Duggan’s toxic dirt poses an “immediate risk for kids playing in the neighborhood”
LANSING — Mike Duggan is continuing to face scrutiny for the toxic and poisoned dirt that he’s left at hundreds of demolition sites in neighborhoods across Detroit, many that are now filled with harmful contaminants like lead and arsenic. But instead of answering questions, Duggan is lashing out and even has his allies laughing it off.
More than 400 lots across Detroit are potentially contaminated, and removing and replacing Duggan’s dirty dirt at one single site costs an average of $18,000—with total clean-up costs in the millions of dollars.
Duggan’s dirty dirt failure comes after he previously said in 2015 that he was making it “very difficult” to bring in soil “unless we were confident where it came from.” But Duggan failed to keep people safe—and by the end of 2025, a criminal probe was opened after “the Duggan administration made a surprise announcement that it had accidentally spread a bunch of toxic dirt throughout the city on home demolition sites.”
The poisoned dirt is especially dangerous for children and has left Detroiters grappling with unknowns. Experts have questioned Duggan’s failures to manage the situation and properly test the dirt. Last week, MDP launched a new digital campaign highlighting how Duggan’s mismanagement of the toxic dirt has put people at risk and is now costing taxpayers millions of dollars to clean up.
“Mike Duggan’s failures put kids at an immediate risk by allowing toxic and dangerous dirt to be dumped throughout Detroit,” said Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman. “Duggan can try to dismiss this, but his dirty dirt runs deep and it’s clear he can’t be trusted to lead Michigan.”
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