An illicit discharge is the introduction of polluting materials into a pipe that drains to surface water or the dumping of polluting material that can impact surface water. Examples found in the Rouge River watershed include toilets connected to storm sewers, laundry waste discharging to a drain, swimming pool backwash water discharging to a storm sewer or situations where polluting material can move over land to a storm sewer.
Illegal discharges may also take place, such as the one responsible for the large oil spill on the Rouge and Detroit Rivers in 2002. Careless and intentional acts of illicit and illegal dumping are not only expensive to remedy, but they can also have long term affects on the health of the river.
Friends of the Rouge volunteers and members have been at the forefront of discovering and reporting illicit discharges, leading to them being stopped and cleaned up. A team collecting bugs in the city of Wayne came upon hydraulic fluid leaking into the river from the fire station, reporting it quickly so it was stopped and cleaned up. Twice, volunteers found a pipe leaking raw sewage into the river in Birmingham, leading to it getting stopped and addressed. In one visually stunning case, member and volunteer Bill Eisenman woke up to find a bright green river behind his house (see photo). It turned out to be green tracer dye being used to detect sewer lines that in this case were clearly connected directly to the river.
Please keep your eyes and nose open when you are around our rivers, lakes and streams and report anything unusual using the hotlines on the below linked Tip Card.
If you see an illicit or illegal discharge, please report it immediately. If the dumping is going on while you are there, call 911.
For more important numbers to call and other signs of illicit discharge, see FOTR IDEP Tip Card.
24 Hour Hotlines
Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly the DEQ)
Pollution Emergency Alerting System (PEAS)
800-292-4706
Call EGLE PEAS first (Listed Above), especially if not during normal working hours. Then call the appropriate county.
Oakland County: 248.858.0931
Washtenaw County: 734.222.3880
Wayne County: 888.223.2363
National Response Center: 800.424.8802
Is This Natural?
Click on each photo to enlarge for more info or download the PDF. If you are not sure if something in the river or water body is natural, please do still call to report it!
Algae
Bacteria
Foam
Pollen
Whiting
