Kent Lake on the Huron River in Milford Charter Township on Aug. 9, 2018.

Update, 8/10: Tribar alarms overridden 460 times before spill

Update, 8/8: Advisory remains after chrome detections

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

Update, 8/3: Wixom police investigate Tribar release

WIXOM, MI — The state of Michigan is urging people to avoid contact with the Huron River downstream of Wixom after a chrome plating factory released a large quantity of hexavalent chromium into a sewer system that discharges to the river.

The state environmental and health departments issued a joint release about the chemical mishap on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 2, indicating that the contaminants may have begun flowing into the city of Wixom wastewater system on Saturday.

The chemicals came from Tribar Technologies, an auto supplier chiefly responsible for the existing “Do Not Eat” fish advisory in the river due to PFAS chemicals.

Hexavalent chromium, or hexchrome, is a carcinogenic chemical used in plastic finishing. It can cause numerous health problems through ingestion, skin contact or inhalation. It is so hazardous that companies like Tribar use PFAS to coat plating baths and protect workers from chromium inhalation.

The Huron River flows through multiple southeast Michigan communities before reaching Lake Erie, including Oakland, Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne and Monroe counties.

The largest city on the river is Ann Arbor, which sources drinking water from the river. Computer modeling indicates the contaminates should not reach the city’s water intake for several weeks, according to state agencies.

Until further notice, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says all people and pets should avoid contact with river water between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County.

The advisory includes Norton Creek downstream of the Wixom wastewater treatment plant, Hubbell Pond in Oakland County (also known as Mill Pond) and Kent Lake.

People should not swim in, wade in, play in, drink from, water plants with river water or eat fish from the river.

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.

“As we gather additional information through sampling, this recommendation may change or be expanded,” said Elizabeth Hertel, DHHS director, in a statement.

“This is a significant release into a large, much-loved waterway,” said Liesl Clark, director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). “Our teams are in the field now assessing the situation. We will stay on the job as long as it takes to ensure residents are safe and impacts to the ecosystem are minimized.”

Exactly how the chemicals were released is unclear. According to a news statement, EGLE was notified at 3:21 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 1 by Tribar that it had released “several thousand gallons” of a liquid containing 5 percent hexavalent chromium 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 state is taking samples from multiple areas downstream from the treatment plant. Testing is also taking place within the Tribar facility and the Wixom wastewater treatment plant. Monitoring will continue in coming days and weeks.

“We’re the middle of the response and investigation right now and looking at everything,” said EGLE spokesperson Jill Greenberg. “We’re gathering facts and trying to figure out exactly what happened.”

The Tribar release is the second chemical spill in the river this year. In February, river access was shut down in the Wayne County town of Flat Rock after an oil sheen was discovered. That pollution was eventually traced back to a local steel processing factory.

Elsewhere in Michigan, the Flint River and St. Marys River have suffered spills this year. In June, a discharge of oily black chemicals prompted a river no-contact order in Flint. The spill was traced back to Lockhart Chemical Co.

Also in June, the Algoma Steel mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario spilled oil into the St. Marys River, which flows between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Environment and conservation groups reacted with outrage on Tuesday, noting that the Huron River, a valuable, publicly shared natural resource with a seven-county watershed, was again suffering at the hands of the private sector.

In a statement, Lisa Wozniak, director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters denounced Tribar’s two-day delay in disclosing the release and called out the inattention being paid to pollution concerns this election cycle.

“Toxic contamination in our drinking water continues to afflict Michiganders and we’re alarmed by the lack of attention on the campaign trail being dedicated to this tremendous threat – Democrats and Republicans alike,” Wozniak said.

On Twitter, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, whose Congressional district includes parts of the river, said the hexchrome release demonstrates the need to “do more to protect our waterways, groundwater & drinking water.”

“We’ve been working on getting more testing for folks exposed to these substances, but we need to phase these chemicals out of our manufacturing (as many other countries have done) and do more at the local, state, and federal levels hold polluters accountable,” Slotkin wrote.

Rebecca Esselman, director the Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC), said the river used to be known as the cleanest urban river in Michigan. “PFAS, dioxane and now hexchrome — these have taken that from us. It’s really defeating.”

“All three of these contaminants hitting the river originate from manufacturing. That sector has to do better. Our regulators have to be able to do better,” Esselman said.

Tribar, she said, “needs to be shut down.”

“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.”

Messages sent to Tribar executives Tuesday evening were not immediately returned.

Tribar release results in high PFAS levels in river

One year later, Huron River still weighed by PFAS crisis

Oil not recoverable in St. Marys River spill

A month later, discharge remains at Flint River spill site

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