MI - 485 Million Gallons of Sewage Reach Lake

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ENVIRONMENT

485 million gallons of sewage reach lake

August 3, 2000

BY JEANNE MAY FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Combined storm water and sewer systems that feed into Lake St. Clair dumped more than 485 million gallons of rain-diluted sewage into the lake during storms Friday through Monday.

That doesn't include two large systems that dumped but didn't have totals by late Wednesday. And it doesn't include what might have happened during storms Tuesday and Wednesday.

All the communities or multi-community sewer systems have agreements with the state to make changes, said Gary White, associate director of Macomb County environmental health services.

"They have to ...find out why they're having the problem, study solutions to correct that problem, pick which option is the best," he said. "And then construction has to be done."

Some communities along the lake have separated storm and sewer lines or are building systems to do so.

Swimming at two Macomb County beaches -- Blossom Heath and Memorial Beach, both in St. Clair Shores -- was halted Wednesday because of polluted water, but Metro Beach Metropark remained open.

The systems and amounts:

Center Line, 870,000 gallons.

Chapoton Retention Basin, 156 million gallons.

Clinton Township, 130,980 gallons.

Fraser, 2.2 million gallons.

Hazel Park, 3,600 gallons.

Martin Retention Basin, 180 million gallons.

Milk River Retention Basin, 145 million gallons.

St. Clair Shores, 1.59 million gallons.

Warren and Twelve Towns, a system in southeastern Oakland County, reported dumping, but not the amounts.

Contact JEANNE MAY at 810-469-4682 or may@freepress.com.

http://www.freep.com/news/metro/zedump3_20000803.htm

-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), August 03, 2000


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