03/21 - Public Works, Press Release Application

'Macomb County is very focused on protecting our Great Lakes water quality,' Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller says

VIDEO: Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller and county Commissioner Barbara Zinner discuss an upcoming study of muck in Lake St. Clair. https://youtu.be/alBA0o2xEZg

PHOTOS:

Lyngbya at the DNR Spillway boat launch site in Harrison Township.

Macomb County will partner with the federal government to get to the root of the muck problem plaguing pockets of the Lake St. Clair shoreline.

County officials have approved funding for a 2-year study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to determine whether the muck (scientific name Lyngbya) - poses health risks and how it grows in the lake before breaking away to form dense, free-floating mats that cling to the shoreline, some canals, boat wells and some beach areas.

"We need to understand what is causing it, what its makeup is, and are there preventive steps and maintenance steps to eradicate it or to maintain and live with it. Something has changed in the lake's ecosystem in the last 10 years. Is it because of zebra mussels, combined sewer overflows, climate change?" said Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller, a member of the drainage board that approved the grant agreement with USACE.

The Macomb County Public Works Office reached out to USACE last year to propose that federal officials consider the Planning Assistance to States grant program to fund a study.

Each year of the 2-year study will cost an estimated $200,000 and will be split evenly between the USACE and Macomb County. Macomb County's funding share was approved unanimously by the county Board of Commissioners recently as an allocation to the Lake St. Clair Clean Water Drainage Board.

"Lyngbya is attacking our lifestyle, and property values and is dangerous. We do not know if it is a health risk but this is of great concern," said county Commissioner Barbara Zinner of Harrison Township, who spearheaded the allocation after hearing concerns from shoreline property owners who have seen their boat wells choked off by the algae and rendered unusable. I am looking forward to this study so we will know what it is and be able to rid ourselves of it for the welfare of the public."

The mats increase in density, with new layers created as Lyngbya is driven to the shoreline during winter and early spring by onshore winds. Hiring a contractor with dredging experience to dredge out the muck and dispose of it can be very expensive. But the success of such a cleanout is short-lived, as the muck tends to return to pockets along the shoreline where it collects very quickly.

The State of Michigan DNR Spillway boat launch facility in Harrison Township is completing a several million dollar upgrade, because Lyngbya has been choking off the boat launch area for many years and the cost and effort of dredging out the muck became cost prohibitive and significantly shortened the seasonal availability of the boat launch.

The study will involve:

*Field sampling of Lyngbya

*Identifying Lyngbya hot spots and conditions that drive its spread

*Collaboration with researchers to develop knowledge and practices to better understand the ecological and human health risks

*Creation of a management plan to better understand, predict, react to and manage Lyngbya on the lake.

Officials are concerned that E. coli or other bacteria and substances snared by the mats pose a threat to public health.

"Macomb County is always focused on how we can improve our water quality in Lake St. Clair. We look forward to the results of this study, so we can develop an action plan in dealing with this noxious muck," Miller said.

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