Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News
The Newsletter of the Great Lakes
Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund
The Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat News is the newsletter of the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund, published five times per year. The News is intended to provide a forum for the free exchange of ideas among citizens and organizations working to protect aquatic habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.
Volume 15, Number 2 • Summer 2007
Contaminated Leachate Disposal
A proposal to dispose of contaminated
leachate from the exclusive Bay Harbor
Resort in an underground injection well
30 miles away is causing concern among
area residents. The proposal calls for
locating the injection well in the small
rural community of Alba, MI. Friends of
the Jordan River Watershed and Alba
citizens are raising many questions and
demanding answers.
CMS Energy, the landowner responsible
for the cleanup at the Bay Harbor Resort,
has been working on the proposal with
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality since October
2006. But residents only learned about
the proposal this April. The Friends of
the Jordan River Watershed requested a
30-day extension for public input from
both agencies. At the time of printing,
the extension for comments was
granted by the EPA with a new deadline
of July 27.
There was overwhelming concern
expressed at the June 13, 2007 Alba
public hearing, demonstrating the need
to take additional time to ensure the
proper information has been gathered,
studies have been done, and that the
people in the surrounding area are given
time to fully understand the proposal
and have their concerns addressed.
Alba is a valuable groundwater recharge
area for many area trout streams,
and groundwater is a source of drinking
water. The area’s geology, hundreds of
shallow gas wells, and service as a
groundwater source for many trout
streams do not sound like ideal qualities
for the location of an injection well to
dispose of contaminated water.
John Richter, President of the Friends of the Jordan River,
objects to the proposal. “The Michigan State University
professors we are working with on another project have
identified the Alba area as a primary source of groundwater
for the Jordan River. Any contamination of the groundwater
from this injection well would ultimately harm the Jordan
River,” stated Richter.
According to Dr. Warren Wood of the MSU Geological
Sciences Department,“There must be hundreds or thousands
of oil and gas wells in the area, any one of which could leak if
the hydrostatic pressure is increased by injection of fluids.”
The well would be 2,100 feet deep, approximately 900 feet
deeper than drinking wells are at the area.
What is the best way to deal with the contamination from
Bay Harbor? This debate is ongoing, but certainly there are
valid alternatives worthy of further consideration.
Among the many questions that arise - does it make sense to
move the contamination from one community to another,
potentially impacting two places? Is it fair? Will this
approach solve the problem or simply transfer it?
The Friends of the Jordan River Watershed are working with
others to document citizens' concerns, collect information on
the risks and alternatives, and facilitate public input within
the 30-day extension period.
For more information or to send comments go the
Friends of the Jordan River Watershed website,
www.friendsofthejordan.org.
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