Village Seeks to Reduce Pollution in Lake Michigan

As the summer heat draws residents to the luminescent Great Lake in their backyard, with projected to reopen in mid-July, Kae DonLevy hopes to intercept the crowds with some information about pollutants and a gentle nudge to keep the lake clean.

With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, the village recently hired DonLevy to coordinate an education campaign, the Shorewood Waters Project, addressing on “non-point” sources of pollution. This refers to harmful substances that mix with storm water on its way to the river and lake.

“When it rains, leaking cars, chemicals on our lawn, dog waste — all these things just run right off right into the lake and river, and go right to our drinking water source,” DonLevy said. “People just don’t think about it, and they need to.”

But the medicine will come with a spoonful of sugar. Though the project just kicked off Thursday night with educational handouts at a concert in Hubbard Park, DonLevy plans to organize events like kayak trips down the Milwaukee River, and boat rides on the Lake Michigan.

“Another goal is to get people out and enjoying the waters,” DonLevy said. “We want to create a sense of pride about how we’re working to protect water quality.”

Public Works Director Leeann Butschlick said she hopes Shorewood will be a leader in reducing pollution to the lake.

“People are becoming much more aware of how the choices they make impact their larger world, rather than just what’s in front of them at that very moment,” Butschlick said. “We have two great resources, one at each door. I think it’s important as a village to give residents the tools to understand the parts that they play.”

In addition to educating the community on keeping the lake clean, the village seeks to determine how human waste is getting into Lake Michigan in places it shouldn’t be.

In 2009, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee researchers found that human waste was entering stormwater sewer pipes in Shorewood, and entering Lake Michigan untreated through outfalls meant only for storm water. 

The village applied for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant to both find the source, and launch the education campaign. They received a $240,000 grant in late 2010.

Butschlick said their contractor, National Power Rodding Corp., plans to begin investigating in the next two weeks.

To find the location of contamination, Butschlick said the workers will likely add colored dye to a sewage pipe and follow its path downstream.

“It could be an unhappy coincidence that there’s a crack where a storm sewer pipe crosses under the combined sewer, and the sewage is leaking into the other pipe,” she said.

Butschlick said she expects preliminary results from that study by late August.

Project updates and events will be posted to the Shorewood Waters Project page in the Public Works section of the village website.