Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed criminal charges against the director of a chemical company responsible for a 2022 oil spill in the Flint River.

According to Nessel, 60-year-old Rajinder Singh Minhas, from Rochester, has been arrested and arraigned. He was the president, treasurer and director of Lockhart Chemical Company.

He faces more than two dozen criminal charges, including three felonies related to altering and publishing false public records. He also faces 11 misdemeanor charges for violating hazardous waste statutes and nine misdemeanors for violating the state’s Liquid Industrial Waste law.

Those who run a business have a responsibility to ensure their operations do not jeopardize public health or the environment, especially precious water resources,” Nessel said in a statement. “Blatant neglect and disregard of this responsibility cannot be tolerated, and I will continue to make sure those who fail in this duty are met with the full force of the law.”

Water is a defining feature in Michigan, integral to public health and a clean environment. We should have little tolerance for those who violate the laws designed to protect them,” EGLE Director Phil Roos stated.

Lockhart Chemical Co. was a chemical processing facility in Flint that manufactured rust-preventative additives. According to Nessel, approximately 15,000 gallons of an oil-chemical mixture was released from the company’s facility into the Flint River on June 15, 2022. A chemical fingerprinting analysis confirmed the mixture came from the Lockhart facility.

Since the date of the spill, Lockhart has filed for bankruptcy. According to Nessel, Michigan state officials and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are involved in the bankruptcy proceedings “to ensure that the facility is managed appropriately to avoid further releases.”

Minhas is next due to appear in court on Jan. 2, 2025.