FRASER, Mich. – Construction is more than halfway complete on a new biofilter meant to reduce the sewage odor and protect pipes in a Macomb County neighborhood.
The new biofilter is being installed on 15 Mile Road in Fraser. Macomb County officials said the project will reduce the stench in that area and protect the sewer system from corrosive gas.
“We sympathize with the residents and business owners and their employees who have put up with the periodic odor for years even before I took this office,” Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said. “The difference is we’re now doing something about it in an advanced way.”
Until now, the biofilter site was composed of three open beds of wood chips that acted as a filter to absorb hydrogen sulfide gas from the Macomb Interceptor Drain concrete pipe. Those have been removed.
Crews are installing an enclosed concrete structure that will contain carbon material that will absorb the gas via two foul air ducts connected to a MID interceptor. It will remove the odor before discharging cleaner air.
The project is expected to be completed by March 2024. It was funded with the American Rescue Plan Act funds and cost a total of $12 million.
“We’re doing all these projects so that we don’t have another sinkhole on 15 Mile again,” Miller said. “We are so incredibly appreciative of the patience that we have received from the public. We are fixing this stuff for the next generation, not just us.”