The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1916-01-07
INIMICAL TO OWOSSO
Would Prohibit River Pollution From
Sewsge-Actve Campaign Under
Way in Saginaw.

''ey ~ SohV'oWs
The cities situated along rivers tribu
tary to the Saginaw-Owosso Flint,
Midland, Bay City, Saginaw and sever
al smaller places-are vitslly intereste ed
in movement inaugurated by Thos
p. Whittier of Saginaw, seeking for the
enforcement of state and federal laws
which prohibit the depositing of sewage
and other waste in the rivers. The
petitions have been circulated less than
a week and already thousand signers
have been secured of the five thousand
desired, 80 that it will he readily seen
that there is some interest in the plan.
The petitions are unaddressed as yet as
it is not definitely known to whom
they should be directed. Mr.. Whittier
says of his proposal The interests OF
the public health and an effective
method of ending the large destruction
of fish life in the Saginaw valley are
the ends we desire to attain.
Three sources principally account
for the presence of the filth that con.
teammates the Saginaw river-city sew
age, the deposits of chemical waste bi.
products from the Dow chemical plant
at Midland, and the deposits of mineral
chemical bi.products from the several
sugar beet factories along the river.
To these might be added, or classed in
with the second division above men
toned, the overflow of salt solutions
from the uncorked salt wells abandoned
some years ago.
Authentic figures which 1 can pro.
duce show that every year the human
excrement sent down from Flint alone
by the outlet of the Flint sewers into
the Flint river amounts to 365 carloads
of 30 tons each-or thirty tons every
day. Then the other smaller towns
contribute perhaps as much, if not
more than Flint. and Saginaw contri-
butes more than Flint in addition, all
of which is sent down to Bay City be.
fore it reaches its ultimate destination.
The chemical works are daily dumping
huge quantities of lime products into
the river, and from the. sugar beet
factories come such residues from wash
waters. and chemical treatments as po-
tash. lime hydrates and sulphates and
Prussian blue, which is used in the
coloring processes at the sugar fac.
tories. Prussian blue Is nothing else
than cyanide of iron used as q precipi.
tate in protosulphste of iron, and, If it
is introduced into the system and meets
just the right conditions in the stom.
ach. is q deadly poison.
THE mineral poisons that contami-
nate the waters Of the Saginaw river
cannot be filtered out" said Mr.. Whit
tier, "and 1 make this assertion from
my experience as q chemist. Organic
poisons and toxins are for the most part
soluble and defy filtration. Even spring
water shows an occupation Of 4S bac.
terra bodies per cubic centimeter at a
temperature of II degrees, and these
bacteria multiply to the number of
nearly 80O,0O within three days.
THE question narrows down to the
question of prevention or cure, and 1t
is plainly seen that, to keep the river
reasonably free from contamination,
the communicating influences must b.,
kept out. In only one instance, and
this the case of the sugar factory at
Owosso. has any attention been given
to the federal and state prohibitory
laws, and in this case the dumping of
bi products Of the sngar factory was
stopped by an injunction brought be.
fore Judge Gage"
If the plans of Mr.. Whittier should
prove successful thousands of dollars of
expense would be incurred by the
cities named in changing their sewage
systems and in providing some plan to
dispose of the waste, probably the in
of reduction plants which it
is claimed are operated at profit by
many cities. The increasing popula-
tion of cities may some day force action
of this kind but it does not appear that
the waters of the Shiawassee are at
present polluted to any noticeable de.
gree.
1t might, however, be we'll for Owos-
so to keep an eye on the movement.
Architect E. A. Bowd of Lansing.