TRAVERSE CITY (WWJ / AP) – According to officials, about a dozen people have called in to report illnesses after water contaminated by human waste rained down on children playing at a brand new Traverse City splash pad. The Grand Traverse County Health Department received calls from people who were playing at the Clinch Park splash pad on June 29 and June 30, and who subsequently came down with gastrointestinal illnesses.
The department confirmed that gastrointestinal symptoms are consistent with exposure to raw sewage but could not confirm a definitive link to the splash pad. However, on June 30, city officials discovered that a sewer pump station had failed, resulting in a sewage back up that flowed into the reservoir that feeds the park’s fountains.
Officials also said that the $360,000 splash pad did not have all the permits that are typically necessary.