air were removed after complaints about dust and pollution risks.

Unlike pet coke, coke breeze is a fine powder derived from coal and is not a known carcinogen.

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