MSP emergency management officials visit Marquette County

Michigan State Police emergency management officials visited Marquette County for most of the day Monday. They were in the area to assist county and municipal officials as they try to get help in dealing with the ongoing frozen pipe issue.

The Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division held a closed-door meeting at the Negaunee Post today with local public works departments. The State Police are helping county and local officials ask for mutual aid from other communities through the Michigan Emergency Management Assistance Compact to obtain equipment and personnel that are needed to thaw the hordes of frozen pipes.

Marquette County declared a local state of emergency in February. In early March, the county asked Governor Rick Snyder to declare a state of emergency to assist them with frozen pipe response efforts. Snyder denied the request. State officials said the frozen pipe situation did not pose an immediate threat to public health or safety, but the governor has since asked the Michigan State Police Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division to step in.

Most of the U.P.’s delegation of state lawmakers saw the problem in Ishpeming for themselves in March. State Senator Tom Casperson of Escanaba held a Senate committee hearing shortly after that, and the lawmakers called on the governor to act.