How Complex Is the Proposed “STEP” System?
LAYING NEW PIPELINE IS JUST THE BEGINNING
- 29 Miles of New Pipe. The system will require installation of nearly twenty-two miles of new sewer main pipe, and approximately seven miles of connecting pipes.[i]
- Variable Lot Sizes, Slopes, Construction, and Configuration. The system is further complicated by the variability of construction, lot size, and lot configuration along the route. Unlike a typical suburban subdivision, in which houses are close together and construction, lot size, and lot configuration are similar, the proposed TLCSA system will be connected to homes built over the course of 150 years, some with old systems, others with modern systems, and others with unknown systems. Existing wastepipes and tanks vary from parcel to parcel. Lot sizes vary in size and slope. Installing new tanks and connecting such varied properties to a sewer main will require improvisation and re-engineering, 979 times over.
- Tunnelling under Portage Lake Channel. This system even requires tunnelling under waterways, since the main pipeline is routed through the Portage Lake channel to Lake Michigan. This will require direction drilling through unknown soils, and installation of intermediate pump stations unnecessary in other projects.
- New Tanks, Valves, and Pumps in Every Yard. At each of the 979 new connections, existing septic tanks will have to be removed and replaced with a new storage tank, pump, and boundary valve kit. The TLCSA’s “Questions from the Public” document states as follows:
[1] Based on a Google Maps distance calculation of the sewer main, and an assumption of 40’ of pipe for each of the 964 connections.