George W. Kuhn Retention and Treatment Basin

The George W. Kuhn Retention and Treatment Basin is a stormwater management facility in Oakland County, Michigan. During heavy rains, it sanitizes and stores the combined sewer flow from 14 cities in southeast Oakland County. The disinfected mixture of rainwater and sewage can then flow to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant or Lake St. Clair.[1]

History

In 1958, the Associated Press reported that, according to state Health Department, in southeast Oakland County, "black septic sewage boils up out of the catch basin and manhole openings after a heavy rain, threatening disease outbreaks."[2] The state health commissioner said that year that he was concerned about the health consequences of basement flooding, and that "lack of adequate facilities for sewage treatment results in frequent, almost daily, discharges of untreated sewage into the Red Run and then into the Clinton River... The situation is intolerable."[3]

The initial phase of the project, the Twelve Towns Drain, was planned in the 1950s[3] and constructed in 1962 and 1963. A groundbreaking ceremony for the $40 million project ($430 million in 2025 dollars) took place at the corner of Twelve Mile Road and Stephenson Highway on March 3, 1962.[4]

In the 1970s and 1990s, storage capacity of the system was increased. But during the heaviest rain events, the system was inadequate at preventing raw sewage outflows to the Red Run. In 1994 and 1995, beaches on Lake St. Clair were closed due to bacteria. Facing $1 billion in potential pollution fines, Oakland County planned the $144 million ($268.8 in 2025 dollars) Kuhn Basin project, to be paid for by the fourteen communities served by the Twelve Towns Drain.[5]

In October 2001, construction on the Kuhn Basin began. It was named after former Oakland County Drain Commissioner George W. Kuhn. The project was completed in 2005.[6]

Purpose and function

The purpose of the facility is to eliminate basement and street flooding in Oakland County while eliminating raw sewage outflows to the Clinton River and downstream to Lake St. Clair.[6]

Many communities in southeast Oakland County were developed with combined sewers that mix rainwater and sewage. During dry weather, wastewater flows through tunnels to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant. During heavy rain events, wastewater flows over a weir in the wastewater tunnel and is diverted to the retention and treatment basin. First, machines screen out debris and bleach is added to disinfect the flow. It is then sent to an underground tank that can hold 150 million gallons of the combined sewage and rainwater.[1] The basin is located under the Red Oaks Golf Course in Madison Heights.[5]

The basin is emptied with pumps and the flow is sent to the Detroit Wastewater Treatment Plant. However, when wastewater exceeds the basin's capacity, the disinfected wastewater is released into the Red Run Drain, a tributary of the Clinton River, at the Oakland-Macomb County border.[1][7]

Catastrophic rainfall events

The basin is infrequently overwhelmed by catastrophic rainfall events. For example, during the flood of August 2014, 2 billion gallons of wastewater flowed through the system into the Red Run[8] and caused $3-5 million in damage to the Kuhn Basin infrastructure.[9] During that storm, in Royal Oak alone, about forty percent of homes were damaged by basement flooding.[10] Oakland County Drain Commissioner Jim Nash stated that even during that storm, all discharges to the Red Run are disinfected and meet the standards of their permit.[8]

Controversy

Officials with Macomb County, downstream of the Kuhn Basin, have complained about the outflow, stating that regulations for treated sewage are not stringent enough.[8] In 2025, Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller complained when a heavy rainfall event led to 1.2 million gallons of "untreated or partially treated sewage" flowing into the Red Run.[7] Debris such as toilet wipes and tampons were found at the outflow. Nash stated that the problem was due to a leak somewhere in the tunnel system and a solution was being worked on.[11] The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has announced "escalated enforcement action" against Oakland County.[7]

List of Communities served

Source: [6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Oakland County, Michigan. "George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin". Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  2. ^ Associated Press (December 13, 1958). "Makeshift disposal is health menace". The Herald-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Mich.). p. 14.
  3. ^ a b United Press International (June 8, 1958). "State steps into drain mess". Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Mich.). p. 31.
  4. ^ "Opening set for drain project". Detroit Fee Press. March 2, 1962. p. 3.
  5. ^ a b Martindale, Mike (August 27, 2000). "Giant sewer project may drain taxpayers". Detroit Free Press. p. Oakland County 4C.
  6. ^ a b c Ashenfelter, David (June 13, 2006). "This sewer has his name on it". Detroit Free Press. p. Oakland section 3B.
  7. ^ a b c Snabes, Anne; Bryan, Max (July 16, 2025). "State seeks 'escalated' enforcement over raw sewage discharges by Oakland County". The Detroit News.
  8. ^ a b c Matheny, Keith (October 4, 2017). "Oakland and Macomb mired in long-running feud". Detroit Free Press. p. A1.
  9. ^ Greene, Jay (August 24, 2014). "Oakland official: Drain worked, but system was deluged". Crain's Detroit Business.
  10. ^ Associated Press (August 15, 2014). "Counties assess flood damage". The Times Herald (Port Huron, Michigan). p. 2A.
  11. ^ "1.2 million gallons of raw sewage dumped in Red Run drain". Fox2 Detroit WJBK. April 10, 2025.


42°30′28″N 83°06′42″W / 42.5077°N 83.1118°W / 42.5077; -83.1118

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