The fight for an augmentation well on Waumegah Lake continues on two fronts, both through an appeal to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and a lawsuit in Oakland County Circuit Court.
The double-strategy action by the Waumegah Lake Improvement Board came after an informal attempt to get Oakland County Circuit Judge Rudy Nichols to reverse an April 1 MDEQ letter denying the request for the well.
Charles Dunn, an attorney representing the lake board, said the latest MDEQ decision flies in the face of a 1997 ruling from Nichols establishing a legal lake level of 1,049.9 feet.
‘It was our belief that, by not issuing the permit under the grounds we were ‘increasing the lake size,? that was contempt, because the judge had set the lake level,? Dunn said.
That move was unsuccessful because the lake board was not technically a party to the original case, so the group decided to pursue the ‘contested case hearing process? through the MDEQ.
‘The permit denial we have is not a final decision from the agency,? Dunn said, and he believes the department’s own written ‘guidance? on augmentation wells shows the denial as improper. ‘It’s our belief they denied a permit we did not apply for.?
Dunn described the lawsuit, to be heard by Circuit Judge Edward Sosnick, as a ‘parallel? move intended to expedite the process. The ‘complaint for declaratory relief? essentially asks the court to rule on the essential facts of the case, again with emphasis on the MDEQ’s allegedly improper jurisdiction in the matter.
‘That is a means to go into court so we don’t have to wait around for the [MDEQ] appeal,? Dunn said, noting the MDEQ process could take from three months to a year.
The state agency was expected to file briefs in reply to the lawsuit by early this week.
The lake, which straddles the Springfield-Independence township border, has been a topic of debate ? and legal action ? since 1996, when a retention dam failed.
Since then, a number of lake owners have attempted to see the lake level restored, and have used Nichols? 1997 ruling as leverage.
In the meantime, some residents claimed the proposed augmentation well would threaten groundwater throughout the area for the benefit of only a few. That claim was denied by lake board proponents, and a Jan. 6 public hearing at the Springfield Township hall drew a standing-room-only crowd to debate the issue.
Although MDEQ officials admitted they have no jurisdiction over groundwater impact, they ruled against the well based on wetlands concerns, saying the result would be ‘significantly higher than the historic or natural high water mark of the lake.?
Dunn said the history of the project ? and the ‘temporary nature? of the depleted lake ? have muddied the definitions.
‘The state does not have the authority under the regulations to interfere in this project,? Dunn said. ‘The people around Waumegah Lake, represented by the lake board, merely want to put the condition back the way it was. This is not an enlargement of the lake.?