CURRENT STATUS
The Mollineaux Road Boat Launch Facility is
currently under developemnt.
See the "Pictorial
History" section below
for recent and older photos of this project.
AUGUST 2010 Boat Launch Work
begins
For better or worse, the state
boat launch on Crystal Lake is becoming a reality. Work has commenced at the site,
near M-115 and Mollineaux Road, and state officials expect the project to be complete
in the spring of 2011. CLWA challenged the state plans in 2004, and battled long
and hard for design changes to protect wetlands and water quality. In a court settlement
this past spring, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment agreed to changes
that will result in less wetland destructon, less lake-bottom dredging and less hard-surface
parking.
CLWA will continue monitoring the site through the construction project, and provide
regular updates on this website. Check back often.
DETAILS When project is complete....
Location: Southeast coast
of Crystal Lake, entrance at the eaat intersection of M-115 and Mollineaux Road (just
east of Benzonia).
Facilities: Boat launch,
parking, stairs from parking lot to lake and boat launch, boat cleaning station
HISTORY
Pictorial
History of the Mollineaux Road Boat LaunchFacility
An agreement between government
agencies and citizen groups will allow construction of a state boat launch on Crystal
Lake, ending years of controversy in Benzie County. As part of a settlement entered
in Benzie County Circuit Court on March 31, 2010, the Michigan Department of Natural
Resources and Environment (DNRE) agreed to make changes that will reduce the projects
impact on the environment and on adjacent property owners. (The former Department
of Natural Resources, MDNR, and Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) were eliminated
with the creation of the new "DNRE" effective January 13, 2010.)
The MDNR has searched for a suitable
site on Crystal Lake to construct a boat launch for use by the public. After rejection
of several sites, the current site on the steep slope between the junction of Mollineaux
Road and State Route M-115 and the southwest shoreline of Crystal Lake was finally
selected. A series of informational meetings were held at which conceptionalized
drawings were presented for informal comment. A permit application by MDNR was received
by MDNR on October 29, 2003. Engineering drawings and specifications were made available
to the public in early 2004. A public hearing was held on February 25, 2004. A permit
was issued by MDEQ on May 25, 2004 which is being contested at the present time.
During the initial discussions of the proposed project, the Crystal Lake Watershed
Fund, Inc. (CLWF) and the Crystal Lake Association (CLA) partnered in
the development of a joint resolution as follows:
"Be it resolved that, the
Crystal Lake Association and the Crystal Lake Watershed Fund support open access
to Crystal Lake for fishing and recreational activities consistent with retaining
the ongoing natural resource of this world class lake. The organizations support
the view that the lake should be protected for the benefit of future generations
of Benzie County residents and others seeking the beauty of this unspoiled environment."
A joint letter, addressed to Mr.
William Boik of the State of Michigan Parks Department was sent jointly from the
two organizations. The letter requested the assurance of the DNR/DEQ to abide by
the same rules and regulations that govern public citizens in the development and
implementation of their plans.
The issue, the concerns, a proposed alternative, and precedents are outlined in the
following summary:
Issue:
Crystal Lake, Benzie Co., is a
very large deepwater Lake.
The small watershed is surrounded
by forested ridges.
Water quality is extremely oligotrophic.
MDNR has proposed a public boat
launch. A permit has been issued.
(MDEQ File No. 03-10-0044-P)
Concerns:
General: location, size, traffic,
& safety.
Environmental: stormwater runoff
and sanitary wastes.
Stormwater to be treated in a
package treatment plant.
Sediment & gasoline/oil to
be removed and disposed.
Nutrients & coliform bacteria
removal not specified.
Overflow to be discharged directly
into Crystal Lake.
Proposed Alternative:
Topography is very steep between
ridge & lakeshore.
Site is split bet. Crystal Lake
& Betsie River Watersheds.
Intercept stormwater & wastewater
at the shore.
Pump combined flows to ridge top
for treatment.
Divert treated effluent into wetlands
for polishing.
Precedents:
Crystal Lake Overlay District
has been established.
Septic systems are inspected before
any property sale.
Direct discharges into the Lake
are prohibited.
Cold Creek flows through Sediment
Basin before the Lake.
Village of Beulah sewage is diverted
to disposal ponds.
Detailed comments were provided
on behalf of the CLWF at the public hearing conducted by MDEQ on February 25, 2004.
These comments addressed the inadequacy of the proposed water and wastewater treatment
system which is to be discharged directly into Crystal Lake. an alternative system
was proposed consisting of onsite collection and treatment of storm water and wastewater
followed by offsite diversion of treated effluent into the wetlands of the neighboring
Betsie River Watershed for final polishing.
The proposed MDNR boat launch facility
design does not consider the feasible alternative of onsite collection and treatment
followed by offsite diversion of treated stormwater/wastewater. The proposed package
treatment system only removes gross solids and oils, and not soluble nutrients or
coliform bacteria. Partially treated wastewater, still containing these undesirable
and invisible pollutants, is to be pumped directly into Crystal Lake through an 18"
discharge pipe!
Alternatively, stormwater and wastewater could be intercepted at the shoreline, but
then treated and diverted away from the Lake into wetlands of the adjoining Betsie
River Watershed. A detention basin and the package treatment plant can be built as
low impact environmentally pleasing structures near the high ridge running across
the SW corner of the site near Mollineaux Road. Treated effluent is diverted entirely
away from Crystal Lake and into uninhabited portions of wetlands for final polishing
to remove nutrients and bacteria just like our septic system drain fields.
