Employees at USPS metroplex facility concerned after string of deaths

PONTIAC, Mich. (WJBK) - Employees at a local postal facility are demanding answers after the death of an alarming number of coworkers.

We're told five employees have died at the U.S. Postal Service Michigan Metroplex Processing and Distribution Center in Pontiac over the past 14 months.

This site previously housed a vehicle manufacturing plant that included a foundry. The side is considered a brownfield, which is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by environmental contamination. Brownfield sites are converted into usable space under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Safety steps were put in place, such as a gas venting system under the foundation and inside of the building, and a methane detection system. However, a recent report says the methane detection system has not been functioning properly since March of 2015.

That has employees very suspicious.

"These people didn't go home or go to the hospital; they actually died on the premises here. And to see people getting carried out in that fashion is disheartening," says employee Patricia Wilkerson.

"We also have a lot of people concerned with headaches, some people with coughs, So, all in all, we just want these concerns addressed," says employee Marlon Harris.

None of the deaths have been confirmed to be related.

The postal service is working on getting that detection system fixed or replaced entirely.

This is a developing story. We'll have the latest updates from Hannah Saunders tonight on FOX 2 News beginning at 5 p.m.