OIL CHEM

-- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been honored for an investigation into a Flint-based company, the owner of which was sentenced to 12 months in prison for dumping millions of gallons of liquid landfill waste into Flint sewers. The DNR release says its investigation into Oil Chem started in October 2015, when Detective Jan Erlandson, a conservation officer in the department’s Environmental Investigations Section, received a complaint from a Flint wastewater plant employee who suspected the illegal dumping. Sanitary sewers in Flint flow to a wastewater treatment plant before the wastewater is sent into the Flint River. Oil Chem paid a civil fine of $250,000 to the city of Flint and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy revoked the company’s waste hauler license. Read more on MLive:Oil Chem owner sentenced to 1 year after illegally dumping millions of gallons of landfill liquid in FlintOil Chem owner accused of dumping nearly 50 million gallons of landfill liquid into Flint sewersOil Chem owner pleads guilty in dumping of 47 million gallons of landfill liquid into Flint sewers

FLINT, MI-- The owner of Flint-based Oil Chem, Inc. was sentenced to twelve months of imprisonment after dumping millions of gallons of landfill liquid into Flint sewers. Robert J. Massey, owner and president of the chemical company, was accused by federal prosecutors in December of knowingly polluting Flint sewers with 47 million gallons of untreated landfill liquid coming from eight landfills. RELATED: Oil Chem owner accused of dumping nearly 50 million gallons of landfill liquid into Flint sewersHe pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, a federal law meant to protect water quality, in January. Oil Chem, Inc., located at 711 W. 12th St. in Flint, had a City of Flint permit under the Clean Water Act to discharge some industrial waste within the permit limits. One landfill was found to have polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in its landfill liquid, which are known to have hazardous effects on human health and the environment.

Robert J. Massey, 70, of Brighton, Michigan, pleaded guilty on Jan. 14, to a criminal charge of violating the Clean Water Act. According to court records, Oil Chem, located in Flint, Michigan, processed and discharged industrial wastewaters to Flint’s sewer system. According to the plea agreement filed in federal court, Oil Chem’s permit prohibited the discharge of landfill leachate waste. Landfill leachate is formed when water filters downward through a landfill, picking up dissolved materials from decomposing trash. Nor did Massey disclose to the city when Oil Chem started to discharge this new waste stream, which the permit also required.

Oil Chem, located in Flint, processed and discharged industrial wastewaters to Flint’s sewer system. According to an agreed upon factual statement in the plea agreement filed in federal court, Oil Chem’s permit prohibited the discharge of landfill leachate waste. Landfill leachate is formed when water filters downward through a landfill, picking up dissolved materials from decomposing trash. Nor did Massey disclose to the city when Oil Chem started to discharge this new waste stream, which the permit also required. From January 2007 through October 2015, Massey arranged for Oil Chem to receive approximately 47,824,293 gallons of landfill leachate from eight different landfills located in Michigan.

A company is accused of illegally discharging nearly 48 million gallons of waste from landfills into Flint wastewater system.

FLINT, MI - Federal prosecutors accuse the owner and president of a Flint chemical company with dumping nearly 50 million gallons of untreated liquid drained from eight different landfills into the city’s sewer system. In Flint, treated wastewater is discharged into the Flint River. On its website, Oil Chem describes itself as a “globally recognized specialty lubrication manufacturer” specializing in the formulation and custom blending of metalworking lubricants, industrial cleaning chemicals and maintenance oils. “Oil Chem discharged all or substantially all of the landfill leachate it received... to the city of Flint sanitary sewer system in this manner,” the records say. The Oil Chem facility is located downstream of the spot on the river where Flint took in water for treatment during the city’s water crisis.