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January 10, 2005 Record-Eagle/Douglas TesnerScott Blair, project manager for OMI Inc., takes a sample of water in the last stage of treatment at the Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant.
New designation could lower pollution levelsDischarges will change, costing more moneyByRecord-Eagle staff writer Workshop set for todayThe meeting will run from 2-5 p.m. in the Hagerty Center at Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay will make presentations and answer questions during the workshop. The meeting is open to the public. Local governments must petition the director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to change the designation. Under the outstanding resource designation, no one could discharge wastewater into the bay that is of lower quality than what already exists there. "Traverse City is already doing it and we want other communities to follow its lead," Baykeeper John Nelson said. "It's not anti-development, but it's going to cost more money. That's the bottom line." Traverse City and the surrounding townships just finished a $31 million expansion and upgrade to the wastewater treatment system that added a third level of treatment. The discharge is now clean enough to drink. City officials said upgrades to improve the discharge cost about $11.5 million. The designation won't affect any current systems, but future expansions or new plants would require higher-level treatment, said Mike Stifler, DEQ district Water Bureau supervisor. Suttons Bay, Elk Rapids and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians currently discharge into the bay. Those systems, including a new one planned for Suttons Bay, have just two levels of treatment. The water discharged is of lesser quality than bay water. Suttons Bay Village Council member Tom Harrison said going to a tertiary system would have almost doubled the cost of the new treatment plant. "As far as I was concerned, it was worth spending the extra money to get the best possible wastewater treatment system," Harrison said. "I've been pushing, but some people have been asking me what planet I'm from." Nelson said he believes if given the choice, voters would support the increased treatment level at a higher cost. "This bay is unique and spectacular, there is nothing else like it," Nelson said. "The bay is our economy up here." Deborah Knudsen, director of the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the designation would benefit the area. "I think the designation could have tremendous impact on how we set ourselves apart and make the world a better place," she said. Prior to 1996, Grand Traverse Bay had the highest water quality designation, but water quality standards were loosened under the administration of then-Gov. John Engler. The new water quality standard is much more restrictive on discharges and, at this time, only Lake Superior qualifies under the higher standard. Currently, there are eight different reasons to allow a discharge that lowers the water quality of the bay, Stifler said. The most common and easiest to use is economic benefit. "Grand Traverse Bay is very clean, very high in oxygen levels, and very low in pollutant levels," Stifler said. "I think in general the bay is of higher quality than the (outstanding resource) standards demand, but I'm not the technical person who makes that determination." The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay asked Grand Traverse County and the city to petition the DEQ but officials said they want more regional support before they proceed.
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