Bankrupt firm’s leader accused of endangering the public and altering public records
The former president, treasurer and director of Lockhart Chemical is facing multiple charges after being arrested in relation to a 2022 chemical release into the Flint river in Michigan, US. The incident saw almost 60,000 litres of an oil-chemical mixture discharged from a Lockhart facility that produced rust-preventing additives for the metalworking industry.
Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel announced the arrest of Rajinder Singh Minhas on 23 December 2024. Minhas faces multiple charges including substantial endangerment to the public, falsely altering a public record, violations of air pollution control law and several counts of violating the state’s rules on hazardous waste. If convicted, Minhas faces significant fines and imprisonment.
Three months after the spill, Lockhart was ordered to stop using defective wastewater and storm water conveyance systems and to instead pump waste offsite for disposal. One month later the company filed for bankruptcy.
The incident did not impact the drinking water of Flint city, which had previously been sourced from the Flint river from 2014 to 2015 until a crisis caused by lead contamination led the city to revert its water source to Lake Huron.
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