BELLAIRE -- Opponents of a proposed deep-injection disposal well in Antrim County's Star Township filed suit to halt the project.
Star Township, Antrim County, Friends of the Jordan River and several mineral rights owners filed suit in Antrim County Circuit Court against Beeland Group, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, the company that proposed the well as part of its pollution cleanup effort in Emmet County's Bay Harbor community.
The plaintiffs allege the leachate from the cleanup of water contaminated by toxic underground kiln dust near Little Traverse Bay will, or is likely to, pollute the Jordan River watershed and destroy mineral reserves near the injection site in Alba, among other concerns.
"We have exhausted the administrative appeals process," said John Richter, FOJR president. "We've always thought the appeals process was not going to be in our favor. A court of law would be a more even playing field."
Well foes spent recent months fighting the project through administrative appeals with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They were denied at every turn.
The suit contends underground rock formations may not be suitable to hold the leachate; the movement of water from one watershed to another violates long-standing state practices; the well would destroy oil, gas and mineral deposits and contaminate groundwater and surface water if the leachate escapes. The suit also invokes the Great Lakes Compact, contending removal of water from the Traverse Bay watershed violates the prohibition of diversion of water from the Great Lakes.
The plaintiffs are represented by Gaylord attorney Susan Hlywa Topp and Charles Koop, Antrim County prosecutor.
CMS area manager Tim Petrosky said the company would review and respond to the lawsuit and finalize their legal representation shortly.
"This action is not unexpected, as the plaintiffs have had two appeals to the approved permit denied and have indicated they intended to file suit. The EPA and MDEQ spent over a year exhaustively reviewing the permit and concluded that the well would be safe and would not harm the environment," Petrosky said.
The suit asks for a preliminary and permanent injunction against well construction and operation, as well as full costs and attorney fees to be paid by the company.
No judge is assigned to the case yet and no hearing dates are scheduled, court officials said.
