Existing underground-related infrastructure sits at the corner of Dodge Park Road and Sorrento Boulevard in Sterling Heights, where there have been complaints about sewer odors.
By: Eric Czarnik | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published November 20, 2024
STERLING HEIGHTS — A new-and-improved biofilter facility will soon make itself home in Sterling Heights to help take the stink out of sewer gas.
According to the Macomb County Public Works Office, the area of Dodge Park Road and Sorrento Boulevard, which is south of 17 Mile Road, has had problems with sewer odors.
In a Public Works Office YouTube video, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller explained that the area has existing underground-related infrastructure, such as pumps. She explained how odor complaints are still happening, especially during the summer.
“We have worked very closely with the neighbors in the city,” Miller said in the video. “We do understand that what we do with our sewers does have some impact on the neighbors, and our goal is to not have any impact.
“We want you never to really think about what’s happening underground, that our sewers are fixed properly, that they’re maintained, that we’re inspecting them properly, and that you don’t have — we don’t have — any residual odor.”
According to Public Works Office Communications Manager Norb Franz, neighborhoods sometimes smell sewer odors if they’re near a drop shaft, where a local sewer system’s sewage flows into a much larger pipe or system. That can cause turbulence to the sewage flow, which can release stronger smells, he explained.
“Systems are not completely air tight, so air may escape and gets into the surrounding area,” Franz said in an email.
Public works officials say the proposed facility near Dodge Park Road and Sorrento, which will be at the intersection’s northeast corner, is designed to extract and filter sewer gas from underground concrete pipes in the area. Not only should that make the area smell better, but it will keep sewer gases from corroding the pipes, thus lengthening those pipes’ lifespans.
The biofilter system infrastructure — including ductwork, a fan and a carbon-activated filter — will literally be housed in a roughly 2,000-square-foot brick colonial-style structure that will look similar to residences in the area. While no one will be dwelling there, it will obscure the infrastructure.
In the video, Miller commented how the neighborhood and its landscaping are beautiful, so the county wants to be a part of that too.
“We wanted to make sure that we — whatever we did here — that would really blend in aesthetically with the neighborhood,” Miller said.
The estimated $5.3 million project is expected to start this upcoming spring, officials said.
In a statement, Miller said Sterling Heights has been “very helpful” while the city and her department have been communicating on the project.
“We’ve kept the neighbors informed, and we’ve kept the city informed of what we’re doing,” Miller said. “We want to be good neighbors, good partners.”
Besides the Dodge Park Road and Sorrento facility, Franz said, the county also wants to eventually build an additional odor control facility by Dodge Park and Utica roads, though he added that no timetable has been set.
Other odors in the city explained
During the Oct. 15 Sterling Heights City Council meeting, Councilwoman Maria Schmidt asked City Manager Mark Vanderpool to get an update from Miller about the 15 Mile sewer project in the city. The county has been doing sewer work along 15 Mile, west of Schoenherr Road, in the vicinity of the ITC corridor.
“The residents and the schools over there for far longer than 15 years have had to put up with the stench, and you know, it seems to just be taking forever to get done,” Schmidt said.
“So if we could get some sort of end, you know, date — not in the next 20 years — would be really nice.
“I can’t even imagine someone buying a $400,000 home next to that, although they’re all sold out. But, you know, enough is enough. Over 15 years that smell has been there, and … now it’s been open for two years at least, and it’s just horrible.”
In an email, Schmidt told the Sentry there has been an odor along 15 Mile Road across from Sterling Heights High School in the ITC corridor “for years,” and she hopes the infrastructure project will be finished soon.
“The smell has been there well before Candice Miller was in office,” Schmidt said. “I understand with the work going on at that (site) there really is nothing that can be done to mitigate the smell at this point, but am hoping once complete there will be relief for the residents, and schools in that area.”
Miller has been the Macomb County public works commissioner since 2017.
Schmidt said she thinks the Sorrento biofilter project and how it camouflages the equipment is “awesome,” adding that she is confident that the upgrade will resolve any odor issue there.
Franz offered more details on the 15 Mile Road project’s status.
“(We) are working diligently to complete all the rehabilitation work needed to prevent another sinkhole infrastructure disaster like the one that opened up on 15 Mile Road in Fraser, between Utica Road and Hayes Road, (on) Christmas Eve 2016 — along this major sewer interceptor serving 600,000 people in 11 of Macomb County’s communities,” he said.
Franz explained that the 15 Mile Road project began “a few years ago” when work crews dug a 70-foot-deep shaft in the ITC corridor west of Schoenherr Road to access and work on the major sewer interceptor over there. He said the project is about 95% done.
Franz said that during the project’s lining and rehabilitation, the sewage flow can be temporarily held up on a daily basis, as needed, to allow the contractor to work inside the pipe, though he added that the flow is later released after the day’s work is done.
“And, that giant shaft is open at the top during the construction project, which allows air to escape,” he said.
Franz said the Public Works Office empathizes with residents and others who may smell an “unpleasant nuisance odor” in that area, though he said those smells haven’t reached a “harmful level.”
“While that odor is more prevalent on some days than others and is indeed a nuisance, the alternative — another major sewer collapse and sinkhole — would eventually occur and would be much more costly and disruptive,” he said.
Franz said the county is planning to put a permanent odor and corrosion control facility in the vicinity of that corridor too, though he had no timetable for that plan at this time. He added that the county recently finished a similar setup on 15 Mile, between Hayes and Garfield roads.
Learn more about the Macomb County Public Works Office by visiting macombgov.org/departments/public-works.