Five Macomb County lawmakers and four from Oakland County who want to toughen rules for one of the state’s largest stormwater treatment facilities met recently with state officials who oversee regulations.

State Rep. Alicia St. Germaine, a Harrison Township Republican who lives near Lake St. Clair, said they had a good discussion with officials from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) about the George W. Kuhn retention treatment basin in Madison Heights. But the lawmakers still plan to pursue legislation.

“We’re in a good starting place … we all want to work together to protect our waterways,” St. Germaine said.

She led lawmakers in introducing bills that would add more requirements for the Kuhn, including levying large fines and requiring jail time for violating the new rules if the bills become law.

The bills would also give Macomb County a say in whether Kuhn’s five-year federal permit is renewed.

Harrison Township and St. Clair Shores recently passed resolutions supporting the bills.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller and some Republican lawmakers have complained that Kuhn’s federal permit expired a year ago.

The permit in question is issued by the EPA, called the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), and the state manages the permits which have to be renewed every five years.

Kuhn’s federal permit expired on Oct. 1, 2023. But the term “expired” isn’t accurate when referring to these permits, said EGLE spokesman Jeff Johnston.

“They remain in effect while new permits are being drafted and approved,” he said.

As long as a facility continues meeting federal and state regulations, a permit is extended.

That’s what happened in Macomb County, when the permit for its largest treatment basin, the Chapaton at the edge of Lake St. Clair, expired on Oct. 1, 2022. It was extended until a new permit was issued on Feb. 28, 2024.

The state has a backlog of permit applications; renewals often take years.

“EGLE has added additional permitting staff to address the permit reissuance backlog and has made progress in reducing it,” Johnston said.

EGLE officials are reviewing Oakland County’s renewal application. Before the permit is approved, the state will host a public hearing.

The virtual meeting among state lawmakers included St. Germaine and eight of her Republican colleagues. Five are from Macomb County, including St. Germaine, Joe Aragona of Clinton Township; Jay DeBoyer of Clay Township; Jaime Green of Richmond; and Doug Wozniak of Shelby Township. The remaining four are from Oakland County, including Tom Kuhn of Troy; Mike Harris of Waterford Township; Donni Steele of Orion Township; and Mark Tisdel of Rochester Hills.

The legislators spoke with EGLE Director Phil Roos, state Water Resources Division Acting Director Phil Argiroff, and Legislative Liaison Sydney Hart.

The lawmakers amplified Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller’s complaints that the Kuhn is polluting the Red Run Drain and Macomb is spending more to ensure fresh water than Oakland.

The Red Run Drain flows into the Clinton River and eventually Lake St. Clair.

EGLE spokesman Jeff Johnston said the Kuhn meets state and federal regulations but some “realistic and cost-effective changes might be possible.”

State officials will continue working with Oakland County on the permit, he said, adding “There are areas that might help further improve water quality in Red Run Drain that move past federal and state regulations. It’s too early in the process to be more specific.”

Jim Nash, Oakland County’s Water Resources commissioner, was not invited to the meeting. He said he expected EGLE officials to say what he’s been saying for weeks: The Kuhn is not polluting the Red Run Drain.

He said Macomb County’s storm drains begin about a mile from the Kuhn on the Red Run. Macomb County recently spent $100 million in water infrastructure improvements including Chapaton. Improvements will add 13 million gallons of water storage for a total capacity of 41 million gallons during storms. Chapaton’s two-year upgrade started in 2023 and will cost $30 million — $25 million paid with American Rescue Plan Act money.

Oakland invested $144 million between 2003 and 2007 to upgrade Kuhn, the largest retention treatment facility in Michigan and capable of treating 150 million gallons of stormwater and sewage.

“There are 23 of these treatment basins in southeast Michigan and we all operate by the same rules,” Nash said. “We’re doing damn good work and I’m really proud of my people.”

Nash said “97% of the year all flow is sent to a Great Lakes Water Authority wastewater treatment facility in Detroit for processing.

That changes during a heavy rainstorm or when a large amount of snow melts. The Kuhn takes on stormwater and sewage that would otherwise back up into area basements. Stormwater rushing into the Kuhn is filtered, skimmed to remove debris picked up from roads and buildings. The water is disinfected with bleach before being released into the Red Run Drain. Earlier this year, one of nine bleach tanks malfunctioned but has since been repaired and the other eight tanks updated, according to Oakland County officials and EGLE reports.

Other retention treatment basins may use ultraviolet light for disinfection, Nash said, but the end result is the same.

“You wouldn’t want to drink that water, but you could swim in it. That’s the standard all retention treatment basins in the state have to meet,” he said.

St. Germaine said lawmakers raised concerns in Tuesday’s meeting that bleach could damage the environment. Large amounts of bleach can potentially kill fish and other species in the drain. She said EGLE officials discussed having the bleached water dechlorinated before it’s released into the Red Run.

Macomb County’s Chapaton facility also uses bleach for disinfecting combined storm and sewer water. St. Germaine said she was unsure if requiring the Kuhn to dechlorinate its water would result in Chapaton and other retention treatment basins having to do the same.

She said the real fix will be separating combined sewers so stormwater can be handled separately from sewage — an option Oakland County officials said will cost billions of dollars.

“We know this is going to take federal funding,” she said. “Recently Chicago and New Orleans received massive funding to upgrade their infrastructure. If we all work together we can be right there — together with Chicago and New Orleans.”

St. Germaine said one recourse she hadn’t considered is working with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), which has a stormwater assistance program. https://www.semcog.org/stormwater

“We could get engaged with SEMCOG,” she said.

“(The lawmakers) need to reach out,” said Nash. “Macomb County (public works officials) can tell them what’s going on.”Nash co-chaired SEMCOG’s water resources task force last year and helped produce a report on green infrastructure and ways to reduce runoff into sewer systems.

“We’ve been working on this regionally for years,” he said. That includes developing a workbook for Oakland County communities to help reduce storm runoff by updating local ordinances.

One example, he said, is reducing the number of parking spots required for businesses.

“You don’t need to have a parking spot for every square foot of a building as long as you have parking nearby,” he said. “Reducing parking spots reduces a crazy amount of runoff.”

Such changes along with adding green infrastructure in the form of more trees, shrubs and gardens on both public and private spaces helps, too, he said. In those areas, heavy rain can seep into the ground more quickly rather than running off into nearby storm drains.