A release of oil was reported from a storm water outfall (Outfall 001) on the right descending bank of the Flint River located east of West Boulevard
Drive and North Dort Highway in the City of Flint, Genesee County, Michigan on
06/15/2022.
The source of the discharge has been determined to be the
Lockhart Chemical Company (Lockhart). A flyover conducted by the Michigan State
Police on 6/15/2022 indicated that the river was impacted by sheen for
approximately 12 miles downstream of the outfall. A light rainbow sheen was
reported as far downstream as Montrose, Michigan on 6/16/2022.
Lockhart owned,
operated and manufactured a wide range of performance additives to provide
surface protection for metalworking
fluids, oils and greases to prevent rust, inhibit corrosion and emulsification.
Lockhart produced soluble and semi-synthetic bases, calcium and barium
sulfonates, counter rust preventatives, oxidates, water soluble corrosion
inhibitors, amides, organic and inorganic esters.
Lockhart’s
intended water collection design provided for process water and stormwater that
contacts process waste to gravity drain into collection manholes and then route
through a series of underground tunnels and an open trench system to a sump
house then pumps the wastewater into multiple 20,000-gallon oil/water separators
(OWS).
On 06/14/22 a
valve on the OWS failed and began releasing material within a compromised
secondary containment system. Lockhart staff diverted the material into the
open trench system which was historically designed as a utility corridor and
not for secondary containment.
Robotic
sewer camera inspection, water integrity testing of segmented portions of the
underground system, combined with sampling analysis confirmed that the system was
structurally unsound. Breaches in the system resulted in historic/continuing oil
and wastewater leaks into the soil, surrounding groundwater, and ultimately the
mass discharge of material on 06/14/22. That discharge volume infiltrated the City
of Flint’s 60” storm sewer that transects the Lockhart property and was the
nexus pathway that discharged polluting materials and substances into the Flint
River from Outfall 001.
