11

Wastewater Administrators Conference

Teresa Seidel, Director,

Water Resources Division

seidelt@michigan.gov

22

Water Resources Division

Protect and Monitor4 Great Lakes and Lake St. Clair11,000 inland lakes76,000 river and stream miles6.5 million acres of wetlands74,000 acres of coastal dunesGroundwater

For swimming, fishing, drinking water, and aquatic ecosystems.

33

Water Resources

Update

Division Restructure

Staffing and Priorities

PFAS in Biosolids

High Water Levels

44

Division Restructure

• Became EGLE

• Office of Great Lakes Rejoins

• New Field Section Created

• Aligned Programs for Success

• Emerging Pollutants Section

55

Staffing and

Priorities

• Onboarding 33 new staff

– 6 NPDES to eliminate backlog

– 12 PFAS

– 3 Water Withdrawal

– 9 Resource

– 1 Enforcement

– 1 Biosolids

– 1 Surface Water Assessment

66

PFAS Biosolids Strategy

• Develop and implement a PFAS biosolids strategy in Michigan which takes a thoughtful data driven science-based approach to the issue of PFAS in municipal biosolids until such time as federal criteria is developed by the EPA.

• Evaluate biosolids land application sites and associated risks as necessary.

• Review current science and work collaboratively with stakeholders, EPA, and the Science Advisory Panel to evaluate risk and develop appropriate guidance and criteria.

• In conjunction with IPP Initiative efforts, reach equilibrium in program status that allows majority of WWTPs to maintain option to land apply biosolids. This is contingent on identifying and controlling sources within wastewater collection systems and on the ability to develop the guidance above.

77

Statewide Biosolids Study

42 POTWs/WWTPs (Fall/Winter 2018)– Sample Effluent, Influent, and Biosolids

• 20 Largest

• Various Medium and Small WWTPs – 3.0 – 9.0 MGD ( 8 WWTPs)

– 0.5 – 3.0 MGD ( 8 WWTPs)

– 0.2 – 0.4 MGD ( 5 WWTPs)

• Various Treatment Processes

• Some with no Industrial Users (and no IPPs)

– Screen Land Application Fields from Select WWTPs (2019)

• High/Low Concentrations

Evaluate Presence of PFAS in Municipal Wastewater and Biosolids in Michigan:

88

Statewide StudyBiosolids Results

99

When is it considered industrially impacted?

4 WWTPs with PFOS concentrations near or above 1,000 ppb

• No regulatory criteria to compare against

• WRD determination – suspension of residual management program based on:– Review of land application studies with high PFAS

concentrations (Decatur, Alabama)– Literature review of known concentrations of

PFAS in biosolids – Small to mid-size plants highly influenced by

industrial user inputs– Conservative approach - in the interest of public

health and protection of resources while additional information can be obtained

Biosolids/Sludge

1010

Biosolids Land

Application

Field Screening

22 Fields Screened – 3 WWTPs with PFOS >1,000 ppb

– 5 WWTPs with PFOS <100 ppb

• Sampled: Soils, groundwater, tile drains, swales, ponding/perched waters, and surface waters

• Developed field prioritization process to screen "worst case scenarios" for each facility

• Range of soils and application history

• Residential wells sampled at one location

• Lapeer reports posted on MPART web site

• Reports pending for remaining fields

1111

2020 Next Steps

• Establish interim PFAS biosolids concentrations screening levels; these levels can be adjusted periodically as new evaluations are completed.

• Expand biosolids monitoring requirements to select WWTPs.

• Continue to evaluate land application sites as necessary.

1212

High Water Levels

Grand River 50% of annual flow discharged in 2 months.

Wettest 1, 3, and 5 year period since began recording more than 120 years ago.

Lake Michigan is up 5.5’ since 2013.

Expect Great Lakes to be up 12-18” over Spring 2020.

Annual precipitation 36”; already over 25”.

1313

1414

High Water Levels

1515

1616

Historical Water Levels

1717

Infrastructure Concerns

• Letter sent to NPDES permittees last week via GovDelivery to request vulnerability analysis to minimize impacts:– WWTP bypasses

– Backflow into collection systems

– Increased infiltration and inflow

– Discharges from storm water BMPs

1818

1919

Michigan Department of

Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy

800-662-9278www.Michigan.gov/EGLE

Sign up for email updates

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Follow us on Twitter @MichiganEGLE