Mount Clemens, Mich. – Officials from Oakland and Macomb counties are feuding over what appear to be flushable toilet wipes coming from the sewer system.
A battle between the counties appears to be brewing in their respective public works offices. The two commissioners are at odds over who’s to blame for what some think are flushable toilet wipes getting caught along the shoreline.
“I’m not trying to be confrontational,” Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said. “I’m really not.”
Miller has brought a county feud into the public light, posting a video showing what she says are flushable toilet wipes coming from Oakland County’s sewer system.
She’s accusing Oakland County of not filtering its sewer system properly. She said in heavy rain events when overflow is discharged into Macomb County, the wipes end up along the shoreline.
“This stuff has been hanging from these trees for months,” Miller said.
In the video, she asks Oakland County officials to either build a large retention basin, filter the wipes out or send the overflow to an Oakland County lake.
“I’m serious, I’ll be quiet,” Miller said. “Just simply discharge into their own lakes. No problem with me.”
Hours after Miller’s video was posted, an Oakland County crew was there clear-cutting.
Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner Jim Nash said it’s just garbage coming from four roadway storm sewers, not the county’s treatment facility.
“When you have this many large storm pipes, you have a lot of deposits,” Nash said. “You’ll see this kind of garbage in the trees around it.”
Nash said officials are testing what was found, but he doesn’t believe they’re flushable wipes.
“It’s been an ongoing claim,” Nash said. “The data and science doesn’t show it’s true.”
The State Department is looking into the issue, but permits allow the overflow discharges to occur. It’s unclear who would be responsible for additional cleanup.