People who’ve been putting up with thick, smelly clumps of algae in Lake St. Clair may get some relief soon.

Macomb County has contracted two marine excavators to start removing muck from parts of the Lake in the fall. Each needs to get permits from the state and federal governments, which have jurisdiction over the lake.

The organisms, known collectively as Microseira wollei, have been growing on the bottom of the lake since about the mid 2010s. 

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller says they start by forming tiny balls about as big as a person’s thumbnail.

“And when you have an onshore breeze, all these little balls roll up onto the shore, which doesn’t sound like much until there are literally billions of them,” she says. 

The algae form mats on the water that can be several feet thick. Miller says it keeps growing and begins to vegetate over time.

“It almost looks like land, but it’s not,” she says. “Now if that’s happened to your boat well, whether you’re a resident, a residential property owner, or whether you’re a marina owner, you can imagine the negative impact.”

The three-year pilot project will focus on three specific areas where water is stagnant. One is near Veterans Memorial Park in St. Clair Shores. The other two are Campau Bay and the marina at Hidden Cove condominiums in Harrison Township.

The Michigan Legislature appropriated $880,000 to begin removing the muck, which officials will study over the next three years. Miller says she hopes to find a long-term solution.

“We all know as soon as we dredge it, it will begin to come back,” she says. “But will it come back in a month, a year? We’re sort of in the learning process.”

Republican state Representative Alicia St. Germaine and Democratic state Senator Kevin Hertel worked together to put the project in the state budget. Miller says that kind of bipartisan support is critical to the cleanup’s success.

“The water doesn’t know if it’s a Republican or a Democrat or an independent or Green Party or whatever,” she says. “It’s just something that all of us live here, we all have to solve this together.”

Miller says it’ll take a lot more money and time to remove and manage algae in the lake. She hopes state and federal agencies step up to protect the waterway.

Federal regulators say the autonomous vehicle company Waymo must stop its cars from blocking first responders. Waymo has been testing its vehicles in Detroit. The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the agency found several cases of Waymo driver-less vehicles traveling into emergency scenes, blocking firefighters or failing to stop for flashing lights and flares. Federal regulators say they will meet with autonomous vehicle developers to devise ways to address the problem. A Waymo vehicle will stop, however, if it notices nefarious activity from kids riding in it. A Waymo car in California recently stopped in a parking lot and called police after two teens in its back seat allegedly began drinking alcohol and shooting water beads from a toy gun.

Additional headlines for Friday, July 10, 2026

Bar IX location coming soon?  

Detroit’s first women’s sports bar is crowdfunding to open a permanent space. Bar IX hosts pop-up watch parties for women’s sports. The bar has raised 65 percent of if its 125-thousand-dollar goal since the campaign kicked off on June 30. Organizers are giving away merchandise such as stickers, keychains, and t-shirts with donations. 

African World Festival

The African World Festival is this weekend at Hart Plaza. The festival celebrates culture and history with music, spoken word, food and a retail marketplace. The festival starts today and runs through Sunday. Visit Charles H Wright museum website at for more info and to buy tickets.

Lake St. Clair Metropark to receive updates

Lake St. Clair Metropark is getting 15 million dollars in improvements. The improvements include reopening the North Marina, expanding accessibility across the park, adding new trail connections and modernizing infrastructure. It’s the biggest investment in the park in decades. Renovations at the marina will fully reopen the marina with 78 boat slips for transient docking and bring accessible floating finger docks back to the North Marina basin. All renovations are expected to be completed by the end of summer 2027.

Detroit Riverfront tour

The Detroit Parks Coalition is hosting a free walking tour about the Detroit Riverfront tomorrow, July 11 from 10 a.m. to 11a.m. The tour will give an overview of the history of the riverfront as a well as more info on the newest Ralph C Wilson Centennial Park. Meet at the Dock, located near the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden across from the Plaza. Parking is available along Jefferson Ave, Rosa Parks, and in the nearby Bagley Mobility Hub and Assembly garages.