Greg Coburn / news@whmi.com


Hamburg Township officials are calling for action following the release of a toxic chemical into the Huron River.

Tribar Manufacturing in Wixom released several thousand gallons of liquid containing 5% Hexavalent Chromium into the Huron River system. The Hamburg Township Board of Trustees met Tuesday night and approved a resolution for Michigan’s Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy or EGLE to investigate the contamination caused by Tribar’s negligence.

The resolution calls for the immediate disconnection of Tribar from the Wixom Wastewater Treatment Plant, demands an investigation into criminal violations, and suggests that fines be assessed to the plant.

Supervisor Pat Hohl says Hamburg Township is highly exposed to contaminates in the river and this is the second major source of severe contamination from this industrial complex and they need to tighten up their conduct. He said it appears that EGLE has cited them with three criminal acts so far, and he hopes that that continues.

Hohl remembers the involvement with the efforts around PFAS, and now this is surfacing again, and said that’s not acceptable in the future. He stressed they need to make sure this doesn’t happen.

The no-contact recommendation for the Huron River was lifted last Friday morning and the state has issued violation notices to Tribar, which the company must respond to by specified dates.