07/08/2007

Deep well drawing opposition

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

EAST JORDAN — A local conservation group that recently won an extension for public comment in the case of a proposed deep-injection disposal well in Antrim County wants to write a position paper and start an anti-well petition drive.

"We think there are a lot of voices out there opposed to the injection well and we're trying to bring them all together in a unified voice,” said John Richter, president of the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed group.

A deep-injection well near Alba was proposed by a subsidiary of CMS Energy, an investor in the Bay Harbor development in Emmet County, where pollutants now seep into Lake Michigan from cement factory kiln dust buried beneath expensive lakeshore homes.

The company is working on a $93 million cleanup effort and applied for state and federal permits to drill a disposal well near the small community of Alba, where it would inject wastewater into underground limestone formations. The company also applied to build a treatment plant at the cleanup site near Petoskey.

Cleanup wastewater currently is taken to Grand Traverse County's septage treatment plant and a disposal well in Montmorency County.

Richter said the conservation group is pleased with the public comment extension to July 27, approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. He said well opponents will start a petition drive during that time.

The group contends it's risky to move contaminated water; is an environmental injustice to take pollutants from an expensive resort community to another rural town; and is the wrong solution with many opportunities for failures. Those arguments will be made in the coming position paper, Richter said.

Dave Novak, EPA spokesman, said the permit review process is not a popularity contest.

"Just because a lot of people say 'no' doesn't mean anything. If you have scientific data that shows why it should or should not happen, then it will make a difference,” he said.

Alba was not chosen for economic reasons, but because the geology of the area is conducive to this type of well, Novak said.

Tim Petrosky, CMS area manager, could not be reached for comment on Friday. He previously said the company hopes for an expedient permit review by state and federal authorities.

Many residents attended a public hearing last month to speak against the proposed well and Star Township officials in Antrim County are also investigating the proposal.