Sewage spill grows

Thursday, February 07, 2008 GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

GRATTAN TOWNSHIP -- A sewage spill into Big Pine Island Lake dumped about 83,000 more gallons of treated waste into the water than originally estimated by the system's operator. Marc Middlestadt, who is the licensed operator for Sierra Consultants, said Wednesday 90,000 gallons flowed into the lake, not 7,000 gallons, during a mechanical failure that began Jan. 15 and went undiscovered for almost two weeks. Despite the increase in treated sewage, Middlestadt said there is little health risk associated with the spill. The lack of human contact with the water in winter will allow any remaining bacteria to dissipate.