Published June 2007

Permission to Come Aboard?

By Scottie Dayton (page 76)

Michigan pumper’s fantastic voyage serves island boat club and protects sensitive waterfront environment

In Sept. 2006, the Clinton River Boat Club in Mount Clemens, Mich., called Richard “Rick” Throop Jr. of Woods-Utica Septic Service, Romeo, to pump their two 1,000-gallon septic tanks. But there was a catch to what was a seemingly simple job: The clubhouse is on Harsens Island in the middle channel of the St. Clair River.

“My philosophy is if the installer transported those tanks onto the island, I should be able to get a truck there to pump them,” says Throop. According to what boat club officials told him, they had cleaned the tanks five years ago using a trash pump and buckets. Boats then ferried the buckets to the marina in a labor- and time-intensive operation.

Throop contacted Champion’s Marine Service Inc., a marine construction company on Harsens Island, and rented a 20- by 86-foot long, 40-ton barge used in dredging and dock building operations to carry his 15-ton, 2000 Sterling service truck with 3,500-gallon steel tank and Wallenstein 750 pump across the channel.

AHOY THERE

When Capt. Robert Bryson and mate arrived with the tug and barge, the deck of the barge was higher than the pier. To stabilize the craft during loading and unloading, a winch lowered two steel I-beams through slots in the deck. They sank into the muddy river bottom, preventing the barge from drifting.

“We had a calm day for this maneuver, because the tricky part was backing the truck up a steel plate serving as a ramp, then centering the truck on deck,” says Throop.

On the first attempt, the truck’s weight caused the stern to dip forward, shooting the ramp from beneath the vehicle as it was halfway on deck. With front wheels suspended, the mate quickly adjusted the plate beneath them and Throop finished reversing the truck.

The five-mile journey to the island took two hours. Once under way, the pump truck was under Champion’s Marine Service’s liability.

When they reached the island, Bryson lowered the stabilizing beams again. Throop stayed with the truck, while Brandon LeFever pumped the tanks 350 feet away. The weight of 2,000 gallons of sewage entering the tank pushed the barge down the I-beams. An hour later, the tanks were pumped and the return journey began. “Initially, I was concerned that we’d be too heavily loaded to drive off the barge, and would have to bring our second pumper to the dock and offload into it,” says Throop. “However, driving off wasn’t too big a deal with the tank a little more than half full.”

HELPING THE ENVIRONMENT

Throop says that he made nothing on the job, even though Champion’s Marine gave him a substantial discount. “What is important to me is that we contributed to the health of the environment,” he says. Boat club officials are thinking seriously about having the tanks pumped every year.

“I know many people on the river and where their sewage is going,” Throop continues. “If we can convince one commercial property to take that first step of annual maintenance and spread the word that we make this kind of effort to pump tanks — not for the money, but for the sake of the environment — I think residential customers will do the same.”