River Raisin Abused by Factory Farms and Faulty Private Sewers

The warm weather and frequent strong rainfalls make it obvious what otherwise can only be detected by water tests - our River Raisin is used as a garbage disposal by upstream industrial dairy farms whose cows produce as much feces as all people within the City of Boston. Rainstorms and flash flooding flush the massive amounts of liquid manure that are sprayed on fields through the soil, greatly assisted by drainage tiles and drain them through ditches and tributaries into the River Raisin. Manure lagoons on the farms are often filled to the rim and are easily overflowing in such weather conditions and follow the same path. Compared to this industrial onslaught, failing private sewers are only contributing miniscule to the problem. The hot weather and high nutrient concentrations in the river are now allowing coliform bacteria from the guts of the cows and bowels of people to grow exponentially in this water causing such awful sights as shown below.

Large foam beds on Wolf Creek as seen from the Kiwanis Trail bridge on June 21 2021.