Simulating Spill Scenarios for Public Health Protection in the Huron to Erie Corridor

Session: 59. - Innovative Monitoring across the Great Lakes

David Schwab, MTRI, Michigan Technological University, [email protected]
Amanda Grimm, Michigan Tech Research Inst., [email protected]
Colin Brooks, Michigan Tech Research Institute, [email protected]
Bill Parkus, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, [email protected]

Abstract

Serving as an international boundary between Canada and the United States, the Huron to Erie Corridor consisting of the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and the Detroit River provides potable water to some 4 million people on the U.S. side. The corridor is also a hub for chemical refineries, factories, and commercial shipping.  Hydrodynamic modeling of contaminant spills that could impact water treatment plant intakes and public beaches along this corridor is important for evaluating SOPs for protecting public health as well as for communicating conditions and decisions among treatment plant operators in the path of a spill. In 2009-2010, contaminant spills were simulated along the St. Clair River to estimate spill plume travel times under various conditions and validated using dye releases. Now, this modeling is being extended to Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River.  The final result of the project will be clickable online maps for each water intake and public beach along the US side of Lake St Clair and the Detroit River that show average and minimum spill travel times from any upstream location as well as the probability that a spill originating at that location will affect the downstream location of interest.

1. Keyword
Detroit River

2. Keyword
Lake St. Clair

3. Keyword
drinking water

4. Additional Keyword
Spills

5. Additional Keyword
Modeling