FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, January 10, 2022
More information: Gail Philbin 616-805-3063/gail.philbin@
Brewery Founder Larry Bell is Sierra Club
Michigan Chapter Environmentalist of the Year
LANSING, MI–Three years after their massive 2010 oil pipeline rupture along the Kalamazoo River, Canada’s oil transport giant, Enbridge, decided Comstock Township would be a good place to put toxic dredge from their cleanup operations.
But Enbridge didn’t tell local officials about the dredge pad, didn’t have permits and didn’t see Larry Bell coming. Bell, founder and president of Bell’s Brewery, sued Enbridge, forcing them to halt their dredge dumping operations, which threatened to pollute the water and air near Bell’s nearby Comstock brewery. Bell went on to help create and lead the Great Lakes Business Network five years ago and spearheaded the campaign among Michigan businesses to shut down Enbrige’s Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac.
Today, Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter announced that Larry Bell is their Environmentalist of the Year, the first time in the award’s 30-year history the organization has chosen to honor a business owner who is not a philanthropist. Environmentalist of the Year is the group’s highest honor.
“Larry Bell’s fact-based, non-partisan and pragmatic advocacy has illuminated the dangers of the ticking time bomb that threatens the Great Lakes every day Line 5 is allowed to operate in the Straits of Mackinac,” said Gail Philbin, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter state director. “He and other visionary leaders in the Great Lakes Business Network are indispensible voices for businesses who understand how vital it is that we protect our Great Lakes.”
For Bell, who first earned his environmental chops as a Boy Scout volunteering with his local Sierra Club group in Illinois, Enbridge’s Line 5 was an awakening that began with the 1.2 million-gallon Kalamzoo oil spill, the largest in the state’s history.
“When the spill happened 30 miles away from us, the oil came down the Kalamazoo River and started impacting us,” recalled Bell. “Our eyes were opened. Then we found out there was this pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. It was unbelievable that this company owned those pipelines in the Straits. I said, ‘Hell, yes, I’m in.’”
Bell, who sold his iconic brewery in 2021, said he plans to increase his environmental work.
“I can be stronger now in my sentiments and work harder for the causes I care about,” said Bell.
In addition to Bell,15 other organizations and individuals are being honored this year by Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter. A virtual awards event will be held at 1pm Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022.
Two environmental journalism awards were also announced today by Sierra Club. The Great Lakes News Collaborative and Stephanie Cepak, a communications specialist with Byrum & Fisk Communications, were both honored for their work advancing environmental and energy issues within the news media.
Other Sierra Club awards went to:
Lifetime Excellence Award: Helen LeBlanc
Marlene Fluharty Award: Lee Burton
Sylvania Award: Androni Henry
White Pine Award: The Grand Haven Energy Organization and Urban Core Collective
Trillium Award: Spartan Sierra Club
Theodore Roosevelt Political Leadership Award: Southeast Michigan Group Political Committee
Digital Excellence Award: Julie Geisinger
Service Awards: Brad Kent, Jane O’Neil, Denise Trabbic-Pointer, Lori Dostal and Vicki Olsen
More information on the Sierra Club awards and to register for the Feb. 5 awards event go to:
