Macomb Today

A major underground infrastructure project in Macomb County which will reduce combined sewer overflows into Lake St. Clair is under construction and expected to be completed by the end of 2023, County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said.

“Macomb County is very focused on protecting our Great Lakes water quality,” Miller said. “We are spending the dollars needed to upgrade our infrastructure because we recognize it’s an investment in a cleaner environment for ourselves and future generations.”

The project is called “in-system storage” because it will utilize existing underground infrastructure to store flow during a heavy rain event, rather than discharging it into Lake St. Clair as has been the practice for decades.

Current excavation is underway on Beaconsfield Avenue, south of Nine Mile Road in Eastpointe, to allow workers to reach the 11 1/2-foot-diameter sewer pipe which lies about 50 feet below the surface. A section of the very large concrete pipe will be cut away to allow for the installation of a rubber weir which can be inflated during a heavy rain event, and then slowly released after the rain so that the flow can be sent to the Great Lakes Water Authority’s Detroit wastewater plant in Detroit for proper treatment, rather than discharging into Lake St. Clair.

“Although the basic chemical treatment and discharge of CSOs is permitted by the state, it shouldn’t keep going on generation after generation,” Miller said.

The “in-system storage” project will cost $12.4 million and will be paid using federal, state and county funding with no increase in sewer rates passed on to the residents of Eastpointe and St. Clair Shores who are served by this interceptor.

“Macomb County has the political will to spend the dollars for our environment. We all share a common goal of improving our water quality and our environment,” Miller said.

During Miller’s time as public works commissioner, CSOs have been significantly reduced and other projects are being designed that will continue to reduce CSOs from Macomb County.

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