PRESS RELEASE: New MDEQ Director Ties to Big Oil Disqualify Her from Enbridge Line 5 Decisions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Sierra Club Calls For Heidi Grether To Disqualify Herself 

From Involvement in Enbridge Line 5 Great Lakes Decisions

New Michigan Environmental Chief Who Bragged About Protecting BP Oil 

Would Lead State's Inquiry Into Controversial Pipelines

LANSING--Sierra Club said today that a former oil industry executive appointed as the state’s top environmental official should recuse herself from involvement in decisions about the future of Enbridge’s controversial Great Lakes pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. 

“Heidi Grether’s ties to the oil industry should disqualify her from taking part in important decisions involving oil pipelines in the Great Lakes,” said David Holtz, Michigan Chapter Chair of Sierra Club  “Grether should make it clear she will recuse herself from being involved in the state’s evaluation of Enbridge’s Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac.  Protecting the Great Lakes shouldn’t fall to someone with such close ties to an industry whose profits will be directly impacted by her decisions as a public official.”

Grether, who will take over as director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on August 1, will oversee the state agency that is co-leading the state’s response to the threat of Line 5 in the Straits.   The MDEQ is also playing a key decision-making role in pipeline policy as co-chair of the governor’s Pipeline Safety Advisory Board.  

As General Manager of Gulf Coast External Affairs for BP America Inc., Grether oversaw the oil giant’s response to the massive 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Her work in the oil industry dates to 1993, according to her LinkedIn page.  She took credit on her LinkedIn page for preventing “legislation adverse to BP being introduced in the Gulf states.”

“Grether, as director of MDEQ, may be tempted to help out the oil industry in Michigan, just as she did in 2010 in the Gulf when she lobbied against legislation impacting the industry,” said Holtz.   “It doesn’t make sense to have someone with those close ties to the oil industry overseeing protection of the Great Lakes from oil pipelines who in a few months may be looking for another job when Gov. Snyder leaves office.”

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URGENT ACTION NEEDED ON LAKE ERIE!

Tell the EPA to Declare Lake Erie "Impaired"!

It’s not even summer yet and the algae that plagues Lake Erie and many inland lakes is already causing trouble. The suffocating, sometimes poisonous growth fed mainly by nutrient runoff from agriculture—including animal waste from factory farms—typically causes havoc later in the season. Yet, on June 3 an algal bloom containing microcystin in the Maumee River near Defiance, OH prompted a “no contact” advisory warning against swimming and wading for children, pregnant or nursing women and pets. This is the same toxin that poisoned the Lake Erie water supply for a half-million people in Toledo and southern Michigan in 2014.

The Defiance water warning happened one day after Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan (ECCSCM) recorded dangerous levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the air of Lenawee County.  The pollution came from manure particles released when waste from local factory farms was sprayed on fields, a common practice that can also lead to runoff in waterways.  ECCSCM members found outdoor H2S readings exceeding OSHA Worker Safety and US ArmyCorps of Engineers permissible exposure levels, which they posted on their website, www.nocafos.org. Breathing at the levels they recorded is considered dangerous, and some members had to leave their home for days.

Though miles apart, these incidents are connected by the Western Lake Erie Watershed, which encompasses both the Maumee River, the largest tributary to Lake Erie, and Michigan’s Raisin River in Lenawee County. As shown in the Less=More Coalition’s groundbreaking report, Follow the Manure: Factory Farms and Lake Erie Algal Blooms, the watershed contains 146 factory farms with nearly 12 million livestock that annually generate over 630 million gallons of waste containing dissolved phosphorus that feeds toxic algae. Some of it originates in Lenawee and Hillsdale Counties where ECCSCM members choked on toxic air earlier this month, and eventually joins the waste from dozens of animal factories in the Maumee headed for Lake Erie.

Air and water pollution are the hidden costs of a heavily subsidized industrial food system that churns out deceptively cheap food. Less=More, a sustainable agriculture coalition led by Sierra Club, is tackling the unfair playing field created by taxpayer subsidies and working to shift support away from polluting factory farms to sustainable agriculture. 

This is a long-term solution, but our government could take a big step right now by declaring Lake Erie an “impaired watershed” for nutrients like phosphorus. This federal designation would set a quantitative standard called a Total Maximum Daily Load that could be consistently measured, and regulations could be created and enforced to meet this standard. Michigan currently has phosphorus standards for industry and wastewater treatment plants but none for agriculture.

Join us in calling for action on Lake Erie today! Call or email U.S. EPA Region 5 (Great Lakes Region) Director Robert A. Kaplan and urge him to declare Lake Erie "impaired." Call or email TODAY: (312) 886-3000 or kaplan.robert@epa.gov

Sierra Club Challenges Permit for Fish Farm in Au Sable River

Sierra Club Challenges Permit for Fish Farm in Au Sable River

Hearing Before DEQ Administrative Law Judge Starts February 8

For More Information, including copies of the DEQ-issued Permit and Sierra Club Contested Case Petition challenging it, contact:

Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist:  (906) 360-0288   marvin.roberson@sierraclub.org

LANSING--The Sierra Club announced the commencement of a Contested Case Hearing against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The hearing is regarding a challenge to the Michigan DEQ issuance of a permit to operate the old Grayling Fish Hatchery, situated within the Au Sable River, as an industrial fish farm. The Au Sable is a world famous trout stream, and a destination for thousands of anglers annually.

The DEQ issued the permit to Harrietta Hills, Trout Farm, LLC, to operate the facility on July 1, 2014. The Sierra Club challenged the DEQ permit on August 11, 2014. The challenge was issued under the MDEQ Contested Case procedure, which is similar to a court trial, but held in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Sierra Club is asking the Administrative Law Judge to overturn the permit which allows the facility to operate.

According to Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist, the permit conditions are so lax as to pose a grave danger to the Au Sable ecosystem. “The DEQ issued a permit to operate an industrial scale fish farm right in the Au Sable River. This permit contains absolutely no limits on  the discharge of live fish, dead fish, fish parts, or fish parasites, pathogens, or diseases," said Roberson.

The Sierra Club contends that it is simply not possible to operate a commercial fish farm safely in a location such as the Grayling Hatchery. 

“This facility sits within the flow of the Au Sable. It is an incontrovertible fact that when fish farms are connected to natural bodies of water, animals and diseases move from the farm to the natural water body," said Roberson. 

“This permit seems to bode poorly for the future of safe aquaculture in the state of Michigan” Roberson said, in reference to a major push by the state to increase aquaculture in Michigan. “If the state is willing to allow unlimited live, dead, and diseased fish into a system as small and delicate as the Au Sable, imagine what they will allow into the Great Lakes”.

The hearing begins Monday, February 8 in Lansing, and is scheduled to conclude by Thursday, March 3. Anglers of the Au Sable, based in Grayling, have also filed a petition challenging the permit, and are also plaintiffs in the Contested Case proceeding.

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Federal Funding Flows While Lake Erie Contamination Grows

Sierra Club Calls for Urgent Action, Probe of MDEQ in Flint Public Health Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, October 2, 2015

Media Contact:  David Holtz, david@davidholtz.org/313-300-4454

LANSING—Sierra Club today called on Gov. Rick Snyder to act decisively and urgently to implement plans to end the public health crisis in Flint and to support an independent investigation into the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s oversight of federal drinking water laws.

“Given the clear risks to vulnerable populations and the state’s public health responsibilities this is a time for strong leadership and accountability from state public health authorities and the governor,” said David Holtz, Sierra Club Michigan Chair.  “The governor, finally, is assuming direct responsibility for responding to a crisis that every day is damaging the health of Flint’s children. His actions should be much stronger, however, and he needs to find out how we got to the point where Flint children are drinking lead and what the MDEQ’s role was in those decisions and actions.”

The Snyder administration today outlined a series of steps they will take to address Flint’s public health crisis.   They include accelerated and expanded water treatment, providing filters to some residents, expanded testing of residents and an examination of whether to temporarily switch back to the Detroit water system.  Replacing Flint’s lead pipes over time were also on the administration’s to-do list.

Sierra Club Michigan Director Gail Philbin said only independent testing of Flint’s water for lead will be credible because of questions raised regarding the city and MDEQ’s handling of past test results.

“Parents need to know drinking water is safe for their children,” said Philbin.  “Immediately they need credible testing for lead and alternatives to contaminated water.  The likely best way to ensure safe drinking water in Flint is to change to a safe and reliable drinking water source and that’s Detroit’s water system and to eliminate lead pipes.”

Investigations by the ACLU and nationally recognized drinking water expert Marc Edwards at Virginia Tech University have pointed to failures in testing and enforcement of federal drinking water standards by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.   An MDEQ spokesman reportedly attacked Virginia Tech’s results and complained about the “near-hysteria” over Flint’s water supply. The Virginia Tech researcher documented what he called “mistakes and deception” involving the MDEQ’s handling of Flint’s drinking water problem.

“Along with ensuring Flint residents aren’t drinking lead, we need for the governor to ensure that the public gets answers to what happened and why we ended up with a public health crisis in Flint,” said Holtz.   “That will require an independent investigation.  If that’s something Governor Snyder is unwilling to do we need federal authorities to determine to what extent, if any, state officials who are responsible for implementing federal drinking water standards are accountable for the public health crisis in Flint.”

The Greater Flint Health Coalition, a group of health professionals in the Flint community, has concluded that Flint’s drinking water is unsafe because of elevated lead blood levels. The city of Flint began using the Flint River as a water source in April 2014 following a decision made by emergency manager Darnell Earley. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies show that lead in drinking water can cause serious health problems and that the greatest risk of lead exposure is to infants, young children and pregnant women.  Scientists have linked the effects of lead on the brain with lowered IQ in children.

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DEQ Livestock Factory Permit Change: Small Change in Nutrient Pollution of Lake Erie and Michigan Waters

Contact: Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club, 517-484-2372 x11, anne.woiwode@sierraclub.org
Lynn Henning, Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, 517-605-7740, lynnh@sraproject.org
Pam Taylor, ECCSCM, ptaylor001@msn.com

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced a change to water quality permits for livestock factories, known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that takes a small step toward addressing massive nutrient pollution entering Michigan’s waterways, in particular Lake Erie. Farmers that receive waste from CAFOs in January, February or March must follow the same restrictions as permitted CAFOs regarding application of wastes to fields.

Phosphorous pollution from agriculture, including CAFO wastes, contributes to the deadly growth of blue green algae (cyanobacteria), which last summer caused the shutdown of drinking water to Toledo, Ohio, and surrounding communities after toxins they produced entered the water system.  The Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan (ECCSCM), the Sierra Club and Socially Responsible Agriculture Project (SRAP) issued the following statements on the DEQ’s permit change:

“MI DEQ's new permit includes one revision that imposes a few restrictions on CAFOs that manifest, give or sell, waste to others. Unfortunately, Michigan has not stepped forward to protect Lake Erie by prohibiting all manure application on frozen or snow-covered ground, as recommended by the International Joint Commission and many scientific studies. As ECCSCM has documented for years, manure still runs off those fields in sun, thaw, rain, and spring melt, and still drains through surface inlets to tiles, which flow to streams, and on to Lake Erie.” Pam Taylor, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan

“The Snyder Administration’s DEQ is very slowly beginning to acknowledge that voluntary programs for controlling the massive amounts of pollution from animal factories are not working to protect the Great Lakes or downstream communities.  While we appreciate this first, small step, we are eager to see the state get serious about protecting public health and our waters, and require these massive operations to be regulated like the industrial scale operations they are.”  Anne Woiwode, Conservation Director, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

"The new permit standard is only as good as its implementation and enforcement.  We urge DEQ make good on its responsibility to protect Michigan waters by better regulation of the millions of gallons of untreated waste produced by industrial confinement operations and protect Michigan waters." Lynn Henning, field coordinator, Socially Responsible Agricultural Project

posted May 6, 2015

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Sierra Club Comments on DEQ Draft CAFO Permit, 1/21/15

Comments at MDEQ Water Resources Division Hearing

Regarding Changes to MDEQ General Permit for CAFOs
(NPDES Permit No. MIGO10000)

By Gail Philbin, Director, Michigan Sierra Club, Jan. 21, 2015

The Michigan Sierra Club appreciates the opportunity to speak at this hearing on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)’s draft national Pollution Discharge Elimination System Wastewater Discharge General Permit for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

Sierra Club has been working on the issue of CAFO pollution in Michigan since 1999 when we first petitioned the US EPA to take away Michigan's delegated authority to run Clean Water Act programs. We did this because at that time the state was refusing to require permitting for CAFOs.  The fact that we have a permit to even debate today shows some progress on the issue over the last 15 years, but what we’re commenting on today (both the process for drafting it without a stakeholder group, and the content) appears to be a step backward, not forward. Enforcement by the DEQ has fallen off and we have substantial concerns that this administration is not taking seriously the need for both a strong permit that has clearly enforceable standards and staff on the ground to investigate and enforce the law.

The proposed CAFO permit falls far short of protecting the health and well-being of Michigan citizens. It both weakens existing provisions in the current permit and fails to add needed improvements based on the growing body of scientific documentation of sources and effects of CAFO pollution. The crisis in Toledo last summer that left hundreds of thousands of people without drinking water for two days was caused in part by waste runoff from Michigan CAFOs in the Maumee River watershed.  It spotlighted the urgent need for Michigan, along with neighboring states, to enact strong, scientifically based and enforceable requirements for the proposed new Michigan CAFO General Permit. And it highlighted in sharp relief the danger to public health of not taking action.

Fortunately, the DEQ has the opportunity right now to take positive steps to protect public health and ensure that something like the Lake Erie water crisis doesn’t happen again. We support the comments and recommendations made by our colleagues today and have submitted joint comments with several groups.  

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Snyder Should Ban, Not Study Radioactive Waste Imports to Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         More Information:

Monday, August 25, 2014                               Mike Berkowitz

                                                                        248-345-9808

Sierra Club:  Snyder Should Ban, Not Study 

Radioactive Waste Imports to Michigan

LANSING, MI--Michigan Sierra Club criticized Gov. Snyder’s decision today to study rather than prevent radioactive wastes from being imported to Michigan from other states.

“We shouldn't be accepting radioactive waste from other states, period,” said Mike Berkowitz, Sierra Club Legislative Director.  “Creating a study group is more about public relations than protecting Michigan’s drinking water sources.  What possible reason is there for Michigan to be burying other states’ radioactive wastes?

“The fact that the governor has already said in advance of the study that our current rules allowing wastes are protective enough speaks volumes. If Governor Snyder is unwilling to protect Michigan from radioactive wastes, then lawmakers need to step up and fill the void.”

Berkowitz pointed out that in announcing the study, Gov. Snyder gave no deadline for completing it or whether the study group would take input from the public.

Nearly 40 tons of radioactive sludge from Pennsylvania gas drilling operations is being shipped to a Michigan hazardous waste site after it was rejected by Pennsylvania as well as West Virginia.  Wayne Disposal in Belleville near Willow Run Airport is the destination for the large radioactive waste shipment from Pennsylvania.  Other states, meanwhile, are either banning or tightening regulations on radioactive waste disposal, making Michigan an attractive target for disposal.

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