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Even though he lives on a canal a block from Lake St. Clair in southeast Michigan's Macomb County,
Doug Martz readily admits he once didn't much care about what it takes to keep waterways clean.
"I'm a builder," he said. "I would cut down every tree on a lot. I would bury and burn trash. If I changed
motor oil I'd dump it on the gravel to keep the dust down. I'd put pesticides and fertilizers on the lawn, right
up to the edge of the canal. If some went in the water, I never thought a thing about it."
On June 13, 1994, Mr. Martz got an instant education. A heavy rain inundated sewage treatment plants in
Macomb and Oakland counties. More than one billion gallons of raw sewage overflowed into the Clinton
River, which drains into Lake St. Clair. Mr. Martz was out building a dock for a friend who lived on the river,
a few miles from his house, when the stinking flood arrived.
"The river turned from blue-green, to coffee to grey to black. It was a glob eight feet thick full of tampons
and condoms," he recalled. "I didn't worry about what happened to my toilet water until it ended up in my
own backyard."
"It was like I was branded at that point," added Mr. Martz, who is 49. "My eyes watered and the stench
was so strong it took my breath away."
The consequences of the overflow, which left mats of weeds reeking of sewage on Lake St. Clair's
shoreline and closed its beaches, are still being felt in Macomb County more than four years later. Last
summer new overflows resulted in the shutting of public beaches on Lake St. Clair for 22 days due to fecal
contamination. The lake's marina operators, who manage a total of 10,000 slips, are losing tens of millions of
dollars each summer as boat owners cruise other lakes. Several residents say they've been sickened by the
contamination. Property values along the lake and the canals have slipped, say real estate agents. Restaurants,
hotels, bait shops, and suppliers say their business has been cut in half during the peak summer season.
"Every summer it's the same," said Frank Bartolomeo, who owns the Boat Town Cafe near the entrance to
Metro Beach, the largest public beach in southeast Michigan. "As soon as the first beach closing is announced,
our business drops 40% to 50%. You can't blame the people. Who wants to swim in filth?"
A Clear Warning
Lake St. Clair's polluted shoreline is a warning to the rest of Michigan. A 31-member commission
appointed by Macomb County concluded in 1997 that rampaging sprawl was the primary cause of the sewage
overflow and other lake contamination in southeast Michigan. So many naturally absorbent wetlands and fields
are now covered with parking lots, roads, shopping centers, and subdivisions that even modest rains cause a
torrent of runoff -- also known as "nonpoint pollution." (See the article on page 14.) Undersized treatment
plants are inundated, illegally spilling billions of gallons of raw sewage into streams that run into Lake St.
Clair. Until recently, state officials have not prosecuted the violations.
In effect, Lake St. Clair's continuing bacterial contamination represents the most graphic example of the
enormous costs to Michigan's families, economy, and environment from a systemic failure to enforce
environmental laws and to plan for growth.
(continued on next page)
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