DETROIT, April 6 (UPI) -- Detroit's plan to raze 3,000 vacant buildings this year has been halted by the city's failure to test for asbestos, state officials said.
City officials also failed to notify the state of demolition plans as required by law, said Robert McCann, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The demolition project has been put on hold until city and state leaders meet, said Carla Henderson, director of the city's Buildings and Safety Engineering Department.
"When this was brought to our attention, we ceased immediately," Henderson said.
The plan to raze 3,000 buildings this year was part of a larger plan to demolish 10,000 buildings during the next four years, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday.
Nearly 20 percent of the city's homes, about 78,000, are vacant and most are not needed because Detroit's population is expected to drop significantly by 2020, city officials said.
