The Jeep plant in Detroit stinks. It's been stinking since at least October. Parent company Stellantis has promised to look into it, receiving strong words from members of Congress. On Wednesday night a Stellantis representative told Detroit residents it has confirmed the smell is not a health risk and that it plans to have the issue taken care of within weeks.

Representative Al Johnston, manager of corporate environmental programs for Stellantis, said the company is also working on a second smell, which is from exhaust gases. Johnston said the company would take full responsibility for the residents' complaints and that at least the second problem would be solved by the end of the year. The Mack Plant is where the company builds the Jeep Grand Cherokee L.

Detroiters got their chance to talk to the company at a three-hour annual meeting, this year held on Zoom. That meeting was part of the deal when the company announced the plant in 2019. Other topics of the meeting included the number of locals hired and educational efforts. No matter what, the company is already in for some fines.

"The odor issue at the site, which we're working to address, is not an air health risk. This is what we've determined through modeling that we've done. The State of Michigan did the same modeling. They confirmed our conclusion on that," Johnston said, noting that "obviously odors are not acceptable. We're working on a solution to that. We don't want odors to be emitted from our facility."

Johnston provided proof in the form of data from ambient air quality monitoring, "which he said showed that concentrations of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide are consistent with the legal allowable limit. The data also showed that the level of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) was also fine.

But the residents still have complaints, including the metallic smell in the air, according to one homeowner. So far the situation has been investigated by the Michigan Department of Environment a half-dozen times and the outfit issued three violation notices. Best case scenario, the legal battle, and the smell, is all taken care of by the new year.