WHITEHALL — The third and final visioning session regarding the future of Sadony Bayou, Wednesday at the White Lake Community Library, focused on what local residents want for the bayou, which. Marty Holtgren, who has been working with the Chemours Environmental Impact Committee, expressed what seemed to be a representative opinion when he said, "The bayou doesn't have to remain this way."
Holtgren said a summary report about the findings of the three visioning sessions will be made available sometime in January. Those interested in receiving one can reach out to CEIC at makeitrightchemours@gmail.com
Spencer High of Querkus Creative, who was also part of the previous two meetings, presented a photo mock-up of what a healthy Sadony Bayou would look like, which included more animal life and less algae. More fish life in the bayou would, High said, result in more birds in the area as well. High also joked about the feedback he's gotten regarding wanting to see turtles in the bayou, saying, "One thing I've learned from the greater White Lake area is that everyone loves turtles."
As has been discussed at previous sessions, the bayou used to directly connect to White Lake, but that connection slowly filled in over time, which, along with aftereffects of the former Hooker plant and the DuPont plant's pollution of the area, has led to nutrient buildup in the bayou.
"To be blunt," Holtgren said, most of the issues now facing the Bayou are the result of not having that direct connection with Lake Michigan, which would otherwise keep a natural outflow of the nutrients now in the bayou.
Among the findings from discussion at previous sessions were that residents are not interested in a "quick fix" solution, and that they are not interested in the area being overused for recreation or a restoration being human-centric rather than focused on a balanced ecosystem.
"As a conservationist, that's heartwarming to hear from a community," High said.
The work of these sessions has drawn interest, said one commenter, from the new county water resources commissioner, Stephanie Barrett. It was said that Barrett was at the first visioning session over the summer and was planning to attend the third before the winter storm intervened.
Grant applications are in progress to take the next step in restoring the bayou, which would include a feasibility study to gauge which potential solutions could be implemented and what steps would have to be taken to do so.
