Can a judge determine what happens when you flush your toilet? A case before the Supreme Court may decide that very question.
From the AP:
The Michigan Supreme Court said Thursday it will decide if local governments can be ordered to install a sewer system when private septic systems fail and spoil a lake, a case that centers on Lake Huron and a five-mile stretch in the Thumb region. State regulators want Worth Township to install a sewer system, but an appeals court last year said the township isn't responsible for the problems of private property owners. Some septic systems are failing in an area between M-25 and Lake Huron in Sanilac County, 80 miles northeast of Detroit. Waste is being discharged into the lake and its tributaries, and the lots are too small to build new systems. In a brief order, the Supreme Court narrowed the issue: Does state law allow regulators and the courts to demand that a township install a sewer system when a lake is contaminated? Township attorney Michael Woodworth said he's not surprised that the justices agreed to take the state's appeal. "The case is one of statewide significance," he said. "There have been (local governments) that did not challenge the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality. What surprised the DEQ in this case is the township stepped back and said, 'Wait a minute.'"
Worth Township seemed ready to build a new sewage system as recently as 2008, but the cost kept them from proceeding.
