One of the main reasons I ran for office is to protect Lake St. Clair. I grew up on this lake, and I love it. But the lake is in trouble because Oakland County keeps dumping its sewage into waterways that flow through Macomb County into Lake St. Clair, and the pollution is causing all sorts of problems.

I recently sponsored legislation (House Bill 5917) to fine Oakland County either $5 million or 20 cents per gallon (whichever is greater) each time it dumps raw or partially treated sewage into our lake. I also introduced a compromise plan (HB 5918) that would require Oakland County to work together with Macomb County on a long-term plan to fix the problem before the state can issue a new environmental permit to Oakland County. I worked on that compromise bill closely with Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, and I’m proud to say that I’ve also organized a large group of Republican lawmakers – including even some from Oakland County – as co-sponsors on that compromise bill.

My preference is that we work together. But the penalties bill is the hammer if Oakland County rejects the compromise plan.

This has been a problem for decades, and for decades, Oakland County officials have basically ignored the concerns of the people of Macomb County. So I was fully expecting them to do what they usually do: deny that there’s a problem. Which of course they did. But they also took it a step further by calling a bunch of reporters together for a press conference where they declared “our sewage isn’t hurting your lake.” They also complained about the fact we introduced legislation targeting this problem.

But even in that press conference, despite their denials, they acknowledged two mechanical issues did cause recent illegal dumping.

Why do I see this as a good thing? Because it’s clear we have their attention. They are clearly rattled that we introduced legislation. And now the media is paying attention to this issue in a way they haven’t before, and we are building a strong coalition of lawmakers to finally solve the problem.

Lake St. Clair is right in our backyard; we must protect it.