Fixing Sewers Would Help Restore Great Lakes, and Jobs

You may have heard the news that some of Michigan’s beaches were recently closed due to lake water contaminants and bacteria.

State officials at beaches like South Beach in South Haven were forced to close down due to unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria. Many news reports blamed the problem on heavy rain and warm water. Unfortunately, the beach closures are only one symptom of a larger problem we are facing in Michigan: An aging sewage infrastructure.

Robert McCann of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) spoke briefly with Michigan Radio about the problem.

"The heavy rain simply overwhelms the storm water system,” McCann said. “It can overflow and discharge at times raw sewage into a lake or stream, and lead to high levels of E. coli and other contaminants that will cause beach closures.”

In a timely report, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition discusses the necessity of investing in improved wastewater infrastructure in the Great Lakes.

The report, “Turning the Tide: Investing in Wastewater Infrastructure to Create Jobs and Solve the Sewage Crisis in the Great Lakes,” says communities dump tens of billions of gallons of untreated sewage every year into the Great Lakes. Current wastewater infrastructure simply does not keep up with the amount of waste we produce, and sadly, federal investments in wastewater infrastructure are not keeping up either.

“Turning the Tide” asks that Congress provide at least $2.7 billion this year for sewer upgrades nationally with $972 million for Great Lakes states. They also say 20 percent of that money should go to green infrastructure projects like vegetated roofs and rain gardens.

With the right funding and implementation the report hopes that the Great Lakes will be protected, jobs will be created, and the water at beaches like ours will be kept clean and safe.