Sewage testing grants are sought out
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A contractor pulls a sewage sample from one of seven locations in Clinton Township as part of a pilot project by the Macomb County Public Works Office to detect the presence of coronavirus in wastewater.
The Macomb County Public Works Office hopes to expand its testing of sewage to detect the virus that causes COVID-19 after the state of Michigan announced it will offer $10 million in grants to local governments to launch such testing.
In recent months, the Macomb County Public Works Office has conducted a pilot project by pulling samples from sewers in seven locations in Clinton Township. The periodic samples have been sent to a Michigan State University lab for testing, and results will be released when the data is complete.
Scientific studies have shown that testing of sewage could detect the presence of the coronavirus in areas within individual communities before some infected residents may develop symptoms or as they await the results of their own test to determine if they have contracted the disease.
The county Public Works Office and the Health Department have jointly submitted a new application to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), seeking grant funding to expand testing of sewers in Macomb County.
“I’m happy that the state is following our lead and will commit significant funding and partner with local governments in this effort to detect the extent of the presence of the coronavirus, using this innovative method. It’s a good expenditure of funds,” county Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said. “My office has been on the cutting edge of sewage sampling in Michigan. With our experience thus far, we have offered to take on a leadership role and share the knowledge we have gained this summer, with other municipalities that may land some of the state funding for their own local sewage sampling and testing pilot projects.”
In Macomb County, the goal is to provide the information to the Macomb County Health Department
to identify potential hotspots of the novel coronavirus in the county, prevent potential outbreaks and to make contract tracing and other efforts more efficient and effective to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
The ongoing sewage sampling conducted in Clinton Township by the Macomb County Public Works Office is funded by a $1 million allocation from the $152 million in CARES Act funds provided directly to Macomb County by the federal government.
The new EGLE and MDHHS grant program is funded by Michigan’s allocation of federal money under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. The state has invited interested local governments with wastewater treatment systems to apply. State officials expect to establish a standardized and coordinated network of monitoring systems operating by Oct. 1.
EGLE said it will coordinate sample collection, lab analysis, data reporting and communication with local monitoring teams during the state’s three-month pilot program, and provide project support to participating local health departments, including how to integrate local wastewater data with other types of COVID-19 surveillance and public health agency responses. Sewage samples will be sent to Michigan State University for lab testing.
“Since nearly 70 percent of Michigan residents rely on public wastewater systems, this COVID-19 surveillance program has the potential to provide critical, life-saving data on COVID-19 transmission within a large portion of Michigan’s population,” EGLE Director Liesl Clark said in a statement released by the agency Wednesday. “The ability to predict outbreaks on college campuses, at nursing homes, prisons, and other congregate care facilities could be game-changer in our mission to slow the spread of this virus.”