Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently declared a state of emergency after a 42-inch Great Lakes Water Authority transmission line ruptured in Oakland County. The catastrophic break has caused widespread drops in water pressure and disrupted service to several municipalities, resulting in boil water advisories for Rochester Hills and parts of Auburn Hills, while threatening total outages in other nearby communities like Lake Orion and Orion Township.
The emergency declaration immediately activated the State Emergency Operations Center in Lansing to help funnel state resources and potential financial assistance to the impacted local governments. According to utility officials, crews first spotted a leak in the massive pipe on May 6, but their initial attempts to repair the infrastructure were unsuccessful before it completely gave way.
The main break has resulted in boil water advisories, water conservation efforts, water truck dispatches for emergency supplies, and a number of closures for area schools and businesses.
Jury Acquits 'Manhole Michaelangelo'
A jury in Woodbury County, Iowa, has acquitted a 47-year-old street artist of misdemeanor charges stemming from his unauthorized street art in Sioux City.
Dubbed the "Manhole Michelangelo," Brandon Bradshaw faced up to a year in jail and thousands in fines for criminal mischief and public consumption after he painted floral designs over neighborhood manhole covers and cracked pavement last November.
Tornado-Impacted WWTP Gets Concrete Update
Kryton International has announced the completion of concrete protection work for a newly rebuilt wastewater treatment plant in the City of Wynne, Arkansas. Following a devastating EF-3 tornado that severely impacted city infrastructure in 2023, Wynne was awarded $2.6 million in federal funding to restore and modernize its wastewater facilities. To ensure the long-term structural integrity and chemical resistance of the new plant, project specifiers utilized Kryton’s KIM BioGard.
“We recognized that there was urgency behind the Wynne wastewater treatment plant project, and we wanted to get it right. We knew that the residents of Wynne needed a wastewater treatment facility that had a long service-life, and could withstand the effects of highly acidic water, sulfates, salts and other harsh chemicals,” says Dan Moore of Sustain Admixtures, the concrete admixture supplier to the project. “We recommended KIM BioGard as their best option.”
These rebuilding efforts are critical for the Central and Eastern Arkansas region, which was impacted by a series of tornados on March 31, 2023.
