Southfield seeks answers in basement floodings

SOUTHFIELD — Residents from Templar Avenue, Maryland Street, Harden Avenue, Pierce Street and Arbor Place addressed the City Council recently regarding basement flooding after a June 20 storm.

Council President Michael “Ari” Mandelbaum opened up the communication portion of the meeting July 1 with the statement. “I understand there are a number of speakers who want to talk about the storm that we had on June 20, as well as water that they had in their basement. The preliminary report from the Department of Public Works found no evidence that our sanitary collection systems were surcharged. This implies that the pump station was operating, but it’s still under investigation,” he said.

Mandelbaum asked that residents who had any water in their basement put their name and address on a sheet so that the city could conduct an inspection to ensure that the city has all of the addresses that were impacted.

Michael Watkins has lived on Templar Avenue since 1997. He explained that the first time he experienced flooding in his basement was in 2014 due to the hundred-year rain that impacted Southfield and all of Metro Detroit.

“I have emphysema,” Watkins told the council. “I wound up in the emergency room … (from) the bacteria levels and stuff from that sewage. You know, the city passed a bond to rebuild the sewer drain, the storm drains and the roads in that area, and installed that pump. And prior to the installation of that pump, the only incident of backup in that area came in one-hundred year rain in 2014, so any run-of-the mill rain was easily handled by the system prior to the installation at that pump at 10 Mile and Pierce. The first time it happened, it was less than 2 inches of rain in April of 2022. Backed up everybody in the neighborhood. On the 20th of June, you say the pump was working fine, it was raining. It was two hours after the rain, and I was standing in my basement putting stuff in my freezer. It wasn’t a backup. That water was being pumped into my basement.”

Watkins added that he believes the pump located at 10 Mile Road and Pierce Street is the “common denominator.”

City Administrator Fred Zorn said the sanitary system at 10 Mile Road and Pierce Street was installed in 2017 as part of Southfield’s $68 million water and sewer capital improvement bonds project. It has three pumps that cycle, with a backup float and a natural gas generator at the site. He explained that when the water hits a certain level, the second pump kicks on, and they go through a rotating cycle.

“There are three pumps in this. Well, it’s a rather deep structure. And there are also three inlets that come in,” Zorn said. “It used to be called the Twelve Town Drain. Now it’s called the George Kuhn. It is the treatment facility located behind the Home Depot on 12 Mile. We’re last in that drain. So, the east end of Southfield is on a combined sewer system. The west end is on a separated system, and so what we’re trying to do is pull that storm water out and hold it back and keep the sanitary moving. And then the stormwater is released.”

Zorn said that after a two-hour discussion with the Engineering Department, some things about this situation “just don’t make sense,” such as the fact that some homes were hit but their neighbors may not have been, and that the backlog reports show that the system was working.

With an investigation underway, Zorn said that the city is pushing for answers, and he hopes to have some preliminary answers for residents by mid-August.

Residents impacted by flooding and sewage backups in their basements are also pushing for answers.

“During the course of conversations and emails that have gone back and forth, I received an interesting piece of information, and it says, on a related note, to residents that have a sump pump, you are not getting the benefit of the new system that was installed until you redirect your sump flow to the new designated storm output that was provided to each lot as part of the street replacement initiative. As far as me and my neighbors know, there’s no such thing. We’ve never been informed of such a redirect that could be done. If it even exists, we weren’t told about it,” Aryeh Silverstein of Arbor Place said at the July 1 City Council meeting. “Basically, what we want to know is, how are we going to get answers to these problems? We come up here, we speak, but nobody answers us back, and we like to know how we are going to get this taken care of.”

Alice VanBuren, who lives on Maryland Street, echoed her neighbors’ sewage-related concerns. She stated that this is the second time this has happened to her; the first time was in 2022, which was bad, but this time was much worse. “This time in ‘24 was the worst. I have asthma, and that smell has really gotten to me coming in from my basement. I have not been able to run my air conditioning unit because every time I turn it on, the smell comes through the vents, so I just been suffering in the heat in the house. Only thing I can do is run my ceiling fans.”

VanBuren said that she’s had cleaning people come to her house a few times, and they still haven’t finished cleaning up after the sewage overflow. “I’ve lost everything that was in my basement. Everything. This is the second time. If this keeps happening, I guess I’m going to have to find somewhere else to move out of Southfield. Because I can’t keep going through this. It’s ridiculous, and all my stuff that they threw out is in front of my house right now, and I’m waiting for them to come get it before it starts smelling.”

Patrick Ryan, Southfield’s director of public works, addressed Silverstein’s comment. He explained that the program in which residents can hook up their gutter to their sump pump to the front has been in place since 2017, and those interested in doing so may contact the Public Works Department. Ryan implored residents to notify the city about their flooding so that the city can check the area, their pipes and possibly individual service.

“Right now, we’ve only had 37 people reported. That’s why I’m asking you, can you please go up there and sign the sheet? So we can check and make sure, because if it is a much further problem, we need to know it and check on it. We can’t do it in a vacuum. You guys have been wonderful and patient with your own personal time in coming here and speaking. We’re more than willing and wanting to work with you, because we don’t want you to go through that. Because yes, as many of you may not believe, we know we work for you, so if you could help us out, I’d appreciate it.”

Southfield Mayor Ken Siver explained that during the heavy rainfall in 2014, the combined storm and sanitary system located in the eastern part of Southfield that connected to the Clinton Drain became overwhelmed, causing backups and flooding for cities across Oakland and Macomb counties that depended on that drain. Separating the sanitary and stormwater systems was supposed to keep the two from mixing to prevent overflowing sewers from going into the rivers or lakes.

“So this was supposed to handle the storm and not mix the sanitary, so why this is continuing to happen? The city has undertaken an investigation. Obviously, we don’t want anybody to have a flooded basement, particularly with sewage,” he said, adding that the city is working to pinpoint where the flooding occurred so that they can get answers for residents. Currently, the locations with flooding appear to be sporadic, with some neighbors impacted and others not. “You would think if the system failed that everybody would have had water in their basement,” Siver said.

According to the city since, 2015 Southfield has spent $35 million in infrastructure improvements in Sections 24 & 25 of the city to minimize the possibility of widespread flooding.

The city’s Department of Public Works investigates each case reported to determine the cause of the backups to prevent any future issues. Southfield’s website states that under  Public Act 222, any resident having experienced an overflow or backup of a sewage disposal system or stormwater system must file a written claim with the city within 45 days after it was discovered, “or in the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered.” Notice should be mailed to the city’s Office of Management and Budget.  Failure to provide the required notice to the city will limit a property owner’s rights under the law. For more information, call (248) 796-5260. For a claim to be viable, the source of the backup must be the city sewer.  Problems caused by the property’s plumbing or sewer lead are the homeowner’s responsibility.

City staff advise any resident experiencing an overflow or sewage backup to contact the Water Department at (248) 796-4850.  After hours, the message will advise residents to call (248) 796-4899 or call the police desk at (248) 796-5500 to be put in touch with the supervisor on call.