Overview:
- Michigan's 2024 State of the Great Lakes report underscores efforts to enhance water quality and ecosystem health in the Detroit River, focusing on monitoring toxic PFAS chemicals, phosphorus, and bacteria.
- The report stresses the necessity for funding to clean up contaminated sediments, promising economic and public health benefits.
- Yet, it overlooks ongoing pollution from BASF's Wyandotte site, which continues to discharge polluted groundwater into the river. Advocates urge more action to curb agricultural phosphorus pollution and safeguard public health from airborne toxic algae.
The Detroit River’s contaminated sediments are a key focus of Michigan’s 2024 State of the Great Lakes report, which highlights ongoing cleanup efforts to improve water quality and ecosystem health. The report also touts state and local efforts to monitor for toxic PFAS chemicals, phosphorus and bacteria in the river and in Lake St. Clair, along with strategies to reduce phosphorus runoff contributing to harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie.
Ellen Vial, Detroit program manager for the nonprofit Michigan Environmental Council, said the focus on the river’s contaminated sediment could support a request for funding in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
“I think this budget cycle could be a way for Whitmer to cement her environmental legacy,” Vial said. “Redeveloping or remediating the contaminated sediment in the Detroit River is a great opportunity politically and also one that would be great for people in Metro Detroit.”
Vial added that cleaning up the Detroit River could boost the economy as well as the environment and public health, potentially making it more palatable to the Republican-controlled Michigan House during the budget process.
Research shows that cleaning up polluted areas in the Great Lakes is tied to an increase in housing prices.
Despite federal funds being available for cleanup, the EPA has yet to secure the required non-federal match for sediment cleanup.
The Detroit River contains an estimated 3.5 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment, and Michigan would need to provide approximately $100 million in matching funds to secure federal dollars for cleaning up the Detroit and Rouge rivers—an effort that could cost as much as $1.47 billion.
In October, the nonprofit advocacy group Friends of the Detroit River launched a collaborative effort to advance remediation efforts and released a request for proposals to select a consultant to lead the initiative.
EGLE spokesperson Jeff Johnston said the agency was working with Friends of the Detroit River as part of the collaborative, which he said looks to “identify and engage with potential industrial and other nonfederal partners” to help with sediment remediation.
However, EGLE representatives did not immediately respond to questions about whether the agency was prioritizing the cleanup of Detroit River sediments or advocating for cleanup funding with the Legislature.
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Detroit River toxic cleanup continues to stall
In May 2022, environmental advocates and other interested parties gathered in Dearborn to discuss the state of the Detroit River. While a range of issues were on the agenda, the main event was the lagging cleanup of the 3.5 million cubic yards of toxic sediment remaining in the river from the post-World War II industrial…
Dave Dempsey, senior adviser for the nonprofit For Love of Water, was less optimistic that the report signaled a push for a Detroit River cleanup. He said that the State of the Great Lakes reports were originally intended to be report cards on environmental progress but have instead become a “cheerleading exercise” for state leadership.
“I’d be surprised to see a major push for more (Detroit River) funding,” Dempsey said. “It costs money, which is always hard to find in government, and the amounts of money that are needed to clean up the Detroit River are astronomical.”
He estimated that the total cost of cleanup could be in the billions and pointed out that the report ignores the ongoing pollution from BASF’s Wyandotte site, which has been sending an estimated 60 gallons of polluted groundwater per minute into the Detroit River. This groundwater contains PFAS chemicals, mercury, arsenic, napthalene, benzene and other chemicals and some of it has a pH as high as 13.22, a level considered to be hazardous waste.
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Complaint alleges Michigan regulators ‘aided and abetted’ BASF’s criminal water pollution in Wyandotte for decades
A state employee has filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s office, alleging state regulators failed to stop BASF from releasing toxic chemicals into the Detroit River from its Wyandotte facility over five decades.
An Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson previously told Planet Detroit that pollution from the site could prevent or delay federal funding for sediment cleanups.
Farms still driving Lake Erie algal blooms
The report also touts progress towards reining in phosphorus pollution to reduce harmful algal blooms in western Lake Erie. The state has a goal of reducing phosphorus levels by 40% from a 2008 baseline by the end of the year, but advocates say this work has largely stalled.
In 2014, extremely high levels of toxic blue-green algae shut down the water supply for 500,000 people in Toledo and southeast Michigan for several days.
Mike Shriberg, professor of practice and engagement at University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability, acknowledged progress on cleaning up discharges from wastewater treatment facilities but said the state needs to do more to address agricultural phosphorus pollution. Phosphorus is a component of many fertilizers that can run off of farm fields into waterways, feeding algae and driving toxic cyanobacteria blooms.
He said more work is needed to help farmers change their practices to reduce the amount of phosphorus that runs into waterways.
Dempsey added that legislation to tighten permits for large livestock operations that contribute to phosphorus pollution is needed. He noted lawmakers face political challenges in fighting the agricultural lobby, which has opposed changes to state rulemaking that could rein in farm pollution.
“They’re kind of like the NRA of the environment,” Dempsey said of the agricultural lobby, noting that the Michigan Farm Bureau has a large political action committee. In 2023-2024, the Michigan Farm Bureau PAC donated over $170,000 to political candidates, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets.
The Michigan Farm Bureau did not respond to Planet Detroit’s request for comment.
More sampling needed to protect public health, advocates say
Water contaminants PFAS and E. coli are at the center of state water monitoring efforts in southeast Michigan, which target the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and Lake Erie. Testing also focuses on phosphorus in sediments, invasive quagga mussels, and cyanobacteria responsible for toxic algal blooms, as well as impacts on the aquatic food web.
The initiative, led by EGLE, the Department of Natural Resources, and county health departments, aims to tackle pollution risks to public health and ecosystems.
Shriberg said the state should also be looking at the threat from toxic algae not just in waterways, but in the air. Researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research at the University of Michigan are working to understand if airborne toxic algae could exacerbate asthma and other respiratory issues.
“That’s a horizon of research that’s critically important and the early results from that are disconcerting,” Shriberg said.
Johnston, with EGLE, did not say if the agency or other groups would be sampling for airborne toxic algae.
MEC’s Vial said the top priority should be sampling water around Wyandotte’s municipal water intake in the Detroit River, where the chemical company BASF is discharging polluted groundwater just 1700 feet from the city’s intake.
Testing at the intake has found PFAS, although not consistently. Planet Detroit previously reported that the state and Wyandotte were not regularly testing for some contaminants found at the BASF site, including cyanide, arsenic and sulfate.
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Contaminated water likely not poisoning city, officials claim
State and federal officials noted plans are in motion to rein in the estimated 72,000 gallons per day of contaminated wastewater flowing into the Detroit River upstream of Wyandotte’s drinking water intake.
Johnston said that the Wyandotte intake is sampled weekly for cyanotoxins during the harmful algae bloom season and monthly during the off-season. Wyandotte performs required quarterly monitoring from its raw water intake for PFAS, volatile organic compounds and mercury. It monitors finished water for these contaminants on the same schedule.
Gary Wilson contributed reporting to this story.