Project expected to reduce sewage overflows into Lake St. Clair and basements

Fixing decades of Macomb County infrastructure decline is proving to be a daunting task but Wednesday’s announcement of two new major projects to prevent sewage discharges into Lake St. Clair and in the process reduce the risk of basement flooding brings the county one step closer to its ultimate goal: To protect our natural resources and our quality of life.

“We’re doing this one bite at a time,” said Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, during a media event at the Chapaton Pump Station and Retention Basin in St. Clair Shores that was built in 1968.

“This was great back in the day,” she said, adding it no longer serves the needs of the county.

“We are going to be creating additional storage so that after a big rain — and once the water is treated — we’ll be able to store it before sending it to Detroit instead of discharging it into the lake.”

That has happened many times in recent years, most recently on April 29. Miller said doing so is not illegal. In fact, it is permitted in order to keep the water from backing up into basements but that still doesn’t make it right.

One of the two projects in the works is a $27 million rehabilitation of the canal at the Chapaton Pump Station and Retention Treatment Basin. An engineer’s rendering of the excavation project shows the expansion of the existing canal and the installation of metal sheeting to raise the sides of the basin. Once completed it will be able to hold 13 million gallons of combined stormwater and sanitary flow when needed during large rain events.

“It won’t have any odors and the neighbors in the area understand we need to stop discharging into the lake,” Miller said.

Once complete, the work is expected to reduce combined sewage overflows (CSO) by nearly 40%.

Additional upgrades will also be made to the outdated outfall gates, which will allow pump station operators to better control water levels in the open-storage canal and the underground retention basin.

Also being upgraded is a pipe that’s as old as the pumping station.

When there’s a heavy downpour of rain, as has been seen in the past few weeks, water from the street along with trash floating in it gets sent down the pipe. Upgrades will include a device that will collect items like plastic water bottles that end up in the lake.

The work on the pump station and basin will be paid using $25 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, plus a $2 million allocation from the state last year.

Joining Miller for the announcement and applauding the projects in the works were state Sen. Kevin Hertel, Macomb County Board of Commissioners Chairman Don Brown and St. Clair Shores Mayor Kip Walby.

“This is where my family spends a great deal of their time,” said Hertel, while looking out toward Lake St. Clair and noting that besides the enjoyment that it provides to his family and other Michiganders it is a resource that generates $1.6 billion for the state’s economy and a source of drinking water for 4 million people.

“We need to do whatever we can to protect that resource,” he added.

The second project announced Wednesday involves the extensive upgrade of the electrical systems at the pump station. This includes adding three, 2-megawatt generators to provide power redundancy to the giant pumps, and replacement of electrical components that are also more than 50 years old.

“When there’s a big storm the power goes out,” Miller said.

Miller cited the example of the disaster in Detroit a few years ago when the power was knocked out after a major storm and homes in the city and surrounding communities such as Grosse Pointe were all flooded. The backup of water in Wayne County also led to overflows in Macomb County.

“This project is needed to prevent station failure that would result in sewage backing up into basements and neighborhoods,” she said.

The funding for this $16 million project will be paid using $9.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding allocated by the Macomb County Board of Commissioners, and $6 million in ARPA funding from the state.

“It’s a great day,” Brown said, noting the projects illustrate the commitment that the Macomb County Board of Commissioners and other county officials have in giving the public works department the right tools to improve water quality for generations to come.

“Macomb County is leading by example once again.”

Mayor Kip Walby concurred.

“St. Clair Shores will always remain synonymous with Lake St. Clair, so reducing combined sewer overflows and improving infrastructure, especially as we all experience large rain events with increasing frequency, is vital for our city to remain a very desirable place to live and play for generations to come.”

“I applaud our county and state officials for having the vision and determination to design, fund and construct projects such as these,” Wahby said.

Both of these projects will not result in an increase to ratepayers.