With current development projects under community scrutiny, Lansing area residents have begun voicing their opinions about preventing polluted storm water from spewing into the Red Cedar River.
The pollution stems from the Montgomery Drain, which sweeps polluted storm water from the Frandor Shopping Center and surrounding areas near East Lansing’s border into the Red Cedar River. Because that area is mostly paved, the storm water funnels a variety of automobile wastes down the drain without much filtration.
In recent years, city officials have proposed new methods to further develop the area affected by the polluted drainage. The Red Cedar Renaissance project, whose lead developer is MSU trustee Joel Ferguson, is one way city officials would like to upgrade the area currently occupied by an overgrown former golf course. If completed, the project would bring a multimillion dollar mixed-use complex with several housing and dining options.
But the owner of Frandor Shopping Center, Lansing Retail Center LLC, is taking the city to court over allegations that city officials are using the drainage project to save money for the private development located within the Red Cedar Golf Course property.
According to a January 2013 email between city developers, which is being used as evidence in the lawsuit, the project plan could “potentially save millions in construction costs relating to the expense of constructing building foundations within the flood plain.”
Because the Montgomery Drain is downstream from MSU, the on-campus portion of the Red Cedar River is unaffected by any pollutants it drains.
Using data from water samples taken downstream from the Montgomery Drain, Ingham County Drain Commissioner Pat Lindemann said his team has found trace amounts of human waste, turpentine and brake pad metals, among other things.
“There’s all kinds of contaminants in that water,” Lindemann said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t drink it. It’s not healthy water. It’s polluted.”
To test the Red Cedar River quality, Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council executive director Julie Powers has recorded the variety and quantity of macroinvertebrates. Powers said macroinvertebrates are accurate indicators when it comes to river health.
“It’s pretty much dead,” she said. “We find a little bit of scuds — they’re like the cockroaches of the macroinvertebrate world.”
Several Lansing area residents spoke to the Lansing City Council on Monday about the intent to petition the Ingham County Drain Commissioner to implement measures that would keep pollution out of the river.
Although it is undisputed that the current drain is a source of pollution, the fix could be costly. As such, Lansing officials could petition for a special drainage assessment, which would allow them to levy taxes on those in the surrounding area, with a greater portion to whomever they believe benefits more.
During Monday’s Lansing City Council meeting, some residents expressed their concern for what the project might cost them, while others held the current state of the river as their top priority. The cost of the project is unknown until the drain commissioner is petitioned to start the work.
Facing an uncertain price point was a qualm for some. Tricia Foster, senior managing director and chief operating officer for two affiliate offices of real estate company CBRE, said at the meeting that property owners should know how each property owner would be assessed.
