Rain blamed for sewer overflow

By: John Cavanagh, Herald-Journal Assistant Editor                           August 06, 2003

HART - Heavy rains Sunday are blamed for a lift station sewage overflow into Hart Lake and a backyard flood in Hart.
Only one inch of rain was recorded at the Michigan State Police Post on Polk Road west of Hart, but city Manager Shea Charles estimated two to three inches fell in town, and just south of Polk Road near Hart the measurement was 3 inches.

An MSU Cooperative Extension report from Horticulturist Mira Danilovich indicated up to 4 inches of rain was reported in some areas.

The deluge caused the East Main Street lift station to overflow and dump approximately 15,000 gallons of sewage into Hart Lake.

"For about 20 minutes it had more water come in than it could handle," Charles said.

Although the spill is classified as raw sewage, Charles said by the time the lift station overflowed the discharge was likely just rain water. Because the discharge was considered minimal, the health department is not requiring testing, Charles said. City crews went ahead and tested up and down stream of the lift station Monday for fecal choriform.

"If the tests show anything abnormal, we'll do some follow up testing," Charles said. "We do know there was a lot of water in town that day."

National Weather Service specialist Bob Suttle said there were significant storms in the area that in spots dropped two to three inches of rain over the weekend. Oceana County was under a severe thunderstorm watch Saturday, Suttle said, but the watch was shifted to Southern Michigan Saturday evening. He did not have data on specific areas.

Wood Street resident Dennis Morgan said the rain and runoff from Union Street flooded his backyard. Morgan said he left home and returned to find approximately 18 inches of water in the back yard.

"It's happened like that I bet you five or six times," Morgan said. "We've had trouble with the drains out here before, and we called the city five or six times."

Morgan believed the drain was last cleaned last year.

Charles said city crews were called out Sunday to clear storm drains, but he was not familiar with any problem on Wood Street.

"What we did see happen is we did have a number of drains plugged up with branches and grass clippings," Charles said.

Oceana County Road Commission Manager John Foss said there were reports of gravel road washouts in the Walkerville and south Silver Lake areas. He said district crews would repair roads this week.

(Editor's note: Weekly weather data is reported on Page 11a) ©Oceanas Herald Journal 2003