Macomb County Public Works Boss Sues Disposable Wipes Makers

MACOMB COUNTY, MI — A lawsuit has been filed in Macomb County Circuit Court seeking label and marketing changes from disposable wipe manufacturers.

Macomb County Public Works Commissioners Candice Miller on Wednesday filed the suit, which claims that while many disposable wipes are labeled as being flushable, they are not biodegradable and cause significant damage and expense to municipal and regional sewer systems.

“Particularly now, the last thing anyone needs is a major sewer back-up," Miller said. "These wipes are truly the scourge of sewer systems. They become almost like a rope, wrapping themselves around pumps and clogging up sewers, causing enormous problems."

In 2018, Miller’s department removed a 19-ton mass of wipes and accumulated grease that attached to the wipes from a sewer system in what became known as the Macomb County Fatberg, Miller said. In 2019, Macomb County Public Works removed a 1-ton mass of wipes, dubbed the Ragball — this time just thousands of wipes that knotted up together — from another section of sewer in the county. Together, the two incidents costs MCPWO about $100,000 to remove, according to Miller.

The issue is not just a Macomb County issue. Miller’s suit lists more than a dozen communities that have had expensive sewer repair issues due to wipes.

“Really, this is a global issue, anywhere there are municipal sewer systems,” Miller said.

The suit names nine defendants, each a manufacturer of wipes. Together, the nine companies represent the vast majority of wipes produced and sold in the U.S.

“We are not trying to get the companies to stop making wipes," Miller said. "We want them to change the label and make it clear that these are not to be flushed. Some of the packages even say that they are safe to be flushed, but only one at a time. Well, the reality is, these things combine together in our systems and cause huge problems. Please, change the labels and help solve this problem."

Miller estimated that together, communities across the U.S. face millions of dollars in annual costs due to dealing with wipes. Those costs are passed on to system rate-payers.

Named as defendants in the suit are: Dude Products, Inc.; Nehemiah Manufacturing Company LLC; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Proctor & Gamble Company; Nice-Pak Products, Inc.; Professional Disposables International, Inc.; Rockline Industries, Inc.; S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.; and C.B. Fleet Company, Inc.