SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) -- Delphi Corp.'s plan to emerge from bankruptcy could leave Michigan responsible for cleaning up pollution on the company's properties, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesman said.
The agency has filed a limited objection in New York federal bankruptcy court asserting that General Motors Co. remains liable for contamination at Delphi properties.
The agency wants to make sure cleaning current and former Delphi sites doesn't become the state's responsibility when Delphi is split up, spokesman Robert McCann said.
"The bottom line is there are contaminated properties that need to be dealt with," McCann told The Saginaw News.
Delphi's plan to emerge from bankruptcy could win federal court approval as soon as this week.
GM once owned Delphi and will acquire the 3,000-employee Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems again under the bankruptcy plan. Other Delphi facilities would fall under the ownership of the private firm Platinum Equity and possibly a group of creditors.
A call to a Delphi spokesman went unanswered Sunday. The News reported that Delphi declined to comment on the pollution issue.
Three Delphi sites in Saginaw County have pollution problems, said Rhonda Klann, a Bay City-based environmental quality analyst for the state agency. None of the problems are considered an immediate threat to public health since the pollution remains on factory property and does not impact drinking water, she said.
"These are long-term problems, and they've been working on them over the years," Klann said.
GM Powertrain factories in Saginaw and Bay City have similar contamination issues that GM is addressing, she said
Neither Delphi nor GM have developed comprehensive remediation plans for their locations, but GM is farther along in the process, she said.
Delphi has been in bankruptcy since 2005. An auction of Delphi's assets is set for Tuesday, and a final bankruptcy court hearing could take place Thursday in New York.
