NOV18 W63 Ground -Water Contamination and Legal Controls in Michigan GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1691 Ground -Water Contamination and Legal Controls in Michigan By MORRIS DEUTSCH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 1691 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1963 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director The U.S. Geological Survey Library has cataloged this publication as follows: Deutsch, Morris, 1925- Ground-water contamination and legal controls in Michi­ gan. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1963. v, 79 p. maps, diagrs. 24 cm. (U.S. Geological Survey. Water- supply paper 1691) Bibliography: p. 72-75. 1. Water Pollution Michigan. 2. Water Laws and legislation Michigan. I. Title. (Series) For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, B.C., 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract-.-.._____________________________________________________ 1 Introduction._____________________________________________________ 1 Previous investigations.._______________________________________ 3 Acknowledgments _____________________________________________ 4 Summary of ground-water occurrence in Michigan.____________________ 5 Ground-water contamination in Michigan ____________________________ 9 Contaminants introduced from the surface._______________________ 12 Injection into aquifers____________________________________ 13 Sanitary wastes at Elkton______________________________ 14 Fuel oil at Holt_________________________________.___ 15 Well reconditioning at Mount Morris.___________________ 15 Air-conditioning return or recharge wells _________________ 15 Dug wells_ ___________________________________________ 17 Contaminated surface waters____________________________ 18 Ponded storm water at Bad Axe___________________ 18 Flood water at Saugatuck-_________________________ 18 Backflooding at Minden City- ______________________ 19 Drain wells___________________-______________-____ 19 Disposal or storage in the zone of aeration.___________________ 21 Phenols---__-__-_______________-__________-_.___-_--- 23 Creosotes at Reed City___________________________ 23 Charcoal wastes at Mancelona______________________ 24 Refinery wastes at Alma__________________-_-__--- 24 Picric acid at Lansing._____________________________ 25 Electroplating wastes__________________________________ 25 Chrome-plating wastes at Douglas___________-_-_--_- 26 Chrome-plating wastes at Bronson___________________ 26 Gasoline at East Saugatuck..___________________________ 29 Oil-field brines in Isabella County--______-_-_____--_--_- 30 Untreated sanitary wastes______________________________ 30 Septic tank effluent_____________________________-__--_- 31 Detergents in Muskegon County.______-_-______---- 33 Sewage in the Manistique-Gulliver area___________--- 34 Hepatitis epidemic at Posen_ _______________________ 34 Spilling or spreading on the land surface____________________ 35 Pickle brines at Edmore______-_______-____-----________ 36 Milk wastes at Trenary________________________________ 36 Raw liquid fertilizer near Holland-____________--_-__---- 37 Land-surface dumping__ _________________,___---___---- 37 Salt used for snow removal__ ________________--__-___--- 37 Manistee County______________________________-__- 38 Kent County____________________________.______ 38 Chromium compounds contained in land fill at Grandville. _ 39 Percolation of leached nitrates into shallow aquifers.__-_-_- 39 in IV CONTENTS Ground-water contamination in Michigan Continued Contaminants introduced from the surface Continued Page Leaking sewers or pipelines_________________________________ 41 Sanitary sewer at Lansing industrial plant._______________ 41 Leaking municipal sewers at Sturgis_____________________ 41 Pipeline sealant at Ionia__________-_-___-__----_______ 42 Induced infiltration or leakage of contaminated surface waters _ _ 42 Discharged softening-plant effluent in Paris Township._____ 42 Discharged mine water at Ironwood-____________________ 44 Sewage contaminated creek at Norway.__________________ 44 Bacterial contamination in collector system at Grand Haven. 45 Stagnant floodwaters at Benton Harbor __________________ 45 Insecticides, herbicides, and windblown wastes ________________ 46 Chrome-laden dust in Wyoming Township._______________ 46 Contaminants induced from natural sources-....__________________ 4? Vertical leakage through open holes____________-_____________ 49 Brines from oil wells and test holes at Lowell.____________ 49 Saline water in the Saginaw Lowlands _________________ 53 Saline water in the Grand Rapids area___________________ 54 High-chloride water at Lansing_________________-__-_-.__ 55 High-chloride water at Grand Ledge and Eaton Rapids.___ 56 Overpumping.____________________________________________ 56 Intrusion of high-chloride water_________-__-_--_____-___ 57 Royal Oak area___________________________________ 57 Flint area_-___________________--_---__-_-___-_-__ 58 Intrusion of high-sulfate water._________________________ 59 Pontiac __________________________________________ 59 Holland. _________________________________ 59 Manistique _______________________________________ 60 Dewatering operations___________________---_-__------_____ 60 Sulfide water at Flat Rock____________________________ 60 Channel deepening or dredging__________-_----__---___--____ 62 Legal safeguards against ground-water contamination in Michigan______ 64 Actions of the Michigan Supreme Court-_________________________ 64 Act creating the Water Resources Commission.__ ________________ 65 Conservation laws_______________________________---__-----__-- 66 Act 190 of the Public Acts of 1889-_-___-__-__-_-_________ 66 Act 107 of the Public Acts of 1905_________.-__-__-____-_ 66 Act 326 of the Public Acts of 1937____________.____-____--_ 66 Act 61 of the Public Acts of 1939.-__-____-_--_-_________ 67 Public health laws_________________________________________ 68 The Drain Code of 1956___________________.___----------___ 68 Waterworks and sewerage system law__________---_-_-_--____ 68 Regulatory powers of the State Health Commissioner-_________ 69 Federal interest-__________________-______---______---------_-_ 69 Summary and conclusions._________________________________________ 70 References cited_______________________-____-_____-_-_------------_ 72 Index_ ____________________--_-__-_----------_.__---------------_- 77 CONTENTS V ILLUSTRATIONS Page FIGURE 1. Geologic map of Michigan_____-_.-_____-._________---___ 6 2. Several types of rock interstices- -_-__-__--_-------__--.-_ 8 3. Hydrogeologic conditions of aquifiers- _____________________ 9 4. Reversal of interformational leakage by pumping___________ 10 5. Hydrologic cycle---_______--____--____----_-----_------ 11 6. Distribution of cases of ground-water contamination in Michigan _ _________________________________________ 13 7. Spread of contaminants injected through wells _____________ 14 8. Movement of contaminants to a nearby pumping well- ______ 16 9. Floodwater entering well_ _______________________________ 19 10. Drainage of a pond into an aquifer. ---__--____----_----__ 20 11. Percolation of contaminants through the zone of aeration____ 22 12. Lines of flow from recharge mound- -_-_-----__--------_-_ 29 13. Movement of contaminants from a septic tank through lime­ stone or dolomite-_______-__-_---___----_--.-----_---__ 33 14. Contamination by leaching of surface solids-__-____ ________ 35 15. Leaching of contaminated land fill by floodwater and precipi­ tation. ______________________________________________ 40 16. Contaminated water induced to flow from a surface source to a well- -__-________________-_--__-____---_-__-_-__ 43 17. Mode of entry of windblown wastes--____-___-___--_--_-_- 48 1 8. Interformational leakage through open holes -_-__-_____-___ 50 19. Southeastern Michigan areas of mineralized shallow water--- 51 20. Southern Peninsula fresh- and saline-water interface relations. 52 21. Fresh-water aquifer contaminated by saline water from under­ lying rocks___-___-___-____-____-_--__-____-----_----_ 58 22. Migration of saline water caused by dewatering______ _______ 61 23. Migration of saline water caused by lowering of water levels in a stream. __________________________________________ 63 GROUND-WATER CONTAMINATION AND LEGAL CONTROLS IN MICHIGAN By MOKKIS DEUTSCH ABSTRACT The great importance of the fresh ground-water resources of Michigan is evident because 90 percent of the rural and about 70 percent of the total popula­ tion of the State exclusive of the Detroit metropolitan area are supplied from underground sources. The water-supply and public-health problems that have been caused by some cases of .ground-water contamination in the State illustrate the necessity of protecting this vital resource. Manmade and natural contaminants, including many types of chemical and organic matter, have entered many of the numerous aquifers of the State. Aquifers have been contaminated by waste-laden liquids percolating from the surface or from the zone of aeration and by direct injection to the aquifer itself. Industrial and domestic wastes, septic tanks, leaking sewers, flood waters or other poor quality surface waters, mine waters, solids stored or spread at the surface, and even airborne wastes all have been sources of ground-water con­ tamination in Michigan. In addition, naturally occurring saline waters have been induced into other aquifers by overpumping or unrestricted flow from artesian wells,