A chemical company director is facing a host of criminal charges related to a 2022 spill in the Flint River.
Lockhart was a Flint-based chemical processing facility that manufactured rust-preventative additives for the metalworking industry.
In June 2022, approximately 15,000 gallons of an oily mix of chemicals was discovered seeping into the river from the company’s facility.
The cleanup eventually grew to 22 miles of the Flint River.
Inspection of the Lockhart facility revealed multiple chemical storage issues.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said the blame falls on director Rajinder Minhas for his “dangerous daily operations” of the facility along the Flint River.
“Repeatedly neglecting maintenance. Refusing necessary facility upgrades. And failing to implement a preventative maintenance plan or provide annual emergency training for employees,” Nessel told reporters in Flint on Monday.
Minhas is charged with multiple felonies, including "Substantial Endangerment to Public" and "Falsely Altering a Public Record,” with the most serious charges carrying a 14-year sentence. He is also charged with numerous misdemeanor counts, including offenses for violating hazardous waste statutes, permits, or rules and violations of the state’s Liquid Industrial Waste law.
Minhas appeared in court last week and he is due to return to court in January.
His attorney has not responded to a request for comment.
Since the 2022 spill, the company filed for bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, the clean up project at the facility goes on.
Hugh McDiarmid, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, said the department's current priority is to continue moving chemicals offsite. To date, more than half the chemicals on site have been sold or properly disposed.
“EGLE meets weekly with EPA, (the) Department of Justice (the court-appointed bankruptcy trustee) and others to discuss site status and address issues,” McDiarmid wrote in a statement, “EGLE’s Water Resources Division staff makes weekly inspections, and the outfall where the substance entered the river continues to be monitored multiple times weekly. The boom is in place and will be for the near future as a precautionary measure.”
