“Sometimes the smell of gas is so strong that it wakes me up in the middle of the night,” Michelle Kent, who lives a few blocks away, said. “I can’t help but go into the kitchen and check the stove and go down into the basement to see if there’s a gas leak.”

State Rep. Steve Tobocman, who represents Detroit’s 12th District, said that since settling a class action suit, Marathon Ashland moved to outfit the refinery with filters to reduce the amount of toxics released into the air.

But, he added, they also plan to increase refinery production, which could neutralize the effects of the filtering devices.

According to the Facility Detail Report, compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency for toxic releases, Marathon Ashland’s Detroit facility released 508 pounds of Benzene and 909 pounds of Toulene into the air in 2002.

Benzene, a colorless volatile liquid that is acutely toxic when ingested or inhaled, is ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds to humans and ecosystems.

Toulene, an addictive substance, is known to cause dizziness, headaches, muscular weakness — and even blindness.

“Residents near the refinery can be assured that safety, for the neighborhoods where we operate and for the environment, is the number one priority for MAP,” Chris Fox, a press secretary for Marathon Ashland Petroleum, said. “The MAP meets or exceeds all standards set by the EPA for the emissions of hydrocarbons.”

Since 1999, when the EPA filed suit against the Detroit facility for violations of the Clean Air Act, the annual release of air toxics has dropped from 400,000 pounds to 160, 449 pounds. The governmental agency’s policy, however, suggests there are no levels for toxins that represent no risk at all.

Complicating matters, the federal government allows Marathon Ashland to miss court-mandated deadlines to reduce air emissions. So far, the Detroit refinery has missed five deadlines without the EPA notifying the public or the courts of deadline changes, as required by law.

Statistics provided by the Toxic Release Inventory show that the refinery released 9,435 pounds of recognized carcinogens, 89,309 pounds of suspected neurotoxicants and 151,434 pounds of suspected respiratory toxic air pollutants into the air in 2003.

The EPA defines toxic air pollutants as those that may cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive damage or birth defects. Air toxins may also cause adverse environmental and ecological effects.

“I hate that I’m having to raise my grandchildren here,” said Linda Wahl, who has lived near the refinery for over thirty years. “But when your finances are gone and you’re barely able to get by, you don’t have the money to move.”

There is also concern about a possible recurrence of the August 2003 explosion at the refinery that followed a multi-state power outage.

“The power outage affected a pump at the complex that caused a buildup of pressure, which triggered the explosion,” Melvindale’s fire chief, Sam Pedron, said. “A more powerful explosion at the facility could rain down sheet metal and other debris on the area.”

In a recently prepared statement, Fox, the MAP press secretary, said that the malfunctioning CO boiler has since been removed from service and demolished, eliminating the possibility of repeating the 2003 explosion.

Immediately north of Southwest Detroit’s Kemeny Recreation Center, huge oil containers dot the landscape. One is shaped like a giant basketball and bears the advertisement “World Champion Detroit Pistons.”

It is also marked with the highly visible and recognizable red, white and blue logo of the Marathon Oil Corp.

Lee Varner, who heads the Detroit office of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said that, while the oil containers have built-in safety features, they could still explode if struck by lightning, for example.

Pointing in the direction of the oversized oil drums, one former resident said, “I hate to think of what would happen to this neighborhood if there’s an explosion at one of those.”