Rockwood requests $1.5 million to replace 1939-era treatment equipment and avert public-health failures

Representative Thompson and Mayor Troy Cox asked the subcommittee for $1.5 million to cover equipment replacement, engineering and related costs at Rockwood’s wastewater treatment plant, which the mayor said was built in 1939 and depends on aging, failing components. Nut graf: Cox said the city serves roughly 3,000 residents and cannot connect to a regional sewer system because there is no capacity, and that failure of the local plant could cause sewage backups into homes and potential environmental release into the Huron River. Mayor Cox described specific critical components flagged in engineering assessments: the motor control center, large filter pumps, sludge valves, mixers, wet-well pumps and meters. The city said it is finishing a $2 million bond for some updates and that the $1.5 million request would complete necessary replacements and engineering fees to put the plant on a 30-year reliable footing. Committee members asked about prior funding and whether regional hookups were possible; Cox said a regional tie-in would cost millions and the regional system had no capacity to accept Rockwood’s flows. Ending: No action was taken at the hearing; proponents asked the subcommittee to consider the appropriation to prevent immediate public-health risks and larger future costs.