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OAKLAND COUNTY — The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) has agreed to strengthen Oakland County’s discharge permit following months of pressure from lawmakers.
Lawmakers, specifically state Rep. Tom Kuhn, who has been a leader in this effort, has expressed concerns about the impact of untreated and partially treated sewage on Macomb County waterways and Lake St. Clair’s water quality. The lawmakers last met with EGLE about this issue in September, with the department recently agreeing to schedule another meeting after multiple follow-up requests from Kuhn and other legislators.
According to a press release, in response to a letter dated from 10 “House lawmakers” Jan. 16, EGLE acknowledged the need for changes and outlined several proposed updates to Oakland County’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which governs compliance under the Clean Water Act. The department also agreed to an in-person meeting with GOP lawmakers on Feb. 13 to discuss their concerns.
In a letter dated Feb. 5, Phil Roos, the director of EGLE, acknowledged Kuhn’s concerns.
“The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy shares your overall concerns about improving water quality because of this discharge and other discharges to the Red Run Drain,” Roos stated.
Kuhn has advocated for clean water since the 1990s, when he served as a Royal Oak city commissioner.
“Lawmakers in Oakland and Macomb Counties, whose districts are in the watershed, believe we shouldn’t be dumping in the watershed,” Kuhn said in a press release. “This is significant progress for our area’s environment.”
Key changes to Oakland County’s discharge permit include stronger water treatment measures, expanded infrastructure requirements, a hydrogeology study and flood control measures, future permit modifications, and regional water control plan compliance.
Stronger water treatment measures
Oakland County must dechlorinate treated water before discharging it from the retention basin. This will become an enforceable permit condition after an 18-month feasibility study to determine compliance strategies.
Expanded infrastructure requirements
The county must evaluate additional gray infrastructure projects, such as sewer separation efforts and expanded in-system water storage.
Hydrogeology study and flood control measures
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will conduct a hydrogeology study to analyze downstream flow, flooding risks, and soil erosion. The study may lead to additional stormwater reduction and control efforts, particularly to prevent sewage backups in basements.
Future permit modifications
EGLE will have the authority to update the permit based on findings from the Army Corps of Engineers study.
Regional water control plan compliance
Oakland County must comply with a regional water control plan developed by the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) and approved by EGLE.
Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash noted that with these changes, his department has been asked to look into controlling the amount of chlorine that gets out of water resource facilities during the process.
“We are going to do a study to see if there’s any problem,” Nash said. “It’s called residual chlorine.That means there’s more chlorine in the water when it leaves the facility than there should be.”
Nash added that, “We’ve not seen anything that shows it.”
“If there is a problem, we will use the data to change our operations,” Nash said. “If not, we’ll just continue operating the way we are. So, basically when there’s a concern around chlorine, that means there’s a potential we might be treating the water too much rather than not enough. So, it conflicts with the idea that we’re not treating this stuff enough if we’re using too much chlorine because chlorine is what disinfects it.”
Nash said they would also be open to doing a study on potential infrastructure projects, although in 2024 more space was added for a storage tank under I-75.
“The Department of Transportation built a storage tank under I-75 … and that’ll hold 25 million gallons of stormwater that normally would’ve gone into the George W. Kuhn,” Nash said. “So, that new storage brings our total storage at that facility up to 149 million gallons. It’s the biggest in the state.”
On top of that, the county is also starting its second year of a green infrastructure program.
“What green infrastructure does is it puts plants and other things like rain barrels off of a gutter from a house, so the gutter water that would normally go into the nearest storm drain would instead go into rain barrels or a rain garden,” Nash said. “We’re building storage on the surface in that area so it doesn’t go immediately into the George W Kuhn. So, that’s another part of what the permit is asking us to improve.”
