
LANSING, Mich.
— It’s an unusual job for a sewer cleaner, one that’s likely to draw the ire of some city residents.
In fact, many of the city’s residents are calling it a public nuisance.
And it’s not just a sewage problem.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is investigating whether there is a risk of a toxic pollutant in the water, after a report revealed high levels of chloramine in the Lake Lanier sewage treatment plant.
Chloramine is a neurotoxin and is considered a danger to human health.
The DEQ said chlorine levels in the sewage treatment plants were up to 4,000 times the federal limit.
Residents in two neighborhoods near the sewage plant have filed a lawsuit, saying chloramine contamination from a chlorine-laced water source is unsafe.
The lawsuit says chloramine is toxic to human cells.
The suit says chloramines are found in untreated wastewater from Lake Laniers treatment plant in Detroit and Flint, Mich., as well as in Detroit sewer treatment plants.