Feds investigate mineral oil spill following Consumers plant fire

Firefighters were still on scene this afternoon doing clean-up work at a Consumers Energy power plant outside of Bay City that caught fire Monday as federal and state officials investigate the cause of the fire and how much mineral oil was discharged in the area.

At approximately 1:13 p.m. on Monday, the Hampton Township Fire Department was dispatched to the Karen-Weadock Generating Complex in Essexville.

“Immediately I requested mutual aid because I could see smoke from the fire station,” Hampton Fire Chief Karey Prieur told WCMU.

According to Consumers, an electrical transformer caught fire and then spread to the buildings at the complex. When first responders arrived on scene, the fire was primarily contained to generators outside of the buildings but was growing.

Karn building 1 and 2 were coal powered facilities that were shut down back in 2023, but can be used as backup power, according to a company spokesperson. Karn building 3 and 4 are powered by natural gas.

Prieur said firefighters successfully used a suppression technique to try and prevent the fire from spreading inside of the buildings and set up a perimeter to protect hydrogen tanks.

“The cold weather really hindered us,” Prieur said. “Everything was freezing up on us.”

Prieur said there was minimal damage to the interior of the building and that a Bay County building inspector has been on sight to look at the buildings.

In his 40 years in the fire service, Prieur said this was one of the largest fires he’s battled and generated one of the largest mutual aid responses in his career, with over 15 agencies being a part of the response and ongoing investigation.

“We had a phenomenal response from everybody involved and we couldn’t have done it without them,” Prieur said. “It’s good to have neighbors and friends like that.”

In a written statement, a Consumers Energy spokesperson said all employees in the facility evacuated safely and no injuries were reported.

Michigan State Police said they will be investigating the fire’s origins while the U.S Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy are working to determine how much mineral oil was discharged from the electrical transformer and if it landed in the nearby Saginaw River.

Lorne Thomas, a public information officer with the Coast Guard, said they’re estimating between 10,000 – 13,000 gallons of mineral oil were released from the transformer. However, it’s unclear if it landed in the river. Frigid weather conditions and the nature of mineral oil is posing a challenge that will require additional resources.

“Mineral oil isn’t as dark, coarse as usual petroleum products,” Thomas said. "If the oil is on top of the ice or underneath the ice, certainly those represent some additional challenges for removing it."

A Consumers Energy spokesperson told WCMU on Monday that the mineral oil spill does not pose a risk to the public.

“When I hear mineral oil, depending on what it really is, it might not be as much of a disaster as you would initially think,” said Don Uzarski, the director of Central Michigan University’s Institute for Great Lakes Research. Uzarski has published academic papers on crude oil spills in the Great Lakes.

“It’s a very light oil [mineral oil], it breaks down pretty easily with microbes, but, of course, temperatures always complicate things,” Uzarski said. “When it’s on the ice, we just don’t know how that’s going to play out.”

In open water circumstances, the Coast Guard can physically remove mineral oil by skimming what floats off the top of the surface.

Thomas told WCMU he would provide further updates as the Coast Guard works to get drones and other resources to the site in determining the extent of the mineral oil spill.

“I trust them entirely… I would tell people to do the same,” Uzarski said.