Coopersville to Muskegon sewer main project underway to help businesses expand, create jobs

MUSKEGON, MI – The construction of a sewer main connecting Coopersville to Muskegon is underway and is expected to boost the local economy and help participating businesses expand.

Two years ago, officials approved the $60 million state grant for the new sewer main, saying it was expected to generate $187 million in agricultural investments and 145 new jobs. The project has been considered essential for the food and agricultural sector.

Local leaders gathered Wednesday, Oct. 2 for a celebratory groundbreaking at the Muskegon Resource Recovery Center, the wastewater management system for the county. The 20-mile sewer main will run from the county wastewater operation on the east end of the county to Coopersville, which will redirect municipal wastewater flow to the line.

Related: $60M grant for new sewer main expected to trigger $187 million growth in West Michigan agribusiness

“There’s not just one person that made this happen – it was the private sector, it was the public sector, it was legislation working across the line, the boundaries, to come together to make this happen,” said Muskegon County Administrator Mark Eisenbarth. “That’s what we need to see, in this project, and other projects going forward.”

The Southeast Regional Force Main project, which is primarily being funded by the grant, approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund board on Oct. 5, 2022, comes out of the state’s bipartisan Strategic Outreach Attraction Reserve, or SOAR, fund. has been many years in the making.

For 14 years, the county struggled to come up with a funding solution, until receiving the grant. Both Muskegon and Ottawa counties worked together, and several state congressmen advocated for the funding. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.

Additional partners in the project include both county road commissions and chambers of commerce, the city of Coopersville, Greater Muskegon Economic Development, and Prein & Newhof engineering.

Businesses that will connect and use the new water main include Fairlife, Swanson Pickle Company, De Vries Meats, Continental Dairy and Applegate Dairy.

The water main will help the businesses streamline their wastewater out of production and send it up the pipeline to be deposited in Muskegon.

Currently, businesses rely heavily on Coopersville’s small wastewater system. Businesses like Swanson Pickle truck their waste out, using additional resources, time and gas, and impacting the environment with more vehicles on the road.

“We plan to connect immediately to take our trucks off the road,” said Katie Hensley (Swanson), who is in the fourth generation of the family business. “In the future, this would enable us to look at expansion opportunities of which we were not able to do before, because we knew we were constrained by wastewater.”

The ability to hook into this water main will allow these businesses more opportunity to grow.

Construction on the water main has started and is expected to be available for participating businesses to use by the end of 2025. Businesses are still able to opt in to be part of the water main, and can make that request to Marla Schneider, of Greater Muskegon Economic Development.

Coopersville Mayor Ken Bush said it was suggested, when Continental Dairy first came into the city, that the wastewater be run up to Muskegon.

“I said, ‘That’s a dream,’” Bush said. “That dream’s happening today. And that’s exciting.”

The 30-inch sewer main will be available for other communities, such as Ravenna, to hook into.

Fairlife, which processes milk into a lactose-free, high-protein product, will contribute $5 million to the project.

With the ability to send wastewater to Muskegon, Fairlife Vice President of Manufacturing Phil LaMothe said the company plans to add two production lines.

The dairy company currently has five production lines and produces six million pounds a day.

The additional two lines would increase that by an additional three to five million pounds produced daily, LaMothe said, and would help meet their exceeding demand for more product.

“The milk is good in Michigan, the workforce is excellent,” he said. “It gives us a good opportunity to supply our products to the market.”

The additional wastewater will significantly boost flow to the Muskegon County wastewater system that has lost significant industrial users over time. By adding large commercial users to the system, wastewater rates will be stabilized for homeowners and businesses.

The project also will include a new lift station in Coopersville.

A spread of local company-provided foods was available at Wednesday’s event, with pulled pork from De Vries Meats, milk from Fairlife, butter from Continental Dairy, apples from Applegate Dairy and pickles from Swanson Pickle.

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