Monday, December 27, 2010

UPDATE - Big blue construction crane on Shiawasee River

Update on the Big Blue Crane construction project near Eagle Road and Railroad

Response from Michigan DNRE rep, Melanie Foose:
The work that you are observing is being conducted by Enbridge and is part of the 6B pipeline that runs from Chicago, through Kalamazoo and up into Ontario.  Several portions of this line have required repair in Oakland County.  Prior to the work, I had walked this site of proposed work for Enbridge, as well as other sites in the county.  I had some concerns regarding the stream, the high quality wetland surrounding the stream – wetland that interestingly enough extends up the hill from the river with a likely groundwater seep, and also some concerns over certain rare species.  We did end up issuing a permit for the work – modified from their original proposal.   I expect that the work is close to finished or even completed by now, as they were hoping to have it done before Christmas.
-Melanie Foose

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/45239277

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/45239643

Line 6B is a 30-inch, 283,000 barrels per day (bpd) line transporting light synthetics, heavy and medium crude oil from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario. It is part of the Partnership's Lakehead System. The 1,900-mile Lakehead System is the U.S. portion of the world's longest petroleum pipeline and has operated for more than 60 years. The system is the primary transporter of crude oil from Western Canada to the United States, spanning from the international border near Neche, N.D., to the international border near Marysville, Mich., with an extension across the Niagara River into the Buffalo, N.Y., area. It consists of approximately 4,700 miles of pipe with diameters ranging from 12 to 48 inches; 60 pump station locations; and 66 crude oil storage tanks with a capacity of about 12.1 million barrels.
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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Mid Shiawasee River Report

This report gives highly detailed info concerning the Shiawassee River

Midshiawasee-River-report_334332_7.pdf (application/pdf Object)

An Example:
Rainfall Frequency Atlas of the Midwest, Bulletin 71, Midwestern Climate Center, 1992.



































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Every 2 years, there is 50% chance, of getting a heavy thunderstorm dumping
2.42 inches of rain within a 24 hr period in the region.
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If the weather man says we got 3 inches of rain in a 24 hr period, it's pretty significant news.
Back in August 2007, over 5 days, this area of Michigan received 5.12 inches of rain.-
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Mid-Shiawassee River Watershed  - Hydrologic Study - 9/30/2010 -  page 30
The Shiawassee River watershed is both a snowmelt-driven and a storm-driven system. In a storm-driven system, rainfalls during the growing season generate flood flows. Snowmelt-driven systems are usually less flashy than storm-driven systems, because the snow pack supplies a steadier rate of flow. However, a rain-on-snow event, where rain and snowmelt simultaneously contribute to runoff, can produce dramatic flow increases. The runoff from the rain and snowmelt also likely occur with saturated or frozen soil conditions, when the ground can absorb or store less water, resulting in more overland flow to surface waters than would occur otherwise. Although the Mid-Shiawassee River watershed is likely more of a snowmelt-driven system, the increasing imperviousness of urbanizing tributary watersheds may shift those watersheds toward more storm-driven systems.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Panoramio - Photo of Blue Manitowoc Crawler Crane

Panoramio - Photo of Blue Manitowoc Crawler Crane

Came across an Industrial Crane near the intersection of Eagle Road and the Railroad tracks in Holly, Michigan

http://picasaweb.google.com/WilliH2O/ConstructionCraneShiawasseeRiver#


Hopefully they pulled all the proper permits for construction.

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National PipeLine Mapping Service shows pipelines and operators in Oakland County
http://www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/default.htm

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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Good news - Shiatown Dam cleanup to ocur Spring 2011

Report due to Byron Lane at DNRE from Jeff Hollington at MLBFTA this week-- before Christmas 2010 !

Jeff Huntington,
Property Analyst
Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority
517.636.4898 phone
huntingtonj@michigan.gov

Jeff apparently has contractor bids to clean up the mess in the spring of 2011.
MLBFTA apparently wants no part of owning a dam - demolition removal perhaps...........
The real decisions are made via the good knowledgeable people at the DNRE.

There will be plenty of eyes on the project in 2011 as the Shiawassee River evolves.
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Shiatown Dam Google Earth Image April 2009


(please click on the picture with your mouse to see enlarged view)

Notice the date of the Google Earth Imagery for this satellite view :  April 1, 2009

My picture taken and posted on Panoramio in April 2010 confirms the logjam still exists.
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'Small ice jam' on Shiawassee River may have caused flood warning, but no damage seen | MLive.com

'Small ice jam' on Shiawassee River may have caused flood warning, but no damage seen | MLive.com

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Who owns the ShiaTown Dam on the Shiawassee River ?

Technically the Shiatown Dam belongs to MLBFTA - Jeff Huntington is the Property Analyst

MLBFTA - michigan land bank fast track authority ---- the group that gets tax foreclosed properties

Any real work on water dams gets done by the engineers, consultants and experts at the DNRE in Michigan.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/44860767


Contact the MLBFTA



Jeff Huntington
Senior Property Analyst
517-636-4898
huntingtonj@michigan.gov







NWS Hydrologic Information Center

NWS Hydrologic Information Center

Flood warning issued for Shiawassee River near St. Charles, Chesaning | MLive.com

Flood warning issued for Shiawassee River near St. Charles, Chesaning | MLive.com

Monday, December 13, 2010

DNRE - legal stance

Since 1999, the Shiatown Dam has been owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  It acquired the Shiatown Dam as a tax-reverted parcel.

Other reports claim the dam is owned by the MLBFTA michigan land bank fast track authority.

The water in FRONT of the dam are public waters, open to anyone. Hence logjams could be removed.
Physically climbing upon the dam "might" be a liability issue, since it's a 19ft drop onto the concrete below.


While the DNR does oversee fisheries protection and recreation in Michigan,
its mandate does not include the operation or maintenance of dams. 

The agency is guided by the seven-member, governor-appointed Natural Resources
Commission and is funded by state general fund revenues, federal funds and a
variety of restricted funds.

Sharon Hanshue  is the Legal Services Coordinator from the DNRE in Lansing, Michigan Area
She can be reached at 517-335-4058

Operating out of the Office of Science and Policy, she coordinates litigation on behalf of DNRE
and provides central Exec level assistance for rules and policy development, directors orders,
interagency agreements and related work.

The dam's owner is expected to keep the structure in good repair - the dam safety act is Part 315 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, PA 451 of 1992 and is administered by the DNRE - Water Resources Bureau.

Byron Lane is the program manager for dam safety.He can be reached at 517-241-9862
http://www.linkedin.com/in/byronlane


Byron is Chief of the Hydrologic Studies and Dam Safety Unit of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environmental (DNRE) which regulates the safety of state regulated dams and provides flood discharge estimates, hydrologic modeling services and drought flow estimates to internal and external customers.

These are the KEY players to getting dams cleaned up along the Shiawassee River

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Responsibility for Massive Mess in Shiawassee County ?

Who decides along the Shiawassee River to clean this up - city, county, state ?

























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(click on the picture for a full screen view in high detail)

It is visible on Google Earth satellite views of the Shiawassee River


http://www.panoramio.com/photo/44860767
 (click on the link above to see latitude/longitude)

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is responsible for keeping the Shiawassee River clean ?

 

Townships, Charter Townships and Cities of Shiawassee County

15 Townships, 1 Charter Township, 5 Cities

Cities of Shiawassee County

5 Cities, 6 Villages, 22 Unincorporated Places

Monday, December 06, 2010

December kayaking on the Shiawassee

Nothing quite like a December kayak paddle on the Shiawassee River.

http://bit.ly/ShiSnow

Doug Lanyk, Steve Hoffman and myself logged 17 miles on the river between Harmon Partridge Park in Owosso, Michigan and Ditch Road Park near Chesaning, Michigan

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Friday, December 03, 2010

Argentine bridge on Lovejoy Road now open

The Lovejoy Road Bridge in Argentine over the South Branch of Shiawassee River
is now open for traffic after 8 year closure.

It is located between Sheridan and Duffield roads and covers
a 70-foot span over the river.

http://www.mlive.com/fenton/index.ssf/2010/12/lovejoy_road_bridge_in_argenti_1.html

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