DEQ report and why it is important to the history of Ludington.

George Towns and Mary Jane Shipley.....

Towns opened the first sportfishing marina in Ludington — the Tamarac Sportfishing Dock — with his sister, Mary Jane Shipley. He made his own downriggers and started a charter operation on his 38-foot boat, Moonlighter.

“It’s hard to estimate what sportfishing did for Ludington,” Towns told the Daily News in 2002. “But a 1969 issue of the Chicago Tribune magazine states that Manistee netted an estimated $1.9 million from the first Great Lakes salmon fishing season in the fall of 1967 and those are 1967 dollars.”

Also there is a wing in the hospital dedicated to Great Aunt Roberta donated by this big hearted man.

Quoted from an article from the LDN Sat Aug 15, 2009. Mary Jane was my grandmother and Uncle(Great uncle) George L as he went by were the passion and people who in a big way helped shape Ludington into what it is today. He was always someone I loved to spend time with, even though I was just a child the way he spoke and his demeanor were something I always looked up to. My grandmother fought hard and worked hard to build this business in a time when it was all male dominated, she knew how to take charge, probably learned as a production worked at GM during the war. Even fought the building of the city marinas and the allowance of charter boats, which she helped win a limit but the current management/DNR do not adhere to.

Another very important legacy they left:

In 1967, the Department of Natural Resources announced which rivers would receive the first coho salmon plantings. The Betsie, the Manistee, the Pentwater and the Muskegon all were stocked, but not the Pere Marquette. Towns and friends Glen Bowden and Walt Leversey were angered by this and lobbied the Michigan Conservation Department (now the DNR) to have the salmon stocked here as well. The Pere Marquette never did get coho salmon plants, but in 1968, the agency opened a rearing pond in Ruby Creek, home to a tributary of the P.M.

So many of us love fishing there that the COL built 2, not 1, but 2 marinas.

So many random thoughts, as a child I used to love going to visit in the spring since there used to be tens of thousands of salmon spawn and living in a cement dock we leased from Lunde Boat Co, getting ready to swim out to the lake. How long has it been since fishing was still ok in the PM lake? maybe since 2008?

This "small" area called the pm bayou or creamy corners drain has so much importance to the area. Whether it be a rich history that brought fishing to this area, the important people that helped build up this town, help build an infrastructure and huge manufacture home park , a clean safe area for salmon to spawn and move on. What does it take to get through to the people that are getting big paychecks to do what is right? WHY WILL THEY NOT CLEAN THE ROAD OUT OF THE BAYOU THAT HAS BEEN THERE SINCE 2008 THAT THEY RECIEVED FUNDS FOR TO REMOVE?

I am just asking that the COL respect its history and do what they should have done years ago and clean this mess up. Sad that this once great legacy is almost out of business only because the COL will not clean its road out of the bayou from 2008 and maintain the creamy corners drain, its been many, many years!

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Public built restrooms closed to the public? I have never been denied at a McDonalds, Walmart, etc? These must be some really special bathrooms? lol There is a BIG problem that needs fixed there asap. BEFORE your tax dollars float a 1.2-1.8 million dollar bond to make it even nicer so you cant touch it, just pay for it, so the COL officials can impress their high dollar friends? Unbelievable!

Through a FOIA I found that this drain (the one circled in yellow) was constructed back in 1972 to act as a sanitary storm drain for a system that mostly centered along Staffon Street with a high mark all the way up to Dexter Street on the north side.  The numbers on the map provided points to the proper diagram for that section of sewer, I enhanced the arrows and made them red to show the direction of flow. 

It's not altogether clear whether other lines before or since connect to this network. 

X, Thanks for checking this out and for the information 

Agreed and further proof why this bayou needs to be maintained before it becomes a terrible festering stinkpot!

I also thank you XLFD, you are a VIP for the residents of this city!

Definitely proof that the city cannot assign complete blame to the Creamery Corners drain bringing in stuff from factories in PM Township when their own drain is totally contained within the city limits and may be contributing to the contamination. 

This site isn't called the Ludington Torch for nothing, we need to shine light on the hidden facts and truths that are out there... and have a VIP or two to handle all the vipers doing the concealing.

Hey Willy do you remember the date this photo was taken?

I am not concerned with the drain as much as the exposed toxic sludge in the photo that the MI DEQ warned,"that there should be no human contact with those sediments."

What I see missing from this picture is the chain link fence and and warning signs keeping people from this area. 

Is the COL opening itself up to future lawsuits by not at least cordoning off the city owned property with some snow fence and  putting up some Tye signage warning of the danger?

There is a school just up the hill, how do the parents and teachers feel having a toxic sludge site a few blocks away?

Anybody good at doing one of those group funding things?  Maybe we could rent the billboard by the Washington Avenue Bridge and put up our own sign warning of the danger. It could be fun.

Anyway do you remember when this photo was taken? Is the area now underwater with the rising Lake Michigan Water Level? Is it sitting there like a ticking bomb waiting to surface again?

No need to rent that sign, it can be posted on our property on Washington or Madison or both. I have some plans this spring if nothing is in process of cleaning this mess!

11-17-2012

Great pictures Willy and I am so glad you have them and shared them with us. Hope you don't mind but I was going to copy them for my files. Yes the water was low that year. But look at the date of this story that happened 9 days after your pictures were taken! So it was on open land to dry and blow all around in the winter wind!

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2012/11/26/ludington-repairing-sewe...

All of that "stuff you see in the bayou was not there prior to the storm of 2008, none of it, this is documented in the DEQ report that I am always referring to with pictures. They even say it was not there, still no action. The same DEQ that said the bayou was ok? I wonder if he would like to bring his family over for a swim?

Interesting that when I spoke to Brian Calley asking for a lawyer reference, which I knew he can not do, he referred me to the states constituent services division and they would help. Well, they did, they sent it to the DEQ who blew it off but now I have the state linked to this cover up. Funny how this is all sounding a lot like how things happened in flint.

Sad thing for me is that after the news story I shared last night makes me wonder if this mess is why my mom is now on a CPAP machine also? All of the kids that have been down their playing around the water need to be tested! Any that are within a few blocks at the least.

If they would have only maintained our part of the city like they were supposed to, when they had the money from the state and federal govt? How the hell did they find the money to dredge the city marinas a few years back for 200-300k? Where is the money coming from to fix the city owned marinas at a cost of 1.2-1.8 million? Why do the people of the bayou not deserve to be represented and respected by its council?

And to the person on the LDN facebook that asked if I would say it to their face, HELL YES I would, guess the truth hurts!

Invite the DEQ people over from Cadillac in order to go swimming in the PM Bayou this summer and to bring their kids too; better yet invite the city council down for a dip this summer.  

Your mom may be on a CPAP machine from other factors, but there may be a good chance they haven't checked her for elevated levels of metals and other contaminants she may have been exposed to over the years.  I am hoping to check out Sanborn fire insurance maps of the area if they have them at the library, and to share my findings.  These would show the layout of the land from the late 1800s up until 1950. 

jfc, I wonder if you can divulge the name of the LDN poster that is another cover-up person for the COL and LDN? If so, please do, as we probably can link them into the corruption of this entire matter. We can also take them for a personal tour of the bayou area and surrounding businesses that suffer the same toxic waste in PM Lake. Maybe that person should also get a closer look from the "dunking method" of realities, I also have some unused anchors around to use for flotation if the need arises. That "billboard" idea is also an excellent one, it isn't being used much these days anyhow.

It was the LDN replying to a post I made to call them out on their FB page, no name was given. It was whoever responds for them. I deleted the post because I worded it in a matter to get attention, which I did. I have posted there prior with no response. Just trying to find a reporter that wants to be more then a puppet! Kicked myself for not taking a screenshot first.

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