Drainage Board Votes to Deny Gelman Use of Allen Creek Drain

Drainage Board votes to deny Gelman use of Allen Creek Drain

By KARL LEIF BATES
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

The Washtenaw County Drainage Board and the county’s Board of Commissioners are trying to put a stopper in the pipe Gelman Sciences Inc. wants to use to clean up contaminated groundwater.

The Drainage Board voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny Gelman the use of the Allen Creek Drain, a storm sewer that runs roughly parallel to Dexter Road from western Ann Arbor to the Huron River. Later Wednesday, the county commissioners voted 7-0 to support the drainage board’s action.

Under a cleanup plan proposed by the company and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources nearly a year ago, the drain was to have been used to dispose of 288,000 gallons of groundwater per day that was tainted with a solvent called 1,4-dioxane. The Scio Township firm is being held responsible for cleaning up an underground plume of the contaminant that reaches nearly a mile north and west of its Wagner Road plant.

“As far as the county is concerned, using the drain is not an option,” said Meri Lou Murray, a member of the drainage board and chairwoman of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Grace Shackman, the Democrat who represents residents in the Allen Creek drainage district, introduced the resolution supporting the drainage board. She said residents have made it clear to her that they oppose the use of the drain.

West side Ann Arbor residents have been arguing against using the Allen Creek sewer because the aging drain is known to overflow in parks in their neighborhood and they suspect it leaks.

Washtenaw County Drain Commissioner Janis Bobrin said Wednesday that the county is concerned about the wisdom of using an old and potentially leaky storm sewer to dispose of a substance that can create a difficult -groundwater pollution problem beneath the drain.

The resolution says that other options for disposing of the groundwater are still viable.

An Ann Arbor City Council resolution that also would have barred the use of the storm drain failed to win approval at Monday night's meeting, in part. Council member Kurt Zimmer, D-4th Ward, said, because he didn’t want to limit Gelman’s cleanup options.

Another failed council resolution would have given Gelman access to the city’s sanitary sewer, which would convey the contaminated groundwater to the city’s waste-water treatment plant.

The drainage board’s decision “makes agreement on the sanitary sewer even more important." said Robert Bauman, assistant city administrator for environmental services.

Charles Gelman. Gelman Sciences founder and chairman, said he isn’t sure that the Drainage Commission and the city have any say over how the drain is used. Other state-ordered cleanups are using the Allen Creek Drain to dispose of contaminated groundwater, including gas station cleanups of petroleum products.

Gelman said the company and the state are researching the legality of the drainage board’s decision.

News staff reporter Liz Cobbs contributed to this report.