Public Hearing! Aevitas Wants to Rebuild & Expand

by Call to Action

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==

How to participate:

Show up on Zoom — June 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Link: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/89517106887
Dial in: 1-267-831-0333
Send written comments before the hearing
Email: zoning@detroitmi.gov – Reference Case No. SLU2026-00019 and the address 663 Lycaste Street

Aevitas Complaint Analysis

by Uncategorized
Source: EPA

Purpose

This analysis reviews data from the Michigan EGLE Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) to evaluate neighborhood air-quality conditions before and after the June 30, 2025 fire and shutdown at Aevitas Specialty Services Corp. (663 Lycaste St, Detroit, MI 48214). The goal is to assess how odor-complaint trends changed in the surrounding East Side corridor.

Background

Since the Aevitas fire, residents have reported noticeable improvements in neighborhood air quality, with the area no longer frequently affected by diesel and chemical odors. Building on the findings of the Legislative Policy Division (LPD) report that documented air-quality and complaint data prior to the fire, additional FOIA and data requests were submitted to better understand post-fire conditions and allow comparison between the two periods. While air-monitoring data are still being evaluated, the EGLE complaint data provide clear, independent evidence of change in community odor patterns.

Data Sources

  • Michigan EGLE Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) complaint data, 2022–2025
  • FOIA-released EGLE complaint datasets, including records through October 15, 2025
  • Study window: April 1 – October 1 of each year
  • Geographic focus: approximately one mile around 663 Lycaste Street, including adjoining streets within Detroit ZIP codes 48214, 48215, and 48207

Findings

Category2024 Baseline (Apr 1–Oct 1 2024)2025 Pre-Fire (Apr 1–Jun 30 2025)2025 Post-Fire (Jul 1–Oct 1 2025)
Aevitas-type odors (diesel / fuel / chemical / burning oil / gas / “raw egg”)14101
Paint-type odors (paint / spray / coating)1221
Other / unrelated (sewer / garbage / smoke / unknown)2898

Change after June 30, 2025:
Odor complaints consistent with Aevitas-type emissions declined by roughly 90 percent between the pre-fire and post-fire periods. Paint-related and other odor categories did not show comparable changes.

Between April and June 2025, residents within one mile of 663 Lycaste Street filed approximately ten Aevitas-type odor complaints. In the three months after the June 30 fire and shutdown, only one similar complaint was recorded — a decline of about 90 percent. Paint-related and other odor complaints remained relatively stable, suggesting that the improvement in neighborhood air quality was specific to the end of Aevitas’s operations.

Interpretation

The complaint data indicate a clear, site-specific improvement in air-quality conditions following the Aevitas shutdown. The sharp reduction in fuel- and chemical-type odor complaints aligns closely with the facility’s closure. Other odor categories, such as paint or general nuisance smells, did not change significantly. This pattern suggests that the decline in complaints was localized and directly associated with the absence of Aevitas operations, rather than broader city-wide or seasonal variations.

Policy Implications

  • Adopt and Implement the Aevitas Resolution:
    Fully enact the Detroit City Council Resolution regarding Aevitas Specialty Services, establishing clear expectations for environmental accountability and public-health protection.
  • Strengthen Oversight through Existing Regulatory Tools:
    Utilize all authorities identified in the Legislative Policy Division (LPD) report — including zoning, permitting, enforcement, and transparency mechanisms — to ensure that any future operation at 663 Lycaste Street proceeds only under enhanced scrutiny and enforceable compliance standards.
  • Mandate Real-Time Air Monitoring:
    Require installation of continuous fence-line monitoring for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), benzene, and related pollutants as a pre-condition to any restart or new permit issuance. Monitoring data should be publicly accessible in real time to ensure accountability.

Conclusion

The complaint data show a clear and measurable trend: after Aevitas Specialty Services ceased operations, odor complaints from the surrounding neighborhoods dropped by approximately 90 percent. This decline aligns with the facility’s shutdown and suggests that its operations were a significant factor in local odor and air-quality conditions. These findings support stronger oversight, continuous real-time monitoring, and strict accountability requirementsbefore any future industrial activity is permitted at 663 Lycaste Street.

Data Sources

EGLE FOIA Complaint Dataset (through October 2025)

EGLE PEAS Complaint Database (2022 – 2025)