Officials announce testing of mysterious muck on shoreline of Lake St. Clair
(CBS DETROIT) - Samples of a strange substance that has been accumulating on the shores of Lake St. Clair Shores will be studied to determine what it is and why it's forming.
Mike Gutow, the founder of an organization called Save Lake St. Clair, said the muck substance, also known as lyngbya, has been forming on the shoreline for at least 10 years.
Gutow said he first noticed the substance shortly after purchasing his waterfront home in St. Clair Shores more than 10 years ago.
Gutow also said he's researched the bacterial growth since first discovering it. Although he supports federal, state and local officials studying the lyngbya, he said the state has already determined the substance contains human waste.
"Because we've already had this tested and proven by the state, if there is sewage overflow runoff, it is helping cause this," Gutow said.
On Thursday, Macomb County Public Works Director Candice Miller, alongside the Army Corps of Engineers, The Macomb County Commissioner's Office and Congressman John James, took a boat ride with the U.S. Coast Guard to collect samples from the shoreline in order to send off to a lab.
"Because it just keeps coming back, so we know we have to figure out what is this? I mean I've been on this water my entire life, and this isn't like duckweed or something we all grew up with. This is some new thing, I don't know what it is," said Miller.
Gutow remains convinced he knows what this muck actually is. He said it is no coincidence the locations where the muck is most common are also very close to the locations where the sewer overflows are for Macomb and Oakland counties.
"Why is the majority of all the stuff is happening near or at the exit point of where any sewage runoff enters into the lake? And right now in Harrison Township, we are at the epicenter because the sewage overflow that runs into Lake St. Clair, is majority dumped right over there by the spillway in Harrison Township," Gutow said.
Gutow showed CBS Detroit several sites along the Lake St. Clair shoreline where this muck has destroyed property values and accumulated to the point of swallowing boat docks in some areas.
Moving forward, Gutow is thrilled this muck is finally getting the attention it needs because he believes it represents a major health crisis because Lake St. Clair is the drinking water source for many communities in the state.
"If this study is what's needed to get the state to actually do something ... I'm behind it 100%," Gutow said.
The study, which is funded by both the Macomb County Commissioners Office and the Army Core of Engineers, is expected to last two years. The reason for the study lasting two years is for researchers to gather samples from different seasons and climates over a period of time.