This  Citizen Letter, based on a petition of over 2000 people was sent to the Wayne County Prosecutor on June 01, 2026 to initiate ACTION to protect Wayne County Citizens and Natural Resources where STATE and FEDERAL efforts to HALT the current and ongoing (57 gallons per minute 24/7) BASFs Wyandottes venting of  Toxic and Hazardous Waste (Felony Levels) to the Detroit River and the Critical Assessment Zone of the Wyandotte Drinking Water Intake in Wayne County.  This is a catastrophic failure of Public Trust, knowingly conducted, aided and abetted, in violation of Water Quality Standards and State and Federal Court Orders from 1980, 1985, and 1994.   ITS BEEN LONG ENOUGH.  

WAYNE COUNTY, What will you do for your Citizens?

References (2), Letter, and future Wayne County Prosecutor Response below:

1980 State of Michigan Internal Letter on BASF groundwater discharges above the Wyandotte Intake:  LINK

2022 EPA internal Summary of BASF groundwater venting releases going into the Wyandotte Drinking Water Intake
Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ)  (CAZ was delineated for protection in 2024).  LINK

June 01, 2026

The Honorable Kym L. Worthy
Wayne County Prosecutor
1441 St. Antoine
Detroit, MI 48226

RE: Request for Legal Action Regarding BASF Environmental Contamination in Wyandotte

Dear Prosecutor Worthy,

We are writing to you on behalf of over 3,000 concerned citizens who have signed a petition (https://c.org/d4tYD7L56s) at Change.org and request that the City of Wyandotte Attorney take legal action to halt the ongoing environmental contamination caused by BASF Corporation at its Wyandotte North Works facility to the Detroit River and Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ) of the Wyandotte Drinking Water Intake.

Citizens, various NGOs, and Whistleblowers have for the past 5 years been met with full resistance from State and Federal Agencies, as well as BASF, to halt the persistent ongoing contamination releases from the North Works Facility to the Detroit River via venting groundwater. 

Recent data, Agency internal emails released via FOIA, and State findings from 2025 indicate that BASF has been in continuous violation of a State of Michigan 1986 Consent Decree intended to halt the flow of contaminated groundwater into the Detroit River.BASF has been in continuous noncompliance of a separate USEPA 1994 Administrative Order on Consent. Today, BASF continues to discharge known Toxic and Hazardous Waste (a Felony under Act 451) into public waters of Wayne County, and directly into the Critical Assessment Zone (CAZ) of a public drinking water intake at a rate of 57 gallons per minute as estimated by EGLE. Specifically, it has been revealed that less than 2% of contaminated groundwater is currently being intercepted, leaving our local water intake system and the health of Wyandotte residents at significant risk.  Neither the State (EGLE) or the Federal Agencies (USEPA) have enforced the required development of an Inward Gradient as ordered by the 1986 State Consent Decree and adopted by the 1994 Federal Administrative Order on Consent (AOC).

Our concerns are centered on the following critical issues:

• Public Health Risk: State and Federal officials are on record as knowing and allowing BASF’s exceedances of State and Federal Laws, as well as acknowledging BASF’s noncompliance with Court Orders.  There is no independent assessment and monitoring of PFAS, mercury, or other hazardous pollutants at the BASF GSI interface, the public CAZ, or downstream toxicity below BASF’s known ongoing release of contamination.

• Consent Decree Violations: Despite decades of oversight, the State confirmed in 2025 that BASF is failing to meet its legal obligations to prevent this contamination.

• Delayed Remediation: Current State and Federal management timelines do not require BASF to meet any State or Federal Water Quality Criteria Standards at any point in the future, a delay that we believe is unacceptable given that this contamination has been documented since 1983.

• Lack of Transparency: There is a significant lack of public disclosure regarding the extent of the known exceedances and risk to the City of Wyandotte's water customers and the Detroit River.

As the Chief Law Enforcement Officer for Wayne County, you have the authority to protect the health and safety of our citizens. We urge your office to investigate these violations and pursue all available legal remedies to ensure immediate remediation, a comprehensive independent audit of the groundwater interception system and monitoring, and full transparency for the affected Wayne County residents.

We request a meeting with your office.  We are prepared to provide further documentation and support for this request.

Thank you for your time and your dedication to the safety of Wayne County's citizens and environmental resources.  This letter, evidence, and Wayne County’s Response are publicly posted here: https://sites.google.com/view/foias-basf-dtr/legal-recourse-page/stage-1-wayne-county

Sincerely,
Ashley Satkowski, DownRiver Resident   ashleysatkowski@gmail.com
Brian Burgess, Wyandotte Citizen   neokhufu@gmail.com 
Arthur Ostaszewski, Friends of the Detroit River Member
                                protectwaterquality@gmail.com

21 Additional Signatories to this letter-(contact information available upon request)

Kimberly Priest,Carol Biddix, Kelly Corrine Billings, Krissy Mendenhall,
Roxanne Robbins, Courtney Stanley, Andrew WIlliam Burgess, Jessica Steelman,
Joan Cochran, Rachel Bowens, Katie Jenkins, Lisa Cochran, Christina Street,
Matthew Zachary, Bryan Neelsen, Randal Winegarden, Georgi Anne Lilly, April Dionisi,
Jamie Christopher Higgins, Shawnna Roberts,  Lynda Luh

We are representing all the people who have signed the Petition for
Action on BASF Wyandotte Contamination
at: https://c.org/d4tYD7L56s 

References:
https://sites.google.com/view/foias-basf-dtr/legal-recourse-page/url-references-for-legal-recourse-letters

1980 State of Michigan-BASF Consent Order in State Court
1980 DNR Fink to Powers Letter-ISE
1985 State of Michigan-BASF Consent Decree in Federal Court
1994 USEPA-BASF Administrative Order on Consent
2006 DEQ Mixing Zone
2009 USEPA Sediments Letter-ISE
2018 USEPA Letter 90d letter
2021 EGLE Executive Memo
2021 TK email
2021 AO Enf. Referral to MMD Mgmt
2021 Patel R5 memo
2021 WRD Mixing Zone Review
2022 Keatley email
2022 Dingell email USEPA Region 5
2023 Detroit RiverKeeper - EGLE MMD Field Study BASF Flow Lines
2024 EGLE Whistleblower Attorney General Criminal Complaint
2025 EGLE MMD Violation letter to BASF

Thousands more pages available as obtained by FOIA at:
https://sites.google.com/view/foias-basf-dtr/home