Ludington lives matter also!

[jfc123]

I found this:

http://www.9and10news.com/story/31085600/ludington-lead-levels-high...

It is very ironic that Shay points at the DEQ as an authority when it suits him. The recent report for the PM bayou still not acted on and it was published in Sept of 2015. The major mess happened in 2008 and is still there, not one thing done in almost 8 years but chop down a few trees. And another raw sewage breakage in 2012. These are just the ones we know of, how many more have happened?

If the bayou didn't matter then why close beaches? If the bayou flows there then it also flows to the drinking water intake. I don't have proof but I would not be surprised if the waste water plant was slowed to a crawl and treatment added near the input in the lake a few days before the scheduled tests that Shay speaks of in this story. 18 dollars for a bottle to test water, that seems high. The DEQ has said the bayou is bad so why are these bottles not supplied to everyone within at least 1/2 mile radius around the bayou? Also, the DEQ is making a plan for Flint, what about Ludington?

Ludington lives matter also!

All I can say is it may not be the number one cause but is a part of a whole city infrastructure. Just because there are private businesses that compete with the city and is located in a part of town that may not house the most wealthy of the city, does not mean we can or should be treated as a dump, or toilet.

Also to add that the fish we all love spawn and swim in these waters. Why not just clean it up?

Wealth is just something that measures someone in what they own in dollars, not what they are worth as a human. Most people I have encountered are wealthy when you count heart, soul, and how they treat others. How do these "money wealthy" people sleep at night or enjoy time with their families knowing what they are doing disregards and harms fellow Americans?

[XLFD]

Of particular note regarding the 480 page BRA Report on the PM Lake Bayou was the notable indifference they put on the widespread contamination found in the sediments of the bayou bottom.  The only precaution they put on it was that if the bayou was ever dredged they would need a special landfill for it. 

This shouldn't be a shock.  According to this 2013 report on the Ludington Torch about Ray Karboske Jr. taking out an injunction to prevent the city from stirring the poison pot: 

These are not unfounded worries, Ray contends.  At his own expense, he had his own area surveyed by Trace Laboratories recently at six spots, including one within a few yards of the existing bridge, and the results were  dismal.  According to the survey, he was advised that each tested site was very contaminated, much of which may have been as a result of the 2008 rupture of the sewer main serving 90% of Ludington households during the June flooding of that year, and dumping untreated sewage into the inlet until it was fixed.  From that same storm alone, plenty of other dangerous materials also found its way into that area with all the runoff coming from nearby contaminated sites.  That inlet has been pretty much untouched since then.

 

According to Ray, he has talked with City Hall and discovered that they plan to have the pilings of the bridge pulled out and then replaced in the rehab of the Washington Avenue Bridge.  This greatly affects the bottom of the inlet in the immediate area, and will blanket the surrounding areas with the sediment they'll uproot and displace.   He was told by Trace Labs, that due to the test results he got back from them, he shouldn't do anything that would disturb the bottom of the lake inlet, because of the release of the toxins contained at the lake bottom.  One should wonder whether the city employee who also is a Trace Labs executive, will step forward and protest the proposed protocols to be utilized in this construction.

For those who don't know, LFD Lieutenant Bruce Pelletier founded and runs Trace Labs.  It was totally against his character not to help thwart the proceedings, being that the removal of the pilings and the pounding in of the new pilings sent these sediments further out into the PM Lake and Lake Michigan.

[jfc123]

The need for special landfill is no surprise, the state made us do that when our underground storage tanks were removed years back, even though they did not leak, just an added layer of bureaucracy and more peoples pockets to fill.

The boat that sank and was pulled up and the Washington Ave bridge that was rebuilt a few years back (2013) are very important reasons that they should be made to dredge and earn their waste water permit back and pledge to maintain this valuable waterway that has closed beaches in the past. Yes if left unsettled it wont move but that would mean no more discharge from the waste water plant, no rain or storms to happen and no boats driving through with propellers stirring up debris from the bottom.

As it stands the properties that surround the bayou are basically worthless due to the mess that is in the bayou. How are you going to sell property that is contaminated? Ask any real estate agent in Flint how business is. The only thing that would help is to start the clean up and deal with it because it is only getting worse. If you look at where all of the road is in the bayou and the flow from the drain then follow it just look in the water and see how bad it is filled with weeds. Progressively worse since 2008 but now accelerating at a rapid pace. All those weeds and road left in the bayou are not allowing it to properly discharge in to Lake Michigan, it is remaining making the east end especially worse. Weeds are growing so fast it has become basically swap water and as years pass will only spread further out.

Yes it is very personal to me, we have a once thriving business that is the history of fishing in Ludington that is pretty much closed because the City of Ludington chose to use monies available elsewhere and ignore every effort since. Sure is not what our state political leaders are saying on tv now. I can only pray that a divine intervention occurs and they clean the mess they made on us. I don't even think Walmart would treat its competitors as bad. I remember a bumper sticker my grandma used to sell, "Fishing is fun in Ludington", well not so much anymore unless you have big money!

We all also need to get the city to re-assess all of our property values because we are all paying WAY to much for property with little value since dredging is not happening.

[stump]

I wonder how much contaminants are on the west side of the bridge. I see the indian fishing boat sunk over the weekend and is now in the process or has been removed from the bottom of the bayou channel.

[XLFD]

The aptly named "Sandy" got sandy at the bottom of the Pere Marquette Lake for the second time in three years and it's rescue was observed by the USCG, NOAA and other agencies as noted in this Mlive report.  It was a popular show yesterday.

The coast guard's main concern was the pollution aspect and getting it up before there was any oil leakage or other.  But none of the far ranging reports on the episode (from Detroit and even Seattle) mention anything about the possibly worse pollution aspect of all that contaminated sediment of the lake bottom infiltrating the fishing boat.

[Willy]

Either the owners of Sandy are totally incompetent regarding how to winterize their vessel or this is the unluckiest boat on the lake or someone is sabotaging this boat.

[AQUAMAN]

The operators are Levi Stone and Darren Mitchell. Neither one has worked that boat for quite a few years. The LRBOI, Little River Band of Ottawas Indians of Manistee Casino, still owns the boat I believe. I don't remember this particular boat being the one sunken in 2013, I thought it was Tommy Battice's tug boat also owned by LRBOI. Either way, the boat is basically abandoned at present, and the bilge pumps probably died with the battery failure. The boat is also a circa 1930's era, about 85 years old, and steel could be rusted away now. It really is contingent on the LRBOI to remove and scrap the boat if they aren't going to use it anymore imho. Pere Point Condo's also should pay for it's salvage, and any cleanup, as they gave their permission to put it on their property to begin with now.

[jfc123]

SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, PLEASE TELL THESE POLITICANS THAT FLINT IS NOT THE ONLY CITY WITH PROBLEMS! You should not have to be a predominantly black community to get the government to pay attention to your issues that are worse than theirs! WE ARE ALL AMERICANS!

[jfc123]

The recent meeting and the lack of acknowledgement by the COL proves that they have no concern or worry about anyone in the city they serve other than the few elite. Not addressing any issues. 4th ward pm bayou turned into basically a landfill.

I AM NOT GIVING UP! LUDINGTON LIVES MATTER!

Do I need to dress and sing like Beyoncé to get any attention? It is time for the city to take care of its very important infrastructure and insure that the water you drink, swim in, water your garden with, and eat fish out of is kept as clean as can be. This is the only way to insure our kids/grandkids have a good life to look forward to.

THIS REALLY IS A NO BRAINER! The water from the bayou flows out to the intake, who can say it does not?