State Rep. Doug Wozniak (R-Shelby Twp.) has joined with several Macomb County officials in calling on neighboring Oakland County to take action and keep sewage out of its waterways.
Wozniak, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller and County Commission Chairman Don Brown, along with other Macomb County lawmakers, are urging the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to wait to renew Oakland County’s groundwater discharge permit until the county commits to regulating wastewater discharges into the Red Run Drain, which flows 130 miles through both counties.
“We cannot continue to allow Oakland County to dump millions of gallons of wastewater into Macomb County’s surface waters,” Wozniak said in a statement.
“This is an issue that the government has turned a blind eye to for far too long,” Wozniak said. “This is a public health and environmental problem of incredible magnitude. It must be addressed.”
Oakland County uses a Combined sewerage systemwhere stormwater and wastewater flow into the same main line and are transported to treatment plants. However, particularly heavy rain or excessive snowmelt can overwhelm these systems, causing untreated stormwater and wastewater to enter nearby waterways.
In Oakland County’s George W. Kuhn Drainage District, wastewater is sent to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant, but during heavy rains, the excess flow is diverted to a retention pond, where the water is stored, filtered and disinfected before being discharged into the Red Run Drain, which flows into the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair, according to the county.
The Oakland County system has been flowing into the Red Run Drain for decades, although Miller and other Macomb officials have begun calling on Oakland County to fix these overflows in recent years because the system was allowing untreated and partially treated wastewater to enter the Red Run Drain.
In 2020, the Macomb County Office of Public Works published a video where Miller picked wet wipes from a tree downstream from the Madison Heights retention pond.
“There are no sewer cleaning wipes falling from the sky. I’m just saying, I’m not a scientist, but even I can tell you this. This stuff came out of the sewer and is now here,” Miller said in the video.
Jim Nash, Oakland County’s water resources commissioner, did not respond to an emailed request for comment prior to publication.
In an email, Hugh McDiarmid Jr., communications manager for EGLE, explained that the permit for the George W. Kuhn Combined Sewer Overflow Retention Treatment Facility in Oakland County complies with all federal and state regulations for the discharge of treated combined sewer overflows.
The permit – which expired on Oct. 1, 2023, but was extended while the new permit was being prepared – allows the discharge of treated, not untreated, overflow, McDiarmid noted.
EGLE will decide whether further steps need to be included in the draft new permit, McDiarmid said.
“EGLE will hold permit holders accountable and ensure appropriate remedial actions are taken. It also provides both technical and financial support to communities that go beyond the minimum legal requirements to strategically manage flow, increase system capacity, improve stormwater permeability and promote water conservation,” McDiarmid said.
While he said he would welcome EGLE taking action without legislative request, the Macomb Daily reported Wozniak is working on a bill that would require Oakland County to submit a plan to reduce its five-year average runoff volume by 50%. Once approved by the EGLE, the county must begin implementing the plan within two years. Failure to submit a plan or to meet the deadline would result in a penalty of $1 million per month.
Rep. Alicia St. Germaine (R-Harrison Twp.) also plans to introduce a bill that would penalize Oakland County 25 cents for every gallon of untreated sewage discharged into Macomb County water, the Macomb Daily reported. Reps. Jay Deboyer (R-Clay Twp.) and Joseph Aragona (R-Clinton Twp.) of Macomb are also preparing a bill.
