Church source of illicit discharges into Rouge
By David Hohendorf
The city of Birmingham has resolved in recent months a long-standing illicit discharge into the Rouge River involving a church, the Sanctuary, located at 300 Willits in the downtown area.
Oakland County was credited with notifying the city in October of 2023 relative to the illicit discharge, according to correspondence between the city and environmental officials with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE), supplied to Downtown Newsmagazine by Birmingham in a response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Rouge River is part of a watershed that flows through three counties. According to the website for the Friends of the Rouge group, “The Rouge River Watershed, in southeast Michigan, drains 467 square miles into the Detroit River. It has four major branches (Main, Upper, Middle, and Lower) with 127 river miles and numerous tributaries.”
The Birmingham Engineering Department was able to determine that the discharge location was from the storm sewer that drains city parking lot number five near which there are a couple of homes and the church. Analysis of the discharge showed high levels of E. coli bacteria.
Engineering department officials inspected manholes and catch basins serving the parking lot, which included using televised reviews of storm sewer runs. Eventually dye tests helped determine that the church was the source of the illicit discharge.
Church officials were notified of the determination in December of 2023 and reminded that there had been other instances of illicit connections dating back to 1996, 1998 and again in 2008. Church officials in late January of 2024 called for a meeting with city officials and noted that the church, when first built in 1928-29 and again around 1958-1960, and its sewer lines were approved by the city.
Ultimately the illicit line from the church to the storm sewer was disconnected and a grinder pump was installed at the church, along with a new line connecting the building to a city sanitary sewer line in late November of 2024. It appears that the connection to the storm sewer system served the entire building which includes the church and a daycare center.
City officials told Downtown that the expense of resolving the illicit connection to the storm sewer was being charged to the church. Officials also said that as of now there is no indication that either the city or the church would be assessed with penalty charges from state or federal environment officials.
