Oakland-Macomb Interceptor Receives Second Round of ARRA Funding

The Michigan DEQ has awarded $15.9 million of additional funding for the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor repair project. This is the second round of funding for the OMI drain repair project, and comes courtesy of the ARRA federal stimulus program. 

While local reports indicate the OMI is a $42 million project, it is in fact part of a $160 million project to repair and restore a 21 mile sewer line that serves most of Macomb County. The first two phases of the project, totaling almost $29 million, were bid in late November, 2009. Ric-Man Construction was the low bidder both times.

When a portion of the OMI collapsed in Fraser several years ago, emergency repairs cost more than $50 million. The OMI was owned at that time by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which has since sold this aging sewer line to Oakland and Macomb Counties.