Detroit’s Marine Pollution Control (MPC), a prominent environmental services company, was started by accident—literally. 

 

In August, 1967, long before oil spills had become much of a concern, the Ford Motor Company spilled about 20,000 gallons of waste oil into the Rouge River.  Uncertain about what to do, Ford personnel met with Dave Usher who, at the time, was hauling waste oil from industrial sites.  Could he clean it up?  Usher did not hesitate:  Sure, he could.   

 

“I really had no idea about what to do,” said Usher.  “But I bought some vacuum trucks and other equipment and did the job.” 

 

And so, against the backdrop of the Detroit Uprising, Usher created MPC, the first oil spill cleanup company in the Great Lakes and one of the first in the nation.  A Detroit native, Usher remains the company’s Chairman.  Under his watch, MPC has assisted in cleanup of some of the largest oil spills in the world, including the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska in 1989.  

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