A new gravel mine operator moved in. Then, these Ann Arbor

Jul 17, 2023

UPDATE: The Ann Arbor Township board voted to consult with its attorney over “potential violations” of the Vella Pit mine’s zoning permit on Monday, Aug. 21. Click here for more coverage from MLive/The Ann Arbor News.

WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – The showerhead in Robin and Steve Kunkel’s home sputtered, then gave out entirely.

It was July 7 and the couple had just returned from vacation to their home off a dirt road across from an organic farm just outside Ann Arbor. They had no water.

Well drillers arrived and informed them their well, trusty for at least 28 years, had gone dry, and its pump fizzled out.

“It was just devastating. It was shocking. We just couldn’t believe it,” Robin Kunkel said. And, at first, the couple had no idea why.

They now believe they have an answer. Some 7,000 feet northeast as the crow flies, millions of gallons of water have been pumped from a mining pit as part of a dewatering process the mine’s new owners have implemented to extract and wash sand and gravel.

And mine operator Mid Michigan Materials has applied to more than double its daily water withdrawal limit to a maximum 4.8 million gallons per day, though company officials say they don’t intend to take more water than they do now, even with the permit.

Still, the move is sending ripples of concern through Ann Arbor Township residents who depend on their wells to drink, wash dishes and water gardens and are now harboring fresh fears the mine could turn off their taps without warning.

State environmental regulators have received reports of 12 wells in the area running dry and requiring some kind of fix, with water level reductions reported for another five, according to Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy spokesperson Scott Dean.

The Kunkels paid roughly $2,200 for a new well pump, placed 17 feet lower in the ground, but Robin Kunkel worries an entirely new well may be in their future.

That was the case for neighbor Howard Bockbrader, who awoke in January, with a foot of snow on the ground and no way to flush his toilet.

After lowering his pump 10 feet, his well again went dry in April, and he paid $10,000 to dig a new well, bathing in a hot tub and filling his RV with water from neighbors while it was installed, he said.

As of Aug. 17, seven permits have been pulled to drill new wells in the area south of the mine, according to the Washtenaw County Health Department.

Mid Michigan Materials is intentionally pumping water out to lower the groundwater level in its pit to facilitate mining, and there’s “no question” that is responsible for the drying of nearby wells, Dean said in an email.

Still, it’s not known how far the drawdown at the mine on Earhart Road extends, or if other withdrawals could be affecting wells further from the pit, he said.

The mining company’s vice president, Rob Wilson, said as soon as the firm learned of the issues in April it sprung into action, commissioning a now-ongoing hydrogeologic study, while paying thousands to replace seven wells, lower another and provide bottled water.

“Mid Michigan Materials is a fourth-generation family-managed company, and we consider ourselves a community a partner in any and all senses when we go into a community, and that’s why are working so diligently to try to resolve this situation and literally stabilize it,” he said.

It’s the first time in his career anything like this has happened, Wilson said, adding a consultant hired to evaluate the mine ahead of time concluded it would have no impact.

“We didn’t anticipate this, but we feel very sorry for the situation that all these folks find themselves in, which is why we’re working so diligently to find this balance,” he said. “This is the last thing we wanted.”

Gravel-hauling trucks enter and exit Mid Michigan Materials Vella Pit, 4984 Earhart Road in Ann Arbor Township on Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.comJacob Hamilton | MLive.com

Residents losing sleep, getting organized over potential of environmental harm

Hollis Dayton, a 30-year resident who has cared for llamas, horses and chickens at her home near the mine, hasn’t lost water, but her neighbors have all dug new wells, she said.

However, she said her well level has dropped nearly 17 feet. “I’m losing sleep over it,” she said.

Area residents, many counting their time there in decades, say the issues are recent, first appearing in late 2022. For as long as most can remember the mine was run by local operator, Washtenaw Sand and Gravel.

Dayton said the previous “mom-and-pop” operation was low key, frequented by landscapers and a few trucks a day.

Then in 2020, Mid Michigan Materials bought the mine and received a township permit to expand operations the same year. Wilson said the company invested in a new plant, more efficient and quieter, and provides essential materials used in projects like the I-275 reconstruction and home building across the area.

But now, Dayton said she’s now documented some 60 double-train semi trucks rumbling past each day.

Residents, many now organizing with the group Save Ann Arbor’s Wells, believe the traffic, noise and water level issues are violating the mine’s township zoning permit, approved by a split vote of the township board.

Wilson refutes those claims, saying the mine is operating within the confines of its permits and instructing drivers to be respectful as they frequent the site.

Ann Arbor Township Supervisor Diane O’Connell didn’t respond to emailed questions asking about enforcement of the permit conditions.

She replied only that the township board would discuss the gravel operation at its Monday, Aug. 21 meeting, where Mid Michigan Materials will present on its hydrogeologic study process. The meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. at Washtenaw Community College’s Morris Lawrence Building, 4800 East Huron River Drive.

Some observers say issues at the mine extend to violations of environmental regulations.

Mike Wilczynski, a geologist with Pangea Environmental, LLC who has frequently worked with residents in opposition to gravel mines in Michigan, said aerial photographs have captured sediments discharged into waterways, like nearby Massey Lake and the Fleming Creek watershed, threatening organisms living on the lake and streambeds.

“You’re wiping that out because they can’t get oxygen, they can’t get water. You’re killing part of the ecosystem,” Wilczynski said.

Wilczynski said he also believes the mine has created a lake as part of its operation large enough to require a permit it does not have and is improperly discharging into wetlands — claims Wilson denies.

Dean said state environmental regulators are currently investigating the Vella Pit for compliance with its currently permitted surface water discharge and “other erosion and sedimentation control concerns” within EGLE’s purview.

The agency hasn’t made any determination on violations, he said.

Wilson said the concerns have recently come to his attention, adding the mine is complying with its existing discharge permit. Mid Michigan Materials is working with EGLE and will implement any further measures that need to be taken, he said.

Mid Michigan Materials Vella Pit, 4984 Earhart Road in Ann Arbor Township, and nearby Massey Lake as seen form the air on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.Provided by Marc MurawskiProvided by Marc Murawski

Water pumping permit request stokes fears

EGLE is now also evaluating an application from the mine for a water withdrawal permit that would expand its water usage from a current maximum of 2 million gallons per day to a cap of 4.8 million gallons per day — a figure equivalent to about a third of the city of Ann Arbor water system’s average daily demand.

But that figure is based on maximum pump capacity at the mine, and his company is applying for the permit to get into compliance, not because it intends to pump more water, Wilson said.

“Our intention is to continue to operate the facility exactly as it is now,” he said.

Still, residents are rallying against the permit, and the Ann Arbor Township board also voted on July 17 to submit a letter to EGLE expressing their “grave concerns” over the mine’s application.

The Washtenaw County Health Department, which permits new drinking water wells, has also raised red flags over the request.

In a July 10 letter to EGLE, county Environmental Health Director Kristen Schweighoefer wrote her department has confirmed static water level drops of 20 to 25 feet below previous levels in the “well first” area with traditionally low water yield and not served by municipal utilities.

Deeper aquifers are available on some properties, but those can be associated with higher levels of arsenic, a long-term carcinogen, Schweighoefer wrote. Some, but not all, levels of arsenic are treatable in water, she said.

Wilson said one replacement well the company has funded tapped the deeper aquifer, and it covered the cost of a treatment system, which he said was a commonplace measure for the naturally-occurring arsenic.

Still, “the Washtenaw County Health Department has concerns about the longevity and viability of groundwater wells in this area as they continue to be impacted by the groundwater withdrawal operations of the Vella pit at a depth of around 100 feet for the next 15-20 years,” the health department letter states.

State officials should consider environmental impacts on the Fleming Creek and ensure a long-term plan with financial responsibilities if wells are affected by the water withdrawal, Schweighoefer wrote. A condition like that could be required as part of the EGLE permit, Dean said, and issuing it could result in additional limitations and oversight on the mine.

Bockbrader, who paid to dig a fresh well for his home, said Mid Michigan Materials representatives told him they won’t currently reimburse for the expense.

“They’re looking into it, but at this point, they don’t feel they’re the cause,” Bockbrader said.

Wilson said his company hasn’t yet made a final determination. The well is outside of an area the company believes is impacted, further from others that have been affected and potentially in a separate aquifer, but if its hydrogeological investigation determines the company is responsible, it will “absolutely” pay for the well, he said.

The company isn’t required by law to pay for damages caused to wells, but Wilson said his firm will do so if its study, likely completed this fall, determines cases where they are responsible.

“We operate within the confines of our permits, and we’re also responsible parties and if we ever find a situation like this we stand behind our word and we do the right thing and we will continue to do that,” Wilson said.

EGLE will make a permit decision on Mid Michigan Materials’ water withdrawal request by Sept. 13, Dean said.

In the meantime, residents are for the first time doubting their water supplies.

“The neighbors are saying, are we next? And I’m wondering, is my shower going to last?” Robin Kunkel said.

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