Grand Traverse County Public Works officials are responding to a violation notice from the state over a major sewer main failure under South Airport Road in late August that released more than 20,000 gallons of raw sewage near the Boardman River.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) last month issued a violation notice for the Aug. 25 incident. According to a letter from Aaron Kline of EGLE’s Water Resources Division in Cadillac, approximately 21,000 gallons of raw sewage was discharged on the ground at the surface, median and shoulder of South Airport Road in Garfield Township near Logan’s Landing during a 12-hour period that afternoon into the early morning of Aug. 26. Less than 10,000 gallons of the discharge reached the waters of Boardman Lake.

According to the state, repair crews found a 4-foot long crack at the bottom of the failed force main that was identified as the source of the discharge. County records indicated that the failed force main was a 10-inch ductile iron pipe, although repair crews found the failed sewer line to be a nonstandard 14-inch high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic sewer line.

State officials say the sewer main failure was a violation of the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA), and asked for the county to respond to the violation notice by Nov. 16. The state asked for information on the timeline to make the needed repairs, environmental mitigation steps that were taken and an engineering analysis on how the discharge occurred.

County Department of Public Works (DPW) Director Noah Karberg authored a 10-page response to the state’s violation notice, outlining the timing of the incident and the response by county staff, contractors and other consultants. The county Board of Public Works is slated to review the response at its monthly meeting this morning, before Karberg submits it to EGLE later today.

“The probable cause of failure was the combined effect of inadequate pipe characteristics for the current application, relatively shallow burial depth for roadway loading conditions, and increased vehicular loading on a force main originally installed outside the roadway,” Karberg wrote. “Subsequent roadway expansion and more recent increases in heavy traffic contributed to loading conditions substantially different from those associated with the original installation.”

Karberg says the state can issue fines and related sanctions for NREPA violations, but doesn’t expect the county or Garfield Township to face any additional penalties.

“The letter did not identify any sanctions,” Karberg says. “I think they recognize we did a good job responding, and followed all of our reporting requirements.”

Kline’s violation notice also noted that “staff and additional responding agencies minimized environmental impacts to the best of their abilities by pumping and hauling standing
wastewater from the ground and wetland, applying lime to the affected ground, and by redirecting sewer flow where applicable to bypass the failed force main while the repair was being made.”

Karberg expects Garfield Township will also get credit from the state for its prompt action in making the needed repairs.  The township recently approved $1.7 million in replacement and repairs in the damaged area, including extra costs to get the project done in the current construction season. That work began this week (pictured above) and is expected to take two to three weeks to complete, according to Karberg. It will involve lane closures and continued traffic delays in that area.

“I think they’ll be happy with the repairs, and fines and sanctions won’t be something they need to consider,” Karberg says of EGLE officials.

DPW officials also dealt with another – but much smaller – sewer overflow incident this week. Karberg issued a state-mandated public notice on Wednesday for a sewer overflow discovered Tuesday at around 5 p.m. in the King’s Court mobile home complex off LaFranier Road in Garfield Township.

The back-up happened near the intersection of Paul Place and Countrywood Court in the mobile home court. It ended at around 2 a.m. Wedneday and an estimated 6,000 gallons of sewage was released on the ground, according to the notice.

Karberg says repair crews discovered that a sewer line was clogged with tree roots, and removed two blockages to clear the sewer line.

“On the scale of overflows, this was relatively minor,” Karberg says.

The King’s Court sewer system is privately owned and managed, and trailer park owners will be responsible for the repairs, Karberg says. He is working with King’s Court management and EGLE on a response plan for the incident.