Buildings, Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED) Hearing
Wednesday, June 17, 2026 — 9:00 AM
Virtual via Zoom: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/89517106887
Dial in: 1-267-831-0333
Written comments: zoning@detroitmi.gov
Case No. SLU2026-00019
Aevitas Specialty Services, the used oil recycling plant at 663 Lycaste Street, burned down on June 30, 2025. Now the company, operating under the name Daymax Holding, LLC, is applying to the City of Detroit for permission to rebuild and expand.
The application proposes demolishing part of the fire-damaged building and constructing a new, expanded facility, over 24,000 square feet, to resume waste oil recycling operations on the same site. This hearing is your chance to tell the city what you think before any approvals move forward.
Who is Aevitas and what have they done to our neighborhoods?
Aevitas processes liquid industrial waste, used hydraulic oil, solvents, oily wastewater. They are at the corner of Lycaste and Edlie, less than half a mile from the Detroit River and surrounded by neighborhoods.
For years, neighbors have reported burning oil smells, chemical odors, and a rotten-egg stench strong enough to ruin time outside. EGLE’s own pollution complaint records document over 59 air quality investigations tied to the Aevitas site radius since 2020.
The facility racked up multiple citations and open violations at the time of the fire. Three weeks before the June 2025 fire, a state inspection found exposed waste drums sitting in the weather, overflowing containment, and missing hazardous waste paperwork.
Nearly a year ago, in the early morning hours of June 30, 2025, tanks full of waste oil ignited. Black smoke rolled over Jefferson-Chalmers. Oily water entered the combined sewer system.
After the fire, the odors stopped. EGLE complaint data shows a 91% drop in the odor complaints that had plagued this neighborhood for years. The air got cleaner when Aevitas shut down. That’s not a coincidence, that’s evidence.
If you don’t want to smell burning oil smells, chemical odors, and rotten-egg stench again, it’s time to tell the city.
You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to express your concerns. Here are some things worth noting:
Our neighborhoods have proof this facility caused harm. EGLE’s own complaint data shows odor complaints in this area dropped after Aevitas shut down. That’s not an opinion, it’s what the records show. A rebuilding permit should have to account for that. Read ESE’s complaint data analysis
On October 28, 2025, Detroit City Council unanimously passed a resolution opposing Aevitas resuming operations. This hearing is the city’s chance to read the report and follow through on the resolution. Read the City Council Resolution and LPD Report
This neighborhood already carries too much. Within a mile of this site: Stellantis Jefferson North, Stellantis Mack Assembly, Clean Earth, and more. The cumulative burden on people who live here is real. Children in Detroit are hospitalized for asthma at nearly twice the rate of children across the rest of Michigan. The city has the power to say this site has done enough harm and consider the impact on Detroiters.
Any rebuilding approval should require real-time air monitoring that reflects the sites use (Benzene and Hydrogen Sulfide) at the fence line, tied to public alerts, before operations resume. These requirements will create enforceable conditions that will protect our quality of life in our neighborhoods.
Aevitas in the NEWS
Planet Detroit: City must act against Aevitas oil treatment facility that caught fire: Detroit councilmember
https://planetdetroit.org/2025/10/detroit-council-targets-aevitas/
Detroit News: Site of industrial fire in east Detroit monitored for environmental impact, company says
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2025/06/30/fire-east-detroit-industrial-site-under-control-officials-say/84417875007/
Instagram
Aevitas Fire https://www.instagram.com/edenbloom2023/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMI8XrNp-TV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==