Hulking, pitch-black mounds resembling coal have grown rapidly in the last week along the banks of the Detroit River in southwest Detroit, prompting concern about potential pollution from residents and legislators on both sides of the river.
Eric D. Lawrence and Megha Satyanarayana of the Free Press report the mounds of petroleum coke, or pet coke, are a by-product of tar sands oil refining used in energy production and when mixed with coal is used as a low-cost fuel.
The piles, brought by trucks loaded with material from the Marathon Petroleum Refinery in southwest Detroit, have been growing on two sites.
Read more:
Detroit Free Press
