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WARREN — With the ribbon cut on a new detention basin, Warren is hoping to reduce sanitary sewer overflows and basement flooding.
At a Feb. 24 ceremony, Mayor Lori Stone outlined the benefits of the Stephens Road Detention Basin.
“This is a project that will play a crucial role in managing sanitary sewer overflow, protecting our neighborhoods from flooding and preserving our environment for future generations,” Stone said.
The basin, which started construction in 2021, is located on Stephens, between Gratiot Avenue and Groesbeck Highway. The cost to construct the basis was $37.5 million, and it can hold 22 million gallons of combined sewer overflow in excessively wet weather. According to a press release from the city, it contains an “Odor Control Unit” to prevent a nuisance in the surrounding neighborhoods.
In a combined system, both wastewater and stormwater flow through the same pipes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website. The EPA states that the combined flows can potentially overwhelm the system. During wet weather, relief points in the system release combined sewer overflows of partially treated wastewater into Lake St. Clair.
Donna Dordeski, Warren Wastewater Recovery Facility division head, detailed the basin’s role in a larger effort at the Feb. 24 ceremony.
“The Stephens Road Detention Basin is the final phase of a multiyear, multiphased sanitary sewer overflow elimination program initiated by the city nearly 14 years ago,” Dordeski said.
Dordeski detailed the program’s miles of relief sewers, improvements to the Nine Mile Road pump station, installation of 3,300 feet of 48-inch diameter force main and the construction of the detention basin. She said the project totaled nearly $95 million, adding that the basin was completed on budget.
“It’s been a privilege and a once-in-a-lifetime professional opportunity to be involved in such a significant and monumental project,” Dordeski said.
Stone said the system in Warren was meant to take 2 inches of rainfall over the course of several hours during wet weather.
“In the last year alone, Warren experienced three severe rain events that exceeded and overwhelmed our capacity of this underground infrastructure,” Stone said. “These resulted in flooded basements, and these are frustrating experiences that can be damaging and expensive.”
Stone said she understands residents’ frustration over basement flooding because she’s experienced it herself.
“Proudly, I commend the Warren taxpayers, who are responsible for funding and investing in the creation of this game-changing infrastructure,” she said.
In attendance at the ceremony were former Mayor Jim Fouts, who was in office when the project began, Macomb County Commissioner Michael Howard and Warren City Councilman Henry Newnan. A plaque was dedicated at the site naming Stone, Warren City Council members and Department of Public Services Director David Muzzarelli.
