Situation not hazardous, officials say; heavy rains blamed

Monday, June 26, 2000

By Steven Hepker Staff Writer

A dam used in the cleanup of a June 7 gasoline spill in Blackman Township burst Sunday, flooding some yards on Burt Street.

Township police responded to the area because of reports of gasoline odor at about 7:15 p.m. They discovered a dam had broken near Lansing Avenue.

It was used to limit water flowing into the Tobin Schnieder drain, on the east side of Lansing Avenue. The stream overflowed for a time and flooded some yards.

Heavy rain Saturday night and Sunday caused water to build up behind the dam, flooding basements west of Lansing Avenue.

"My basement was wet, and then it got deeper and deeper, and we have carpets and furniture down there," said Ruth Marsh, who lives on Morrill Road.

Officials said the dam break and flooding did not cause hazardous conditions. This morning, water was rushing quickly through what had been a holding pond on the east side of Lansing Avenue. Water had subsided from back yards overnight.

A Wolverine Pipe Line Co. underground pipe burst on June 7, leaking about 70,000 gallons of unleaded gasoline that made its way into a county drain. Officials dammed the stream near Lansing Avenue and skimmed gasoline off the surface.

Gary Klepper of the state Department of Environmental Quality was at the scene this morning, discussing whether to rebuild the dam. Absorbent booms remain on the stream to catch any remnants of gasoline that might have remained in the swamps between Lansing Avenue and the pipe break, about three quarters of a mile west.

The DEQ also has been monitoring the air in the area for benzene, a potential carcinogen. Klepper said there generally have been no detectable odors in recent days.

By coincidence, top brass of the DEQ will meet with Jackson area citizens today from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, just north of I-94 at U.S. 127. Such meetings have been held periodically around the state for three years, and it's Jackson's turn.

All division chiefs and the agency director will be at the open house, and they will answer questions about any environmental concerns, Klepper said.

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-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), June 27, 2000