State officials deal with environmental side of freeway pileup

GALESBURG (AP) — State officials are trying to determine who is responsible for environmental contamination that occurred as a result of a massive pileup on snowy Interstate 94 in southwestern Michigan six months ago.

The Jan. 9 chain-reaction crashes killed a 57-year-old trucker and closed a stretch of the roadway for two days. Police announced in March that dozens of drivers were being ticketed, mostly for traveling too fast for the road conditions.

The pileup also caused hazardous materials to leak from ruptured containers and tanks, seep into the ground and flow into drains. Officials want to compel those responsible for the contamination to pay for the cleanup, The Detroit News reported.

Officials with Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality and state police are going through accident reports, videos and photos from the crashes to determine responsibility.

In some cases, officials said it was clear which vehicle led to a specific release. In other cases, determining responsibility is more difficult.

The crashes involved vehicles on both sides of the freeway east of Galesburg, including dozens of commercial trucks.