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Wayne County Illicit Connection Program

What is the Wayne County Illicit Connection Control Program?

The Wayne County Illicit Connection Control Program was developed to identify and eliminate potential and existing discharges of pollutants into storm sewers from all commercial, industrial and institutional facilities and also to investigate occurrences of discharges that have been discovered or reported. This program was developed as a cooperative effort between Wayne County and local communities. In the Middle Rouge Subwatershed for example, there is a program to eliminate illicit connections that degrade water quality for canoeing. Facilities that have improper connections to the storm sewer system are informed that they are violating federal, state and local building codes. Wayne County attempts to obtain corrective actions. Enforcement actions can be pursued by each community through local plumbing and building codes.

How did the Wayne County Illicit Connection Control Program begin?

In a watershed as large and intensely urbanized as the Rouge River, it is important to focus illicit connection program efforts in geographical areas with the greatest potential to have inappropriate discharge to storm sewers, surface waters or the ground. The target areas in Wayne County s program are named drainage service areas (DSAs) and define the specific area serviced by an individual storm sewer. The procedure for selecting a DSA for illicit connection investigation has been an evolutionary process.

Criteria used to select the first target areas were based on available water quality information, MDEQ complaint history and generalized land use. This process relied heavily on personal knowledge of state, county and municipal staff. In 1989, the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) developed a process for prioritizing DSAs associated with 430 known outfalls within Wayne County. Criteria included: outfall size, DSA acreage, land use, water quality information (including complaint history), and frequency of priority businesses. Table 1 lists the prioritization of facilities in the screening process.

Table 1: Wayne County Illicit Connection Control Program Prioritization of Facilities

Priority I Automobile-related businesses/facilities and heavy manufacturing

Priority II Printers, dry cleaners/laundries, photo processors, utilities, paint stores, water conditioners, chemical laboratories, construction companies, and medium-light manufacturing

Priority III Institutional facilities, private service agencies, retail establishments, and schools

 
Last Updated: 1/2/02

Please address all comments and suggestions about the contents of this Web page to rougeweb@co.wayne.mi.us.

The Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project is funded, in part, by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grants #XP995743-01, -02, -03, -04, -05, -06, -08 and C-264000-01.