Photo by Deb Jacques Steve Marshall of Milford celebrated the event’s 40th year on June 5 by removing logjams from the river in Southfield. Marshall, a retired DENSO employee, joined more than 100 of his colleagues for the event.

By Jennie Miller
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. And in Southfield, it couldn’t be done without a herd of generous volunteers.

The Rouge River runs through the heart of the city, from end to end, and immediately changes the landscape from urban to rural just a few steps off the busy thoroughfares.

“Down there by the river, you feel like you’re Up North,” said Brandy Siedlaczek, storm water manager for the city of Southfield, who organized this year’s Rouge River Cleanup.

It was the 40th annual event of its kind, with volunteers focusing on the Southfield portion of the river that flows through 48 communities in southeastern Michigan, encompassing 126 miles of waterway.

Participants gathered at the Beech Woods Recreation Center and were bused out to various locations that had been previously scouted by city workers as areas that could benefit from cleanup work. Some 200 people participated, the vast majority being a large group with DENSO International Inc., whose property sits just off the river near Telegraph and Civic Center Drive.

“At the beginning of the season we survey the length of the Rouge and pick the areas that are most needed,” Siedlaczek said. “There’s logjams and woody debris backing up. We don’t want to remove all of it because we know it’s good for fish habitat. But the logjams cause erosion to the river bank and it changes the course of the river. Being in an urban area, we kind of need to maintain it. The group at DENSO does garlic mustard removal — it gets in and it kind of takes over everything in the flood plain area.”

Doug Juntenun of Livonia  said he has been participating in the event since the mid- to late 1980s.

“I like to see the river system cleaned up and hopefully bring back more natural life and (I) just like to see things better, with the pollution and the branches and (other debris),” Juntenun said. “We’re trying to … get the river flowing the way it should be. It’s good for the natural life, the birds, the animals (and) the reptiles in the river system.”

Barbara Bodden of Farmington Hills started coming to the event in the late 1970s with her children, and continued participating once they’d grown.

“I like that everything looks better when we leave,” Bodden said. “The water’s flowing; it just looks so much more natural; it’s good for the wildlife.”

Erica Mickens, 15, of Southfield came to the event for the first time this year as an extra credit project for a class at Southfield High School.

“Basically, (we’ve been) pulling a lot of wood and moving it away from the river,” she said, adding that everyone seems to have enjoyed taking part in the event. “I think they all like being a part of the community and doing something productive to help.”

Alex Shillingford, 13, of Farmington heard about the Rouge River Cleanup from some of his buddies and decided to sign up and help.

“I figured, helping the environment, that’s cool,” he said. “I like to go green, and that kind of thing.”

He and his friends were busy all morning getting their hands dirty while cleaning up the river.

“We yanked logs out of the river,” he said, adding that he wasn’t surprised to see the number of people who showed up. “Some might like the challenge, it’s fun to do, it’s good for the environment. There’s nothing really bad about it, it’s just a fun thing to do.”

Karen Carrick of Southfield returned this year solo after bringing her children to last year’s event.

“Last year I was able to bring my children so I was setting an example of things that we can do to improve the environment and it was a lot of fun, (we were) working with a lot of people and (it was nice) being in the outdoors,” Carrick said.

This year, she threw herself into the work.

“(We’ve been) clearing a logjam out of the water, pulling a lot of branches, moving a lot of branches out of the way, and sweating,” she laughed, but added that it serves a great purpose. “Clearing up the logjam allows the water to flow freely, which makes the water so it’s not stagnant, which would bring out mosquitoes and things like that. I think it’s good probably for the wildlife, the fish, things that would be in the water (as well).”

The group from DENSO was wildly successful with their efforts.

“We had around 115 volunteers from 26 communities,” said Bridgette Gollinger, DENSO spokesperson. “We removed 139 bags of invasive plant species, which was about 4,200 pounds. We helped manage woody debris and logjams — we did five logjams and we cleaned up a large amount of trash. It was an incredible challenge for the team — labor-intensive and time-intensive. … Being committed to the environment is important to us.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jennie Miller at jmiller@candgnews.com or at (586) 279-1108.