A southeast Michigan manufacturer has been ordered to pay $220,000 after federal officials said the company violated the Clean Water Act when it dumped about 10,000 gallons of untreated and carcinogenic wastewater in 2022 into the city of Wixom’s sanitary sewer system, which leads into the Huron River.

Tribar Technologies Inc. also was ordered to serve five years of probation and implement an environmental management system and compliance plan within six months, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Michigan.

“Tribar’s failure to adequately train and supervise its employees jeopardized the safety and quality of local water resources,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Julie A. Beck in a statement announcing the sentence. “This sentence recognizes the importance of strict adherence to regulatory standards and best practices intended to protect human health and the environment. Together with our partners we will continue to protect environmental resources in the Eastern District of Michigan.”

Tribar manufactures decorative trim assemblies and components for the automotive and commercial vehicle markets in southeast Michigan, according to court documents.

At its Plant 5 in Wixom, employees used an electroplating process to apply chrome finishing to plastic automotive parts. Among the byproducts is wastewater with a concentration of hexavalent chromium.

The compound, used for electro-plating and other manufacturing purposes, is a powerful carcinogen that can cause health issues when ingested, touched or inhaled, according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Federal prosecutors said Tribar violated the Clean Water Act on July 29, 2022, when an employee discharged a batch of about 10,000 gallons of insufficiently treated wastewater from a holding tank in the the plant’s wastewater treatment system.

Officials said the discharge activated about 460 alarm bells, which were all overridden, allowing the contaminated water to be discharged into the city’s sanitary sewer system.

The company held an Industrial Pretreatment Program Permit, which allowed it to discharge treated wastewater into the sewer system, and employees had previously attempted to treat the contaminated water, but it still required further treatment to lower the hexavalent chromium levels before it could be legally discharged.

Tribar reported the illegal discharge at about 12:23 p.m. on Aug. 1, 2022, but officials said the company claimed in writing that it had made the report by 8:30 a.m. that day.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy led the initial response to the discharge. State officials said the wastewater contained 5% hexavalent chromium.

On Aug. 2, 2022, the state issued a no-contact advisory, urging that people and pets avoid contact with the Huron River, between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County. The advisory was lifted Aug. 15, after dozens of samples showed the hexavalent chromium content of the river was very low.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a criminal complaint against Tribar in September 2024. On Dec. 18, 2024, the company pleaded guilty to a negligent violation of a pretreatment standard.

Sentencing took place April 29, when the company was ordered to pay a $200,000 criminal fine, plus $20,000 restitution.

Last month, Tribar announced it was laying off 188 workers and closing its Wixom plant following the company’s sale and consolidation.

“Tribar illegally discharged industrial wastewater, posing a risk to downstream waterways,” said Allison Landsman, special agent in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division. “The successful and cooperative effort by EPA, federal and state partners resulted in today’s sentencing, holding Tribar responsible for violating federal environmental law.”

Along with the EPA and DOJ, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service participated in the investigation.