PETOSKEY -- A utility company wants to save money by treating and diluting contaminated water at its source, then pumping the mixture into Lake Michigan.
CMS Energy applied for a state permit that would allow it to treat contaminated water collected from East Park in Emmet County's Resort Township and discharge it directly into Little Traverse Bay.
It's CMS' latest attempt to deal with a costly pollution headache created by its partnership in the exclusive Bay Harbor resort, which neighbors East Park.
The company trucks thousands of gallons of polluted water each day from East Park to Grand Traverse County's septage treatment plant, where it's funneled to Traverse City's wastewater treatment plant and discharged into Grand Traverse Bay.
CMS turned to the East Park treatment concept after a lawsuit recently halted its plans to pump contaminated water deep underground in Antrim County. The company has spent tens of millions of dollars to address water contamination at East Park and Bay Harbor.
"Environmentally, it's the appropriate thing to do because it eliminates the dangers of trucking it," said Tim Petrosky, CMS area manager.
Trucks accrue more than 750,000 miles a year for water disposal, Petrosky said.
East Park and Bay Harbor were built above buried kiln dust from an old cement factory. Groundwater that soaks through the dust becomes caustic and contaminated with mercury, then drains into the bay.
CMS' application proposes to reduce the alkalinity levels of up to 35,000 gallons of water each day from East Park. The water then would be mixed with clean groundwater collected above East Park, before being released into the bay through an existing storm sewer.
CMS is forced to go through Traverse City because East Park can't adequately treat contaminated water there.
That resulted in an unanticipated windfall for Grand Traverse County's financially struggling septage plant. CMS pays the county hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to accept contaminated water.
"It would have a major impact," said K. Ross Childs, interim director of the county Department of Public Works. "They're a big contributor."
The water treatment facility is located next to East Park, north of U.S. 31. CMS reduces pH levels before trucking the polluted water to Traverse City, but the East Park facility would require significant infrastructure upgrades in order to cut Grand Traverse County from the loop.
Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality has 30 days to determine if the application is complete, and another 180 days to review its contents.
DEQ officials could deny the permit because the water instead could be treated nearby at Petoskey's water treatment plant, said DEQ spokesman Robert McCann.
