Polluted Bayou

[XLFD]

If you haven't heard of the contamination down at the Pere Marquette Lake Bayou (that body of water primarily between the Washington Street Bridge and Madison Street) you are probably new to the Ludington Torch and to the one-sided discussion going on down at the Ludington City Hall. 

Back at the first January meeting of the city council I brought up the pollution, getting cut off while describing it and had it ignored by officials who may have still been recovering from New Year's celebrations.  But that didn't seem to be the case, for the city-sanctioned DEQ study describing the taint was brought up at the next two meetings and subsequently ignored by a council more intent on passing a resolution to contest recently passed state law forbidding them to issue propaganda with taxpayer money before an election.  Or by trying to rezone another possibly contaminated area.

So in order to get a wider audience to the problems, I coaxed singer Linda Ronstadt out of her retirement  to do a cover that may allow others to become acquainted with a problem that is right here in the center of town, and which may point to why our county had the highest rate by far in having elevated levels of lead in our kids' blood back in 2013, the year that area was disturbed greatly by reconstructing the bridge.

POLLUTED BAYOU

I feel so bad as if I lost my mind
I can't focus at any time
Since I had a swim in the slime
Polluted Bayou

Slaked in nickel, slaked in lead
Wading in just up to my head
Water's fine, city manager said
Polluted Bayou

I'm gonna hack some phloem
Just like them
Polluted Bayou
Where the folks grow sick
Human wastes are thick,
Polluted Bayou

Where those fishing boats
With their keels a-coat
With zinc and mercury
That familiar old smell
Raw sewage, hell
From the drains I see.

Gonna be exposed once again
Gonna be with carcinogens
Camp in an oxygen tent
Polluted Bayou

Slaked in nickel, slaked in lead
Wading in just up to my head
Water's fine, city manager said
Polluted Bayou

I'm gonna hack some phloem
Just like them
Polluted Bayou
Where the folks grow sick
And the weeds are thick,
Polluted Bayou
Where those fishing boats
With their keels a-coat
With zinc and mercury
That familiar old smell
Raw sewage, hell
From the drains I see.

[Instrumental Interlude]

Oh, that boy of mine
In the grime
Where Silver and

Hydrocarbon lie
Oh, some sad day
Gonna eat away
His entire inside
Well 
He'll never rebound
Taint's not just in the ground
Polluted Bayou

[Jasper]

The sad thing is the MI DEQ failed to protect the citizens of Flint. So how can the DEQ be trusted?

[AQUAMAN]

The DEQ Jasper, is just another agency of terror and contradictions when it comes to being fair to Michigan citizens. Of course when it comes to their fellow agencies and officials on public payroll, their actions usually get lost in the shuffle of everyday cover-ups, and more lies. We citizens are just supposed to sit down, shut up, and realize that's the realities of life here.

[Jasper]

Aqua, the reality is the MI DEQ is supposed to protect the citizens of Michigan, but rather the agency simply ignores the citizens. The government at work. Problem Is government whether locally, state, or federal has far too many agencies, and neither of any of these agencies know what the others are doing

[XLFD]

The DEQ had some serious accountability issues in water issues as far back as 2010 according to the EPA audit of them, but nothing remedial has since been really done with them.  Read the DEQ report shortcomings in the link here, that just came out yesterday:  http://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/2016/02/17/issues-deq-cite...

[jfc123]

Is this on ITunes yet , I want to download it, haha. Nice work Xlfd, very creative but also very on point. Want to play it from a speaker this summer to those within earshot to advise all!

The destruction/construction of the Washington bridge must have stirred up so much at that time, constant vibrations sent into the ground. Not just east of the bridge but imagine what was disturbed west of the bridge. The pollution all 5 marinas in the are had to suffer with! That was the same year that "emergency" dredging was done at the city marinas?

http://www.masoncountypress.com/2013/02/12/ludington-marina-may-get...

Guess you need to be city/state /DNR owned to matter. I CANT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE SAME YEAR THEY DREDGED THIER OWN MARINAS FOR 200-300K!! 5 local marinas all suffering during this project and the city rushes to upkeep their own in a mission to put their knee to our throats and squash us out of business. I wonder of those 5 and the other land owners, how are you all doing now? Did your property value go up? Did your tax assessment go down? Can we even sell if we wanted to?

I had someone once tell me of a master plan that started at the bayou and lead, (no pun intended) out to the coast guard station. Making all of this a historical district, with fancy shops, hotels, museums, and marinas all planned by the COL council and the big money people in the area. All done in the backroom that they are known for doing many of their deals. Doing it by oppressing us all to the point of selling for pennies on the dollar, if we could hold on that long. I thought this was far fetched, how could this be? Our government would never do this, they are for the people right? WOW, was I wrong, that smart guy was correct and it is playing out much the way he said it would.

The time has come for things to be done the right way for not just the people and property owners around the bayou but also all 5 marinas I have referenced. We all employ some and their lives and families mater also. Everyone that docks/charters/visits or just come there to fish deserve this city to respect them and make things right! If not we need to re-name it the P-U BAYOU or the CREAMY CORNERS SEWAGE OUTLET!

[XLFD]

Thanks jfc, and you bring up a very good point about making it known to those in the area.  The City of Ludington has a launching dock that is rarely used abutting the bayou and even though the sediment on their beach is suspect, unwary kids of the Fourth Ward and thereabouts can wade and swim in the water if they have a care to.  Is the sign-happy city going to put a warning of what their past environmental negligence to the area has wrought to that public access point? 

[Willy]

X, this has got to be one of the funniest things you have posted. Brilliant.

[AQUAMAN]

It costed a lot more than $20K to dredge the COL city marina, more like over $150K. They must have got some matching grants again, along with taxpayer marina funds in the bank. P-U Bayou should become a locals' fav. song in the near future. And, I don't even want to get on the subject of the "bridge to nowhere" and the "Dowland St. fiasco". Both those projects shut-down routine tourist traffic to the five marinas for two whole seasons, destroying our incomes for two whole years. When the infamous Richard Laaksonen went to city council to complain about the loss of his charterboat incomes, he was addressed with denials, arrogance, and insults. Upon trying to rebuttal this at the end of the meeting, he was told to sit down, shut up, and live with it, cause his time for public comment was over. He didn't look happy when he left, and I never saw him return again to date. ALL CHARTERBOAT traffic and incomes those 2 summers were devastated!!!

[jfc123]

From what I found it was 200-300k to dredge. Funny thing is the whole list is for city/state properties only. I wonder where they can get 1.2-1.8 million to upgrade their city marinas while we sit in their sewage and waste water spewed w/o a permit?

For that same 1.8 million or maybe a bit more they could clean the bayou through the 5 marinas and level the  playing field for all! Its time that they make things right or we need a class action solution.

What else could they do? Maybe build a big wall that runs from the PM lake east down Dowland? Sad!

Richard and all of the ones like him since need an apology and things made right!

[AQUAMAN]

The "level playing field" never existed, wasn't ever meant to, and never will be. How does any one or group of business owners compete with funds from the State of Michigan and it's taxpayers? The LMM, (Lud. Municipal Marina), alone cost over $1Million in 1980 to establish, over 35 years ago, and millions of $$ since to maintain. The Harbor View Marina cost about $5Million to establish, and millions of $$ since to maintain. Both have lavish amenities, state of the art facilities, lavish bathrooms and fish cleaning stations, and loads of employees related to city officials and their cronies to wait on people hand and foot 15+ hrs. a day. Add to that municipal tax and overhead exemptions and fixed rate contracts for gasoline and diesel fuel, state of the art pumps and tanks that monitor and remove water constantly for purity, lavish pump-out devices, the list is endless. If they had tried this with other sectors of private business, there would have been Hell to pay, thru numerous lawsuits for unfair competition. Private sector marinas should have made their stand long ago, and won over and over. As it stands now, they already devastated the marina businesses in Michigan forever, esp. in Ludington, where over 220 seasonal slips are built with public monies. All this to compete and destroy old established docks where seasonal fees could never hope to keep up, and numbering less than 100 docks for the most part.

[jfc123]

That flood devastated us, took out many docks and shut down 3/4 of our business. The lack of clean up and the flow from the drain has made the other 1/4 of us unusable due to extreme heavy weeds that we can not control. There is cause now and the recent MDEQ report shows this and also points out fault of the city. We all need to unite to try to make the field level, otherwise what are we left with, a big tax bill?

Again, anyone who would like a copy of the report I can send but it is too big for email, needs to be snail mail on a dvd or sd card.

Also, who knows someone that can make Xlfds song happen by auto tune or whatever, I would be willing to pay for it?

[mad mike]

Can anyone put up a warning sign, I mean its just a sign right.