Owosso returns Current's river discharge records request a 2nd time

Nobody outside city hall can yet say whether partially treated wastewater reached the Shiawassee River this summer, and a letter dated Friday keeps it that way for now.

Owosso Public Safety returned a Shiawassee Current request for City of Owosso wastewater treatment plant records and confirmation of a reported discharge advisory without releasing any records. In a letter signed by Office Manager Amy Higley, the department said it was "unable to process your request as submitted," citing Section 3(1) of Michigan's Freedom of Information Act, MCL 15.231, which requires a requester's complete name, a mailing address written to U.S. Postal Service standards, and a valid phone number or email address. The letter, logged as public records request #875, tells the requester to resubmit with that information.

It is the second time the same subject has come back without records. The Current reported on Sept. 17 that Owosso Public Safety returned an earlier request on Sept. 16 on the same grounds — missing mailing address and contact information — and that a reported 110,000-gallon discharge of partially treated wastewater remains unconfirmed.

The department, which houses the city's police, fire and EMS operations at 202 S. Water Street, processes the City of Owosso's FOIA requests through its office manager. The Sept. 25 letter does not say whether the requested records exist, does not deny them on any exemption, and does not address the discharge itself. Under the statute the city cites, a public body may decline to process a request that lacks the required contact information rather than rule on the records.

The plant at the center of the request has been in front of the council repeatedly this year. The Current reported that on Aug. 3 the council approved a $239,160 change order at the wastewater treatment plant on a 6-0 vote, and in July it moved on an ordinance authorizing up to $12 million in drinking water revenue bonds and tentatively awarded $7.16 million in water main contracts.

What the sources still cannot answer is the basic one: whether a discharge occurred, when, how much, where it went and whether any advisory was issued to people who use the river. None of that is in the letter, and none of it has been confirmed by the city.

What happens next: The Current will resubmit the request to Owosso Public Safety with the mailing address and telephone number the statute requires, and will publish the records or any denial in full. The city council's next scheduled business includes Oct. 5 public hearings on the single-hauler trash ordinance and a proposed ban on camping on city property.