Clinton Township continues to pay costs associated with the deadly explosion at a former smoke and vape shop.

Federal contractors are in the final stages of a cleanup of the Goo Smoke Shop and Select Distributors, near the corner of 15 Mile Road and Groesbeck Highway.

Police Chief Dina Caringi recently asked township officials to cover $350,000 in overtime costs, which included a large portion of the police response to the Goo explosion.

“We were on that scene 24/7 for several weeks,” Caringi told the Board of Trustees. “(Manpower costs) was a big expense we didn’t anticipate.”

A police presence was required to keep trespassers from entering the debris-filled property. Once a fence was erected, those duties were turned over to a security firm.

Police administrators asked for a budget amendment to cover the department’s overtime costs projected for the quarter of the fiscal year.

Other circumstances driving the OT include:

• Shift overtime, due to a decrease in overall staffing
• Special event overtime, including ceremonies, community events such as the summer fireworks, high profile events, and Partridge Creek Mall details
• Multi-jurisdictional task force overtime
• Additional police coverage of school board meetings/school events
• Traffic grant details.

The expenses will come from the police fund, according to the township’s Finance Department.

Much of the overtime for special events, multi-jurisdictional task force work, state traffic grant details, and school events does get reimbursed back to the township. So the actual cost is less than the $350,000 originally requested, the police chief said.

However, Caringi did not provide a breakdown of what was eligible to be reimbursed. Most of the shift OT requests are not likely to be reimbursed, she said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is nearing the end of a cleanup of the former Goo Smoke Shop. The building exploded on March 4, officials theorize, because of thousands of nitrous oxide and butane cans that officials say were illegally stored inside.

The explosion and resulting fire rocked central Macomb County and sent debris up flying for miles. One of an estimated 1,000 metal canisters at the scene fatally struck a 19-year-man and another injured a township firefighter.

Clinton Township officials have praised the EPA’s response, noting that federal officials had a staff onsite the day after the explosion as crews worked to pick up the debris in a 1-mile radius. By the end of October, the agency reported its efforts has resulted in more than 1 million pounds of debris from the burned-out structure being removed.

The estimated cost is $2.7 million.

The shop’s owner, Noor Kestou, 32, of Commerce Township, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Turner Salter, 19, who was hit in the head by flying debris. He was arrested while trying to board a flight to China, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office.

Kestou’s attorney, James Thomas, has said a criminal investigation by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is still ongoing, preventing him from access records from the incident.

Last month, a hearing for Kestou was adjourned until Dec. 3 in 41B District Court.

Township officials say they will try to have the EPA reimburse some of their costs.