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

[jfc123]

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!

[AQUAMAN]

jfc, my educated guess would be Steve Begnoche. He's about the most ignorant and arrogant editor I've ever met or witnessed anywhere. His twisted logic doesn't hold water, nor empathy in cover-up tactics he's used now for years in Ludington.

[jfc123]

How can he be in that position without a journalism degree? Geology? He needs to swim with the sharks if he cant understand the importance of the bayou mess! Yeah he looks like he thinks he is a badass, haha.

[jfc123]

Wish he had balls big as this woman, not afraid to speak the truth!

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/flint-water-crisis/89968333-story

[jfc123]

MDEQ has very little creditability any more. Sad thing is they sad they bayou is bad and Flint is good. makes me wonder really how bad the bayou really is?

[Willy]

Thanks jfc123. If you need larger files of the pictures to make photographs just let me know and I will send them. Do you know how deep they bored to get samples. If done properly they could have gotten an idea of how long the contaminants had been there and when they were deposited. There could be layer upon layer of contaminants dating from recently deposited material and going back many years. Lord only knows what's lying on the bottom of that bayou.

[jfc123]

Thanks Willy the ones you posted are good. No I do not know how deep but I will look into it, everything helps prove the point. This is all laying out in the same way Flint did with the denials but persistence won there and should win here also!

[Willy]

Instead of the City investing more money into the other 2 marinas why don't they take that money and open a "bayou bottom mud spa". They could draw tourists by claiming the mud is good for them. The mud could be heated by the excessive hot air produced by the Council along all the composting BS they have spewed out over the years, then spread the mud on all of those wide eyed tourists. The tourist could purchase the "wonder mud" by the bucket full and take it home with them. Wallah, a new industry is born and no more dredging of the bayou would be needed.

[jfc123]

No waste water permit, no clean up from 2008, no clean up from 2012, people getting sick and going out of business, kids testing high for lead, but no money. Unless it is for their 2 city owned marinas or a water tower. Seems this should be a class action lawsuit against the city, county and state, all are at fault here. Everyone is entitled to a portion that are near this area. Imagine if a business was failing due to these same negligence, what could the damages amount to? Or property owners could not sell their property because of this mess? What is that worth? Lawyers inbox me, time to take the next step, have tried the nice guy approach and its not working!

[jfc123]

Very shocking! One of the bigger news stations (WDIV local 4 Detroit) in Detroit has dedicated the last hour, during prime time, to address the issues in Flint. Have not yet had the chance to watch it fully but the beginning sounds EXACTLY like the way that the COL council,  now  the MDEQ and through state services adds the state of Mi as people that have tried to sweep me under the carpet.

The issues in the pm bayou may or may not have much to do with the lead crisis, but who would know? No one is trying to look into the matter, city, state, or feds. Even though the state and feds had money on the table to clean it up Ludington spent it elsewhere. The city should be first and foremost about cleaning up the mess that they made and making sure that the waste water they discharge is acceptable, the creamy corners drain maintained and responsibility forced on all east of the drain to discharge properly. Not worry about Buffy and Skippy that come to vaca in the summer. They need to take care of all of us  Joe six packs that bust ass for the greater good of our community through hard work and tax dollars!

Who do the councilors represent? Why is it not the residents and infrastructure that they stand for?

Get a damn waste water permit and clean the bayou, and keep moving west!

[jfc123]

Seeing the article in the LDN about Clara Peterson turning 104 made me think of another man that worked hard to help Ludington, Carl Peterson. He and his wife Ruthie owned a tv repair shop on first st, yep that's right in the 4th ward and it was a very successful shop where he also sold Zenith televisions.

His spouse. Ruthie, maiden name Towns, was (and still is alive and kicking and spunky as ever) the sister of Mary Jane and George L. All part of a group who found a beautiful area in Michigan that they loved and found a way to make a living and build a life, with hopes of passing it on for generations! This is the true history of this city, they need to be remembered and respected as well.

They did a great job, but the leaders that came after like Shay and the current council don't have a clue who these people are. If you want a true historical landmark then you need to include Tamarac Village, Carl's TV repair, and Tamarac Sportfishing Dock, where "fishing is fun in Ludington".

The people that truly helped build this city are the 5 marinas that I spoke of, then the COL built their marinas where the only intention was to try to crush us. This has been fought since Mary Jane owned but the city/state /dnr has fought and has won due to deep pockets.  Sad but so far its working..........

If they would not of did what they did back then would fishing had been what it was? Would there be salmon in Ludington? If you doubt check your history, or scroll up in this feed.

[jfc123]

https://www.facebook.com/Water-Defense-157397244377316/

Please click this link!

These are the same people coming to help Flint. Maybe with the PM Bayou and the disgust of the west end project we can get them to help us also. People need to speak up and respond to these and in numbers! Share, share, share!