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Michigan environmental officials still recommend people and pets avoid contact with Huron River

Riverside Park.
Cmadler | CC BY-SA 3.0
Riverside Park.

Michigan state health and environmental officials are continuing to recommend that people and pets avoid contact with portions of the Huron River.

The recommendation was put into place after industrial chemicals were discharged to the water system from the company Tribar Manufacturing in Wixom more than a week ago. The liquid potentially contained Hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen that can cause a number of adverse health effects through ingestion, skin contact, or inhalation. You may remember the chemical from the notorious "green ooze" spill on I-96 in early 2020, or from the movie Erin Brockovich.

State officials are asking that people stay away from the Huron River between North Wixom Road in Oakland County and Kensington Road in Livingston County until further notice.

Laura Herberg is a reporter for 101.9 WDET, telling stories about people inhabiting the Detroit region and the issues that affect us here. She won a Regional Murrow Award for best Hard News story (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio) in 2020 and she was named the Michigan Associated Press Best Reporter for radio broadcasting in 2020, 2018 and 2017. In 2012, she was awarded a SoundCloud Fellowship for her project, “Listen to Detroit.” She also is the creator of Complete Me, a podcast with only three episodes about how she has trouble completing tasks.