HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – What used to be a common occurrence along the Grand River in Ottawa County was back … but is gone again.
A No Body Contact Advisory for the Grand River, issued on Wednesday for waters from a mile east of the US-31 bridge in Grand Haven to where the river flows into Lake Michigan, was lifted on Friday afternoon. The precaution came following the release of sanitary sewage from the Grand Haven/Spring Lake Sewer Authority’s water treatment plant, the amount of which was not disclosed. The advisory was lifted after repairs at that facility were completed and the waters were retested. Nearly two million gallons of sewage were released through a hole in a wastewater pipe at that plant in late February.
Such cautions were issued more frequently in past years due to overflows of sewage from the Grand Rapids wastewater treatment plant upstream, but renovations that were completed at that facility two years ago have virtually stopped that problem. However, as Kristina Wieghmink of the health department reminded the public in a Friday statement, “All natural bodies of water contain microorganisms that can cause illness no matter how clean they appear.”
-Gary Stevens
