Antifreeze, shopping carts, and literally the kitchen sink found in Macomb County water drains

MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - It is the job of the Macomb County sewer drain maintenance crew to go below the surface - into the unknown.

"We are just out here going through our hundreds and hundreds of drains that we have in the county, trying to keep them going as best as we can," said Candice Miller.

The problem is, you never know what you might find, said Miller the Macomb County Public Works commissioner.

"We have found an old safe with a hole blown in it, we found an old car in one of our drains, we found recliners in our drains, and literally, the kitchen sink," Miller said.

Recently, old shopping carts were dumped in a drainage creek near a subdivision at 21 Mile and Card Road.

"The amount of debris that we found in our drains has been enormous," Miller said.

Discarded shopping carts are one thing, but there was so much else found in the sewer system that could impact the drinking water.

"We just had about 30 to 40 gallons of antifreeze that somebody dumped in a drain in Clinton Township," Miller said.

That pollution if not caught in time, makes it way to the lake.

"All of it goes into Lake St. Clair which is our drinking water supply, literally for millions of people," she said.

And that could be costly as clean up for this falls on the taxpayer, but sometimes someone else has to pay.

"We've had a number of cases where we've tracked it back to a particular business or person and we assess them cost," she said.

And the people we spoke with living near the shopping carts say the size of their drainage creek has doubled in recent years - causing water to back up and flooding can occur.

Which makes it even more important to get a handle on illegal dumping. If you notice something that needs their attention call the 24-hour hotline at 877-679-4337.