Study to look at aging sewer system at SANG

Air base may retrofit a facility or build new one

Harrison Township officials tonight are expected to approve a feasibility study for construction of a pump station to replace an existing run-down facility at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

The proposed work is the latest in an effort to bolster facilities at the 3,600-acre airfield and enhance the site’s sustainability. Selfridge, home to the 127th Wing, has an agreement with the township to provide sanitary sewer service.

The Air Force will pay $31,000 for the threemonth study to focus on choosing one of three options for the sewage service to various buildings on the base.

“The sewer system serving the base consists of a series of gravity sewers and small pump stations that convey flow around and through the base,” David Nummer, vice president of Wade Trim Associates, the Taylor-based engineering firm for Harrison Township, wrote in a memo.

According to Nummer, sewage is collected and pumped across the Clinton River to a receiving sewer on Chart Street, where it is then conveyed to the Prentiss pump station, to the Coleridge pump station, and finally out to the Macomb Interceptor Drain Drainage District.

The pumps deliver flow to what is known as Building 501, where it is collected and pumped across the Clinton River to the township.

Building 501 was the original wastewater treatment plant that used to serve the base but has since been decommissioned. It now serves as a holding tank and pump station to deliver flow to the township sewer system.

“Building 501 is in very poor condition and in need of replacement,” Nummer wrote in the memo.

During meetings with base officials, Nummer came up with three possible options for replacing the pump service. Those are:

• Construction of a new pump station located adjacent to Building 501.

• Retrofit an existing pump station (known as Building 40) to pump sewage flow from the township sewer system on the south side of the Clinton River. This would involve construction of a new force main from building 40 to the township sewer at the north end of Chart Street. Since Building 40 would pump flow much farther than it currently does, an evaluation of the pumps is needed to determine if they are adequate or would need to be replaced.

• Modify the force main from Building 40 to connect to the existing township-owned force main from the Bayhaven Pump Station (located on North River Road, just west of Bayhaven).

The township board is expected to authorize the study to take place in March and come up with an option to use by June.

The move follows efforts by Michigan’s congressional delegation to have the Air Force secretary replace the A-10 squadron at Selfridge with a longterm fighter mission. Congressional leaders stress the state’s four seasons training and manufacturing environment and local support for the Harrison Township base, which supports nearly 5,000 jobs.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer included money for SANG in her budget recommendation for Fiscal Year 2024 spending plan.

The governor allocated $11.5 million for the Selfridge Air National Guard Base to improve and maintain infrastructure at the base to continue to position Michigan to compete for next generation aircraft and future fighter missions.