RACER Trust Welcomes Members of Flint Community on Tour of Buick City

FLINT, Mich. — RACER Trust Michigan Cleanup Manager Grant Trigger and Buick City Site Manager Sam Solomon on Tuesday presented a tour of RACER Trust’s Buick City property to approximately 25 local residents who had expressed interest in observing RACER’s environmental work at the property, a former automotive manufacturing complex.

The group visited several locations where RACER has conducted environmental investigation and cleanup work, including removal of soils containing PCBs and cleanup of former petroleum contamination. The tour stopped at the edge of the Flint River to observe a storm water outfall where Mr. Trigger explained the work being done to understand the nature of PFAS contamination discovered on the site and measures being designed to address the PFAS issue.  

The tour included observation of the American SpiralWeld plant and its innovative reuse of the existing concrete slab when constructing its plant. RACER Trust preserved the slab after demolition of a former General Motors building.

Mr. Trigger described the work in progress at Buick City, including planned additional sampling, and the pace at which the work is being conducted.

“We understand there is a great deal of public interest in environmental matters, and we are pleased to be able to engage directly with interested members of the community in Flint to talk about work at Buick City and our general approach to property cleanups,” Mr. Trigger said. “RACER Trust did not cause the contamination, but it’s our duty to conduct safe cleanups that achieve remedial objectives and are protective of health and the environment. We are carrying out our cleanup mission effectively in Flint and elsewhere while at the same time preparing properties for redevelopment and beneficial reuse.”

Sales by RACER Trust already have created new jobs and new tax base at Buick City. In addition to the American SpiralWeld manufacturing and distribution facility at the far north end of Buick City, Lear Corporation opened an automotive seat manufacturing plant at the far south end, creating hundreds of jobs.

“By working shoulder to shoulder and closely coordinating our efforts, RACER Trust’s redevelopment and cleanup teams are able to more efficiently achieve our shared goal, which is to attract new investment, jobs and other beneficial outcomes for our communities as quickly as possible,” said Patricia Spitzley, RACER Trust Deputy Redevelopment Manager. “Our collaborative approach and willingness to be flexible and focused on solutions has yielded some great results for our communities, and we continue to work diligently to bring additional opportunities to Buick City.”

Reports and other information related to RACER Trust’s environmental work at Buick City can be found at www.racertrust.org/buickcity18.

About RACER Trust: RACER (Revitalizing Auto Communities Environmental Response) Trust was created to clean up and position for redevelopment properties and other facilities owned by the former General Motors Corp. before its 2009 bankruptcy. RACER is one of the largest holders of industrial property in the United States, and when it was formed was the largest environmental response and remediation trust in U.S. history. When the Trust was formed, it owned properties at 89 locations in 14 states, principally in the Midwest and Northeast. The Trust was created by a settlement agreement in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court between the U.S. Government, the 14 states where the former GM properties are located, and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, which owns land adjoining one of the properties in Upstate New York. For more information, please visit our website: www.racertrust.org.