FACTS ON
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION FIVE
1 N. Wacker Dr. Chicago, Illinois 60606 312-353-5800
The Michigan District Office
The Michigan District Office represents Region V in water pollution
control programs in the State of Michigan. The MIDO staff, consisting of
engineers, chemists, bacteriologists, biologists, field, and clerical
personnel, conducts water quality surveys and investigations of industrial
and municipal discharges, as well as surveillance programs on the Great
Lakes and connected channels.
Close coordination of Federal and State pollution control activities
is maintained through continuous contact with the Michigan Water Resources
Commission staff and the attendance of MWRC monthly meetings by the MIDO.
Inplant surveys and investigation of industrial plants throughout
the State are conducted by the MIDO, sometimes as a team effort with State
survey crews. The purpose of these surveys is to obtain information to
be used in determining the discharge characteristics of each plant and its
effect on the receiving water. The information is used to limit harmful
discharges through Federal permit programs or enforcement actions.
Municipal discharges are also monitored for violation of water quality
criteria. Records of both industrial and municipal dischargers are reviewed
for compliance with implementation schedules.
Water quality measurements are made of the boundary waters in the
St. Marys, St. Glair, and Detroit Rivers for the U. S. -Canadian International
Joint Commission (IJC) set up to administer boundary waters under a 1909
treaty. Data on these waters are combined with similar information col-
lected by the Province of Ontario and the State of Michigan in an annual
report to the IJC on water quality of the boundary waters.
Bottom materials in Michigan harbors that are to be dredged by the
U.S. Corps of Engineers are collected and analyzed. Those areas classi-
fied as polluted must be disposed of in diked enclosures or on shore.
Michigan District Office members respond to spills of oil or other
hazardous materials into the waters of the State of Michigan. The MIDO
acts as on-scene commander, cooperating with the State of Michigan on
inland waters, acts as advisor on navigable waters where the U.S. Coast
Guard is on-scene commander, and is a member of local and international
EPA 905-F-73-019
-------
response teams. The function of these response teams is to minimize the
damage from spills and to take approporiate action where Federal laws
are violated.
In addition to these specific assignments, the MIDO keeps contact
with Federal, State, and local agencies in the field of water pollution
control, and as a source of information for the general public on Federal
pollution control programs.
------- |