(WWJ) – Macomb County has a sticky situation on their hands -- muck on the shores of Lake St. Clair – and, they want to get rid of it.
The county is getting help from the federal government to determine what's causing all of this muck – scientifically known as Lyngbya – that's growing along the shoreline.
County officials on Tuesday unanimously approved $200,000 of funding for a joint two-year study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to see if it poses any health risks, how it grows and how to clean up the mess on shorelines, canals, boat wells and some beach areas.
The county says something has changed in the lake's ecosystem over the last 10 years to cause all of the unwanted and unsightly growth.
"This muck is along the shoreline, it's impacting some beach areas, it's impacting some canals, boat wells where this stuff sort of gets in and just creates this huge mat," Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller told WWJ.
Miller says residents living along some areas of the lake have complained about all of the muck.
"We need to understand what is causing it, what its makeup is, and are there preventive steps and maintenance steps to eradicate it or to maintain and live with it," Miller said, per a press release.
Miller says the study will help determine whether the Lyngbya is being caused by zebra mussels, combined sewer overflows, climate change or something else.
Miller's office reached out to the USACE last year to propose federal officials consider the Planning Assistance to States grant program to fund a study.
Each year of the 2-year study will cost an estimated $200,000 and will be split evenly between the USACE and Macomb County. The county's funding share was approved unanimously by the county Board of Commissioners recently as an allocation to the Lake St. Clair Clean Water Drainage Board.
"Lyngbya is attacking our lifestyle, and property values and is dangerous. We do not know if it is a health risk but this is of great concern," said county Commissioner Barbara Zinner of Harrison Township.
The mats increase in density, with new layers created as Lyngbya is driven to the shoreline during winter and early spring by onshore winds. Hiring a contractor with dredging experience to dredge out the muck and dispose of it can be very expensive. But the success of such a cleanout is short-lived, as the muck tends to return to pockets along the shoreline where it collects very quickly, according to county officials.
The study will involve field sampling of Lyngbya, identifying Lyngbya hot spots and conditions that drive its spread, collaboration with researchers to develop knowledge and practices to better understand the ecological and human health risks and more.
