Traverse City Record-Eagle

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January 29, 2010

Ex-Cherry Blossom facility processing fruit

Former owner's son formed new LLC to operate site

BY ART BUKOWSKI

WILLIAMSBURG -- A long-troubled cherry processing plant that left dozens of workers unpaid and in the lurch when it closed in June is again processing cherries.

The Whitewater Township facility that once housed Cherry Blossom LLC began pitting and brining cherries in December, Cherry Blossom owner Chris Hubbell said.

Creditors repeatedly sued Cherry Blossom and its forerunner, Williamsburg Receiving and Storage, over the past decade. The plant also paid thousands of dollars to the state and neighbors to settle complaints of odors and water contamination.

The plant laid off workers and shuttered its doors in June after several reorganization efforts. Hubbell said Cherry Blossom is out of business, and deferred comment about his role in the new operation to his attorney, Michael Corcoran.

Corcoran didn't return calls for comment, but a memo from Cadillac-based Michigan Department of Environmental Quality engineer Janice Heuer indicates Hubbell's son, Brandon Hubbell, formed an new LLC for processing cherries at the site.

Heuer inspected the facility Jan. 6 after receiving a call that cherry processing was occurring on-site. Workers there appeared to be containing wastewater for shipment off-site, she said.

"It would not be legal if they were discharging the wastewater," Heuer said. "I saw no evidence that they were discharging."

Greg Reisig is board chairman of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, a group that joined in a DEQ lawsuit that demanded wastewater discharge clean-up at the plant. He hopes the plant is held to previously ordered environmental remediation plans, and that it appropriately deals with wastewater.

"We're just hoping that it's properly disposed of," he said.

Hubbell said the facility now only pits and brines cherries for shipment to other facilities for finishing. He wouldn't say if the outfit would be able to hire any workers laid off from Cherry Blossom.

"We don't know yet. It's very, very small personnel right now," he said.

Whitewater Township Supervisor Larry Lake said any activity at the plant is good news for area cherry farmers.

"In a word, it's encouraging," he said. "Some of our local farms, that is going to be music to their ears."

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