PINCKNEY, MI – The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued a violation notice on Friday, Oct. 13, to Rover Pipeline for discharging water containing petroleum into wetlands near Pinckney.
Residents first observed the leak on Tuesday, Oct. 10, according to the Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline citizen group.
A representative from the DEQ visited the site Wednesday evening, and then Rebecca Taylor, from the DEQ’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division, returned to the site on Thursday to test the water, according to Taylor’s field notes.
Taylor smelled gasoline in the water, and she determined the source was a nearby former gas station on Cedar Drive, according to the DEQ’s violation notice and Taylor’s records.
Due to the petroleum contamination, the company needs to apply for a special permit and to treat the water prior to discharging it, according to the DEQ violation notice.
Also, the water withdrawal system should be registered with the DEQ prior to operating because it has the capacity to pump more than 100,000 gallons a day – or 70 gallons per minute for a pump running continuously, the DEQ said.
"Finally, Rover’s dewatering activities may be exacerbating the spread of contaminated groundwater," the DEQ violation notice states.
To remedy the situation, the DEQ asked Rover Pipeline LLC to cease any unauthorized discharges, submit an application for the proper permit and register the water withdrawal.
Matthew Borke, a local resident and member of the citizens group against the Rover Pipeline, was initially frustrated with the response time to the spill.
"There is no movement to contain [the spill], no movement to stop it," Borke said in a press release issued by the Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline on Thursday.