ALBA -- Both the state and federal governments must respond to appeals filed against permits issued for a new deep-injection wastewater disposal well near Alba.
Gaylord attorney Susan Topp filed petitions this week with both the Environmental Appeals Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The appeals seek to reverse well permit approvals granted last month by the state and federal agencies.
The appeals are on behalf of Antrim County, Star Township and the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed nonprofit group.
Topp alleged the appeals lacked scientific data to support the environmental safety of the well, plus risks to both natural resources and drinking water in a low-income community, among other reasons.
"We believe there are prudent and feasible alternatives to transporting this waste to Alba," Topp said.
The wastewater intended for the well comes from CMS Energy's cleanup efforts in Little Traverse Bay, where pollution comes from water seepage through old cement factory kiln dust. Million-dollar homes were built along the Emmet County lakeshore and on top of the problem, so Bay Harbor investor CMS now is responsible for an estimated $140 million cleanup project.
Plans call for the wastewater to be injected down 2,150 feet into underground rock formations. Contaminated water currently is treated on site to reduce alkalinity and then trucked to a commercial injection well in Montmorency County and a septage plant in Grand Traverse County.
The wastewater is considered non-hazardous, but is not safe for human consumption because of high salt concentrations and trace levels of arsenic.
"There are no studies of how it will interact with the formation and it poses an environmental threat if there's a release at the surface ... and then those heavy metals will end up in the groundwater and residential wells in the Alba community," Topp said.
Future safety checks are part of the process, and if test drilling identifies safety concerns, regulatory agencies will not issue a disposal permit for the well, said Tim Petrosky, CMS area manager.
"Based on the extensive verification process and the future safety verifications, we believe the approved permits will withstand these appeals," Petrosky said.
Officials with both the EPA and the DEQ confirmed the appeals were filed by deadlines. Federal environmental officials will have a month to respond to the appeal before the EAB hears the case, while an administrative law judge will hear arguments on the appeal filed with the state.
Print this story
E-mail this story
