Sewage overflow in Michigan approaches 15 billion gallons

Nearly 15 billion gallons of sewage has been swimming in Michigan’s rivers, lakes and streams since January, a construction trade association group recently announced.

The Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association analyzed state data to determine how much sewage poured into Michigan’s waters. The group did the work to call attention to how Washington recently reduced Michigan’s sewage maintenance investment by about 25 percent, $20 million, under the 2011 Clean Water Appropriations bill, according to a press release issued by MITA.

On the state level, funds have been nonexistent in recent years. From 1999 to 2004, the Michigan Legislature loaned $17 million annually to cities to build water quality protection projects. Those include wastewater treatment and watershed management. However, since 2005, the state has eliminated all general fund support for underground sewage control, according to the press release.

“The funding available to fix these problems isn’t adequate,” said Shannon Briggs, a toxicologist in the Water Resources Division at the Department of Natural Resources. “The government needs to understand, yes, there’s a cost upfront, but in the long-run it’s going to save money.”

There are three layers of responsibility for funding sewer control: federal, state, and local community, said Keith Ledbetter, director of legislative affairs at the group that did the analysis.

In their water bills, residents contribute to maintaining the system that carries away sewage, cleans it and conditions it so it can be reused, Ledbetter said. But that is a mere fraction of the funds needed to maintain adequate sewer systems.

“The state needs to begin investing in sewer systems. [Michigan policymakers] can’t expect the federal government to fund the whole program.”

Because the state cut off funding in 2005, many newer legislators have never provided funding for sewage management, Ledbetter said.

“Once [legislators] make a cut, it becomes normal,” he said.

Keith McCormack, vice president of the engineering firm Hubbell, Roth & Clark, doesn’t want the recent cuts to overshadow the progress that has been made over the past two decades — mainly in creating new systems to phase out the combined sewer overflows.

The older system consists of a single pipe that collected storm water as well as human and industrial waste and other toxic materials. It is a major water pollution concern. In 1994, a policy was published as a national framework for their control. New methods were then introduced, including separate sewer systems  and storage tanks. These methods separate sewage from storm water runoff and help to prevent overflowing in times of heavy rain.

Such combined systems still serve roughly 772 communities, mainly in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, according to the EPA.

“The state of Michigan is so far ahead of the rest of the country,” said McCormack. “So many other cities are just getting started. Cincinnati, Lousiville, Indianapolis … lots of these communities are where Michigan was 20 years ago.”

According to the trade group’s findings,  Wayne County is by far the leader in Michigan sewer overflows  with 13.4 billion gallons. The runner-up is Macomb, with 1.04 billion gallons of discharge.

The trade group’s dirty dozen:

Wayne — 13.4 billion gallons of sewer discharge

Macomb — 1.04 billion gallons

Bay — 88.3 million gallons

Ingham — 75.4 million gallons

Saginaw — 63 million gallons

Kent — 50 million gallons

Genesee — 32.2 million gallons

Oakland — 25.7 million gallons

Monroe — 14.6 million gallons

St. Clair — 7.7 million gallons

Gogebic — 5.3 million gallons

Lapeer — 4.9 million gallons

Other press coverage:

Daily Tribune: Macomb County makes ‘Dirty Dozen’ polluter list

The Detroit News: Group rips Wayne over sewage