LANSING - A state Senate committee sought solutions Tuesday for a problem that has plagued the Red Cedar River - sewage overflow discharges.
Members of the Senate Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee heard testimony concerning a five-bill package that targets the sewage overflow problem in Michigan’s waterways.
Committee chairman state Sen. Ken Sikkema, R-Grandville, said the panel will review the issues brought forth and prepare legislation so it can move to the Senate floor in the next few weeks.
“This is the single most important environmental problem we face in the state today,” Sikkema said.
The bills are intended to address a recent report by Clean Water Michigan that estimates $5.8 billion in improvements are needed in the state’s sewage delivery and treatment systems in the next 20 years.
Sikkema said the session, which featured testimony from the Michigan Department of Environment Quality and affected homeowners, was helpful in formulating the final bills.
The bills add $25 million in funding to the State Revolving Fund for loans to local governments to correct sewer system problems. East Lansing has used money from that fund in the past.
The package also makes communities attempting to address the problem a top priority, requiring septic systems to be inspected at the time property is sold as well as plans for the DEQ to implement a state-wide water quality monitoring system.
In testimony, the DEQ officials said they already do this for the state.
State Sen. Michael Goschka, R-Brant, who authored one of the bills, said he hopes the legislation rewards communities that have been proactive by making them top priorities.
“This bill also encourages those who are not making changes to do so,” Goschka said.
Peter Eberz, East Lansing’s director of Public Works, said the city is among the proactive communities attempting to make changes in the sewer system.
“We would be interested in anything state or federal governments can do to help, but grants are preferable to loans,” he said.
East Lansing has completed part of a project to improve the sewer system and prevent overflows, Eberz said.
Bob Godbold, director of environmental health from the Ingham County Health Department, said MSU has been affected by sewage overflow into the Red Cedar River.
“Potential health problems arise when sewage enters the river and people come in recreational contact with the water,” Godbold said. “People can get sick.”
The problems are usually caused when heavy rainfalls force untreated sewage to be discharged into the river.
Godbold said this can increase pathogen levels including the E. coli bacteria.
Since areas of the campus, like Beal Botanical Garden, are irrigated with river water, bacteria levels are even more of a concern.
Mt. Clemens, Mich., resident Karen Woolman testified Tuesday against part of the package that would only allow home owners to seek compensation from the local government for property damage, and not punitive damages.
Woolman’s house has been flooded with raw sewage four times and is involved in a lawsuit with Mt. Clemens seeking compensation for the overflows.
“The sanctity of my home was ruined and I can’t change that,” Woolman said.
“It’s contaminated, and it shouldn’t cost me anything to get my basement back to the way it was.”
