Drain Project Improves Pilot Safety at Selfridge Air National Guard Base

Nov. 26—Throughout her career as a public servant, Candice Miller has fostered a strong connection to Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

Whether advocating to ensure the base remained open during talk of closure, leading efforts to keep to A-10 fighter jets stationed there, or her marriage to the late Donald Miller, who served as Selfridge base commander and later as a Macomb County Circuit Court judge, it seems the Miller name is commonly associated with Selfridge.

But she's not done lending a helping hand.

The Macomb County Public Works Office, which is led by Commissioner Miller, is managing a $300,000 drain project aimed at creating safer conditions for pilots flying into and out of the base.

"The primary purpose is so we can drain the property so we don't have standing water," Miller said in a video accompanied by a news release announcing the effort.

Excavation is underway in a 2,300-foot stretch of the Irwin Drain along M-59/Rosso Highway, to improve storm water drainage at the base and the flow in the open channel.

Both will combine to prevent extended periods of high water levels in the drain that otherwise would create a waterfowl habitat and attract geese, seagulls and other birds which would pose a severe danger to aircraft if sucked into an engine.

Because of the low elevation, some areas of the base have standing water because the drains can't empty properly. And the standing water tends to attract waterfowl, Miller said.

"If you are flying a fighter airplane or a refueler, the last thing you want is to run into is a big flock of birds," she said.

The project site is in a low-lying area along the northern border of Harrison and Chesterfield townships, just west of Anchor Bay.

Excavation of the banks, digging out sediment from the bottom of the channel and removal of vegetation began in late October. Working in 500-foot sections, the construction contractor places a long-lasting geo-textile blanket on the "new" south bank of the Irwin Drain and tops it with limestone boulders known as rip rap to prevent new erosion and block vegetation from sprouting. On the north bank, rip rap is placed around the taps that carry storm water from the north.

Macomb County Public Works construction inspectors estimated the project could be completed by the end of Thanksgiving week.

Engineering, construction and other costs are expected to total about $300,000 and are fully funded by Selfridge Air National Guard Base through the Department of Defense budget.

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