We received several reports of an oil sheen on the Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers. WDNR has confirmed that Komatsu experienced a used oil transfer error last Friday morning, which resulted in discharge of an estimated 400 gallons of oil to the Menomonee River from a stormwater outfall near American Family Field (formerly Miller Park).
Komatsu has taken responsibility. They’ve placed a boom on site to contain oil, and continue to clean up the contaminated stormwater outfall. This oil sheen has been observed along the lower Menomonee River as well as on the Milwaukee River, both downstream and upstream of the Menomonee River confluence, due to the Lake seiche/wind pushing some product upstream.
Per WDNR, Komatsu will be conducting spot cleanups of product from our local rivers. Please continue to let us know where you see product deposits and we will forward that information to the proper authorities.
UPDATE (1/11/22)
After the City’s Public Health & Safety Committee meeting where Komatsu continued to share general information about their oil spill and cleanup process, many questions still remain for us. We hope Friday’s meeting is the beginning of more transparency from Komatsu regarding December’s oil spill.
As a well-resourced, international corporation, and a member of Milwaukee’s business community that received significant local benefits to relocate to their new Milwaukee riverfront headquarters, we expect Komatsu to go above and beyond to restore the damage caused by this unfortunate incident.
At Milwaukee Riverkeeper, our attention and focus remains on our rivers. Protecting water quality and wildlife is at the heart of our work. Without healthy rivers, we cannot have healthy communities. We will continue to search for answers and work with community leaders to demand accountability.