Shanty Creek Resort’s sewage plant
The resort’s lagoons south of the Summit base (Section 5, T29N R7W); mailing address 5780 Shanty Creek Road, Bellaire · Map
Status as of Nov. 1, 2026
No public hearing is scheduled. When EGLE drafts the renewed permit, watch for a public notice and comment period, as there was before the 2017 permit. We check the state’s notice list regularly and will post it here.
What it is
The resort’s own wastewater plant. Sewage goes to two aerated lagoons, gets chemical treatment and filtering to remove phosphorus, and is then released underground through drip-irrigation fields. Two separate septic drain fields serve some of the resort’s condominiums. Phosphorus is the nutrient that feeds algae, and the plant’s permit caps it at 1.0 milligrams per liter.
Who runs it
The state’s permit file lists the plant as Shanty Creek Resort WWTF. EGLE’s 2023 violation notice went to “Shanty Creek – Watars Association,” and the plant’s monthly reports are signed by its contract operator, Mead & Hunt. The resort itself changed hands this year. Shanty Creek Ski and Golf Resort LLC, which its executive vice president, Harper Sibley, described as “a Michigan-based investment group,” took over the 5,500-acre resort from Trinidad Resort & Club LLC effective Feb. 26, 2026, according to 9&10 News. Since then the new owner has recorded two mortgages against the resort with the county: a $7 million future-advance mortgage to Next Bridge Funding LLC of Livonia, signed for the company by member Jerry Pattah (dated Feb. 25, recorded April 16, 2026), and a mortgage with a $9.5 million maximum to The Farmers & Merchants State Bank of Archbold, Ohio (dated Aug. 17, recorded Aug. 19, 2026). That is up to $16.5 million in recorded mortgages. The new owners have announced hotel updates.
What the records show
The plant’s groundwater discharge permit expired May 1, 2020. The state lists it as “Extended” while a renewal application filed Oct. 30, 2019, is still “In Process.”
- In a July 13, 2023 violation notice, EGLE listed dozens of phosphorus readings over the limit between November 2019 and May 2023, some above 3 mg/L, and said the violations “appear to be continuing.”
- The same notice said the lagoon’s drip-irrigation field was “reportedly plugged,” one aerator was out of service, and the flow meter wasn’t working properly.
- The plant’s own September 2026 report shows all five weekly phosphorus tests over the 1.0 mg/L limit: 2.1, 1.8, 2.0, 1.9 and 1.7.
- The state’s website lists 1,166 violation entries for the plant. Most are automatic flags generated from the plant’s own reports, and the newest are marked “Active – Not Reviewed,” meaning EGLE staff haven’t reviewed them yet.
- The state file also lists sewage-discharge reports filed in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
- The resort has a second sewage permit for its Schuss Mountain side, held by the Schuss Mountain Water and Sewage Association (GW1810110). It too expired, on June 1, 2020; it is listed as “Extended,” with a renewal “In Process” since Nov. 15, 2019. Its August 2026 report shows phosphorus at 1.2 and 1.9 mg/L against the same 1.0 limit. The state lists 342 violation entries for that plant.
EGLE MiEnviro site record for Shanty Creek Resort WWTF, checked Nov. 1, 2026; violation notice VN-014717, July 13, 2023; discharge monitoring report for September 2026; Antrim County parcel roll (parcel 05-10-032-009-00).
The permit and the record
- State (EGLE)
Groundwater discharge permit GW1810155
Expired May 1, 2020; listed as “Extended”
Issued April 6, 2017, effective May 1, 2017. 2017 permit (public-notice draft) →
- State (EGLE)
Application to renew the permit HNT-GXC1-0YMBV
In process2559 days
Received Oct. 30, 2019. The 2017 permit was put out for public notice and comment before it was issued. State record →
- State (EGLE)
Violation notice VN-014717
Issued July 13, 2023
Phosphorus over the limit from 2019 to 2023, a plugged drip field, an aerator out of service and a faulty flow meter. Earlier notices went out in 2012 and, for phosphorus, in 2016. The notice →
- Plant’s own reports
Phosphorus tests, September 2026
5 of 5 over the limit
Flagged automatically by the state’s system; not yet reviewed by EGLE staff. September report →
The documents
- PDFMortgage to Next Bridge Funding, $7,000,000 (county doc. 202600003274), first page
- PDFMortgage to Farmers & Merchants State Bank, $9,500,000 maximum (county doc. 202600006505), first page
- PDFEGLE violation notice VN-014717, July 13, 2023
- PDFDischarge monitoring report, September 2026
- PDFSchuss Mountain plant (GW1810110) monitoring report, August 2026
- PDFPermit GW1810155, 2017 public-notice draft
- FILEThe state’s live record on MiEnviro
- FILE9&10 News: the sale, Feb. 26, 2026