MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – People living in the area around one Michigan intersection told Local 4 that it’s smelled like “raw sewage” for years.
The Investigators at Local 4 got a message on social media from a viewer about the foul odor near the intersection of 15 Mile and Garfield roads at the border of Clinton Township and Fraser.
We learned that millions of dollars have been spent and years of work have been put in, but the area still stinks.
Robert Sweeney lives about a mile from the intersection and says he loves Macomb County and wants to support local businesses -- but between the construction and the stench -- it’s been difficult.
“The smell, it lingers in your nose and you know it’s been bad enough a couple of times where I had to wash my clothes, change my clothes,” Sweeney said.
He wants answers. So the Investigators at Local 4 reached out to Macomb County’s Public Works Office and they said the county has launched seven projects to cut back on bad odors throughout the county. Four of those projects have been completed.
One of those completed project is a biofilter on 15 Mile Road just west of Garfield Road.
Here’s what the biofilter looked like two years ago when it was under construction.
---> Macomb County installing biofilter to reduce sewer odor
The biofilter is supposed to remove the hydrogen sulfide odor that’s found in sewer pipes -- but the people Local 4 talked to said it’s not doing it’s job.
Lever Hermiz is the manager of Save on Tires.
“To be honest with you, it’s embarrassing. A lot of time I even have candle in my office because customer come in and like smell bad. They don’t know it’s from outside, from inside,” Hermiz said.
The county’s public works office said they’re, “currently working with an engineer, manufacturer, and contractor to make adjustments within the biofilter structure to make it more effective, as well as collect additional odor data to evaluate the condition.”
The county has been working to protect the underground infrastructure in that area to prevent a collapse like the one in Fraser on Christmas Eve of 2016. That sinkhole displaced 22 families and in 2020 a settlement was reached for $12.5 million.
Here’s the full statement from Macomb County Public Works Office:
“We are aware of occasional complaints that have been coming for many years about odor in the area of 15 Mile & Garfield roads.
In recent years, the Macomb County Public Works Office has launched seven projects in Macomb County to mitigate odors, four of which have been completed. One of those four includes the construction of a new biofilter, along 15 Mile Road, just west of Garfield Road, in the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District.
The biofilter, constructed below ground, removes the hydrogen sulfide odor that is prevalent in sewer pipes and caused by raw sanitary sewage. We are currently working with an engineer, manufacturer and contractor to make adjustments within the biofilter structure to make it more effective, as well as collect additional odor data to evaluate the condition.
Over the past several years, we have also performed sewer lining along 15 Mile -- which required temporarily storing flows – to prevent infrastructure collapses and sinkholes. The lining work has been completed and storing flow is no longer necessary."
Macomb County Public Works Office
Local 4 reached out with more questions and received the following statement as a follow-up:
“We recognize there are occasional odors, and we’re not turning our back on it. We are trying to figure out what more we need to do. Odors in that area pre-dated our administration. Other areas in this wastewater system that serves approximately 500,000 people in 11 of Macomb County’s communities have had odor complaints, and we have been methodically addressing them. We recently completed a $20 million sewer interceptor rehabilitation project at the intersection of 15 Mile and Garfield as well as a $4 million biofilter in the immediate area that we are working to fully implement to address the odor complaints.”
Macomb County Public Works Office
How to report pollution concerns to EGLE
Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy said it hasn’t received any complaints regarding odors in the area -- but they do encourage people to report odor complaints to its Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS) hotline at 800-292-4706.
Learn more about the Macomb Interceptor Drain project at macombgov.org.