A 2018 photo of the Tribar Manufacturing Plant No. 4 at 30540 Beck Road in Wixom, Mich. (Jacob Hamilton, MLive.com)Jacob Hamilton, MLive.com

Update, 8/5: Test results encouraging, but anger remains

WIXOM, MI — Local law enforcement has opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances of a release at an auto supplier that put cancer-causing contaminates in the Huron River through a wastewater discharge.

Lieutenant Mark Bradley of the Wixom Police Department confirmed a local investigation is looking into what happened at Tribar Technologies to cause hexavalent chromium to enter the city wastewater treatment system.

The contaminants passed through the Wixom sewage plant, prompting Michigan health and environment agencies to issue a “no contact” advisory with the river on Tuesday, Aug. 2.

Hexavalent chromium, or hexchrome, is a carcinogenic chemical used in plastic finishing. It can cause a number of health problems through ingestion, skin contact or inhalation.

“It’s something we’re looking into,” Bradley said on Wednesday morning, Aug. 3.

The investigation is assessing whether the release at Tribar, a chrome plating company owned by HCI Equity Partners of Washington, DC, was something the company is either “negligent or criminally liable for,” he said.

“Was there criminal intent or was it an accident?” Bradley said.

The investigation does not appear to have progressed substantially.

“So far, I’ve not been able to talk to anybody,” Bradley said. “”All I know is something took place. We’re trying to look into what happened and why it happened.”

Tribar’s headquarters are in Wixom where it operates four plants; three on Beck Road and one on Anderson Court. It also has two locations in Howell. It’s unclear from which Wixom plant the chemicals were released. The company was previously named Adept Plastic Finishing before it was acquired by Tribar Manufacturing in 2016.

Attempts to reach Tribar representatives by phone and email were unsuccessful.

The company has released contaminants to the river before. Tribar is chiefly responsible for the existing “Do Not Eat” fish advisory in the river due to PFAS chemicals, which also were discharged to the river through the Wixom wastewater plant.

According to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), the company notified the state on Monday, Aug. 1 about 3:20 pm. that it had released “several thousand gallons” of liquid containing 5 percent hexchrome into the Wixom sewer system.

“The company says it discovered the release Monday but indicated it may have started as early as Saturday morning, according to Wixom city officials. It is believed that much of the contaminant already made its way through the treatment plant by the time the release was discovered,” EGLE stated.

The release has prompted widespread river testing and concern for the drinking water intake in Ann Arbor, which sources some water from the river. Computer modeling indicates the contaminates should not reach the city’s intake for several weeks, the state said.

People should not touch, ingest, eat fish or water plants with river water downstream of Wixom in Oakland or Livingston counties, state health officials said.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services urged people with questions about potential hexchrome exposure to call the MI Toxic Hotline at 800-648-6942, which is staffed normal business hours and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this weekend.

Jeff Gearhart, research director at the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, said typically criminal investigations into environmental spills are handled by state or federal agencies.

“It is unusual as it related to an environmental release like this,” Gearhart said. “It’s more typical that you’d have the enforcement arms of EPA coming in.”

What role the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is playing in the investigation and response to the Huron River hexchrome release is unclear. EPA Region 5 spokeswoman Rachel Bassler issued a short statement Wednesday morning saying only that the EPA “is involved and is supporting the response” by state agencies.

The leading response agency is EGLE, which has been testing inside the Tribar facility as well as the Wixom sewage plant. The state sampled nine locations on Wednesday in an effort to track the pollution as it moves downstream. The city’s wastewater is discharged to Norton Creek, which flows into the Huron River system.

Tuesday tests at the mouth of Norton Creek and on the Huron River just downstream did not detect hexchrome. On Wednesday afternoon, EGLE characterized those as the first two data points a “lengthy testing process” and the samples “aren’t sufficient to draw conclusions about the effects of the pollutant on the Huron River watershed.”

The state has not confirmed the exact cause or size of the hexchrome release, but multiple non-governmental organizations on a Tuesday call with EGLE said the volume was described as between 8,000 and 10,000 gallons released.

“EGLE is investigating the totality of circumstances for this release, including how and why it occurred,” said EGLE spokesperson Jill Greenberg. “We continue to look at where the facts are leading but will not speculate on potential causes of the release.”

Environment and conservation groups reacted with outrage to news that the Huron River was again suffering at the hands of the private sector and said the incident underscores the need to strengthen regulatory scrutiny on polluters. The Huron River is popular with paddlers and sees lots of recreational usage.

Tribar “needs to be shut down,” Rebecca Esselman, director the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC), said on Tuesday.

“I don’t think this is anything where a fine, probation or additional oversight is going to be sufficient,” Esselman said. “Two strikes and you’re out.”

Gearhart said automakers like Ford and General Motors, who are identified on Tribar’s website as being among its customers, should evaluate whether they are comfortable with sourcing products from Tribar and questioned whether the use of hexchrome violates supply chain standards.

Hexchrome is banned in Europe and many plating companies in the U.S. don’t use it anymore,” he said. Most have switched to a less toxic version called Trivalent chromium for coating plastic used as decorative automotive trim.

“I don’t think this matches the intent of what (automakers) are trying to do in terms of cleaning up their supply chain,” Gearhart said. “There is something going on with this company in terms of how they operate that is putting a big cloud over what’s going on there.”

‘No contact’ with Huron River urged after toxic release

Tribar release results in high PFAS levels in river

One year later, Huron River still weighed by PFAS crisis

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