“Not in my backyard” — Homestead sewage issue seeps to the surface

By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Preceding the creation of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 1979, and long before tumultuous conflicts over golf courses and land swaps divided the local community, The Homestead was given sewage easements on two parcels of land totaling 12.9 acres just north and east of the sprawling resort.

The larger parcel is currently being used for spray application into a woodland lot — the other for spray application onto a cleared field planted in alfalfa, as a means of sterilizing the sewage before it seeps into the groundwater and nearby Lake Michigan. But the existing application system and locations run afoul of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality standards, and have since 1998.
After maintaining a low profile for 25 years, The Homestead’s waste problem has bubbled to the surface and threatens to dominate local politics this fall. The local branch of the National Park Service is expected to release an Environmental Assessment by the end of September, paving the way for a public comment period of at least 30 days and at least one public meeting facilitated by the NPS. The Assessment will analyze alternatives for the sewage disposal and its impacts in response to The Homestead’s proposed Irrigation Management Plan that “calls for clearcutting and substantial earthmoving work,” according to a public letter written by the NPS a year ago. That plan also includes “subsequent planting of both parcels with grasses that take up the nutrients in the sprayed effluent more efficiently.”
Meanwhile, concerns over what the spray is doing to local groundwater prompted the formation this summer of a non-profit group called Advocates For Safe Drinking Water And Lakes. AFSDWAL is made up of homeowners on Sunset Shores and Thoreson Road — the areas potentially most affected by The Homestead’s sewage, if it isn’t brought up to code or if no alternative is reached.
“The impetus for this was our discovery of the sewage problems at The Homestead,” says the group’s president, Pamela Murphy. “We became concerned, and didn’t want to tackle this as individuals, so we all tested our groundwater.” AFSDWAL didn’t uncover any nitrate levels over the allotted limits stipulated by the Environmental Protection Agency, but testing will continue, periodically, into the fall, following the bulk of The Homestead’s spraying this summer.
Alternatives that might be entertained in the NPS Environmental Assessment and ensuing public comment period might include installing an underground seepage system on the existing parcels, relocating the easements to new locations on Park land and installing an underground system there, or, as the Michigan Land Use Institute’s Johanna Miller suggests, asking The Homestead to do on-sight treatment. The MLUI may also facilitate a public meeting once the Environmental Assessment has been released to the public.
The main problem with The Homestead’s current sewage system is that “groundwater flow from (the parcels in question) appears to intersect potable water wells on private property to the west,” at Sunset Shores, according to the NPS. But the DEQ’s standards would be more lenient if the groundwater “vented”, or emerged below ground, into the surface waters of Lake Michigan without intersecting those wells.
“No one in The Homestead would be directly affected by malfunctioning septic systems because they don’t have private wells,” says AFSDWAL’s Murphy. “But we have private wells and we are downhill from the system. We don’t want to be rabid-mouthed environmentalists, we just want to look at the facts and get the issues resolved. What we’re saying is that we want The Homestead to be a good neighbor. We’ve gone through many issues with them before, and we’ve been able to resolve them all.
“It would be win-win situation for The Homestead and for the National Park Service to have a drainage system below ground,” Murphy added.
The Advocates For Safe Drinking Water And Lakes asks 1) “that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality act immediately to assure that The Homestead takes steps to obtain a valid groundwater discharge permit; 2) that the Glen Arbor Township reject applications for building permits for new housing units (using current septic lagoon system) until The Homestead is in compliance with state laws; 3) that the MDEQ enforce through fines or sanctions any further noncompliant activities by The Homestead; 4) that The Homestead demonstrate for a significant period of time (at least three violation-free years) that it can meet all operational standards of the permit and that all discussions and actions regarding exchange of easement cease until all these actions have been completed to satisfaction.”
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (local branch of the National Park Service) can be reached at 326-5134 or by emailing SLBE_EA@nps.gov. The Homestead resort’s main telephone number is 334-5000.