Published: February 08, 2008 09:46 am         

Deep-injection well approved by regulators

Several groups plan to appeal the decision

ALBA -- An energy company will soon poke a new hole in the ground for a deep-injection disposal well near Alba.

State and federal environmental regulators on Thursday approved permits to allow CMS Energy to drill a new well in Antrim County's Star Township, despite opposition from local residents and conservationists who want to keep contaminated water out of their community. A 30-day appeal period now begins.

"It was a decision based on what the law requires us to look at. They met the requirements, so we had to issue the permit," said Bob McCann, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

The DEQ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued well permits after a six-month review of public comments. The agencies held a joint public hearing in June when local residents descended to criticize the plan, including potential dangers to drinking and surface water.

The well is part of CMS's cleanup plan for polluted water in Little Traverse Bay, caused by water seepage through old cement factory kiln dust beneath luxury homes in the Bay Harbor resort. The company was an investor in the lakeshore development and is responsible for a $93 million cleanup project.

Wastewater from the cleanup site near Petoskey will be injected 2,150 feet into underground rock formations. Contaminated water currently is treated onsite to reduce alkalinity and heavy metal concentrations and then trucked to a commercial injection well in Montmorency County and a treatment plant in Grand Traverse County.

Thursday's well permit approvals were "expected, but disappointing," said John Richter, president of the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed. The conservation group will file an administrative appeal with the state and federal agencies and seek an injunction in circuit court.

Star Township also will join the fight.

"They are using Alba as dumping grounds for the wastewater from Bay Harbor. It is environmental injustice, transferring the problem from an existing contaminated area to an uncontaminated area," said Susan Topp, the township's attorney.

The company will complete construction of an onsite treatment facility by spring, which eventually would replace the Alba well as the final disposal method for the Bay Harbor wastewater, said Tim Petrosky, MCS area manager.

Appeals and lawsuits against the well -- which soon will be under construction -- would be "without merit, unsuccessful and an unfortunate expenditure of resources," he said.