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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Sierra Club Announces Leadership Changes for Michigan

Veteran Leader Anne Woiwode is New Conservation Director as New State Director is Named 

January 5, 2015                                                     

Media Contact: David Holtz, 313-300-4454

Lansing, MI—Sierra Club announced today that Anne Woiwode, director of the Michigan Chapter since 1985, has stepped into the newly created role of Michigan Chapter Conservation Director and Assistant Director Gail Philbin is taking over as the organization’s new Chapter Director.

“Gail and Anne will lead a stronger Sierra Club team in Michigan that is prepared to take on the really tough challenges to protecting Michigan’s lakes, rivers, streams, air and public lands,” said David Holtz, Chair of the Michigan Executive Committee. “This new arrangement culminates a transition process that began with the hiring of Gail Philbin and the opportunity to focus all of Anne Woiwode’s extraordinary talents on the critically important task of protecting the Great Lakes state resources and the public health.”

Philbin takes over day-to-day management of the Michigan Chapter, which has 62,000 members and supporters.  She joined the Sierra Club Michigan staff in 2011 as the assistant director.  She is a non-profit administrator and communications professional with a background in the environmental field. She began her career with The Nature Conservancy in Chicago in the 1980s and, prior to coming to the Sierra Club, served as outreach and education coordinator at the Chicago non-profit CNT Energy (now Elevate Energy).  Her diverse career path includes forays into the arts and social services, having been assistant director at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids and donations manager at Second Harvest Gleaners Food Bank (now Feeding America West Michigan).

Anne Woiwode has been involved with the Sierra Club since 1980 and helped lead a 10-year battle to protect 90,000 acres of old growth forest, lakes and dunes through the Michigan Wilderness Act, which passed in 1987 and gave protection to Nordhouse Dunes and other well-loved wilderness areas.  During Woiwode’s time as director, the Michigan Sierra Club has been instrumental in:

·         Passing and implementing Michigan’s first renewable energy law in 2008

·         Forcing Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality to regulate water pollution from large-scale livestock operations in 2002

·         Designating 150,000 acres of national forest lands in Michigan as old-growth forest

·         Protecting the pristine Mason Tract and the south branch of the Au Sable River, one of the world’s premier trout streams, from oil and gas development

·         Blocking eight proposed new or expanded coal-fired power plants in Michigan

·         Passing the Superfund Right to Know provisions in Congress

·         Advocating for environmental justice by fighting waste incineration and toxic contamination

Philbin is a passionate advocate for a more sustainable, healthy and humane food system, and has been involved in West Michigan’s sustainable agriculture movement for a decade. She is a co-founder of the West Michigan Co-op, an online farmers market.  At Sierra Club, she works on agriculture issues and is the coordinator of Less=More, a coalition of organizations, farmers and consumers that seeks to end subsidies for factory farms and support sustainable farming in Michigan.

 “I’m honored to be leading the Michigan Chapter of the nation’s oldest, largest grassroots environmental organization,” said Philbin. “I look forward to working with Anne and David and all the excellent volunteer leaders around the state who have brought us to this point. We’re stronger than we’ve ever been.”

Woiwode, who will spearhead policy and advocacy work for the Michigan Chapter, will focus on martialing Sierra Club volunteers and staff around the organization’s conservation priorities, including mitigating climate change, protecting the Great Lakes system, safeguarding forests and other public lands, and ensuring that the public health is protected through enforcement of state and federal environmental laws.

“I’ve been honored to serve as a staff member of the Michigan Sierra Club for the past 30 years, and I’m eager to move into the new role of Conservation Director to focus on the issues and challenges confronting Michigan today,” said Woiwode. “Our strong leadership team led by Gail Philbin and David Holtz, our deep volunteer ranks and strong staff promise great things ahead during this critical time for the planet.”

NEWS: Sierra Club Endorses McKenzie in Michigan 11th

For Immediate Release,
October 13, 2014

Contact:
Mike Berkowitz
248-345-9808
Mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club Endorses McKenzie in Michigan 11^th
Cites Commitment to Public Transportation, Clean Energy and R&D

Livonia, MI – Today, Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter announced their endorsement of Bobby McKenzie in the race for the 11^th Congressional District. The district includes a large portion of the Detroit metropolitan area including Rochester Hills, Farmington and Livonia. McKenzie is running against David Trott, former partner at Enbridge Energy Partners. Enbridge is responsible for the July 2010 tar sands oil spill that dumped a million gallons of oil along 35 miles of the Kalamazoo River and its tributaries, the largest inland oil spill in American history. 

In response to today’s announcement Anne Woiwode, Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement:

“Bobby McKenzie will be a key voice in the fight to protect Michigan’s great natural heritage. Bobby will be a leader in working to transform critical transportation options in some of Michigan’s hardest hit cities, work that isn’t just great for the environment, but will also go a long way to giving the Detroit region an economic jump start.

Voters have a stark decision to make in the November election: On the one hand, a candidate who sided with the banks during the financial crisis, a candidate who worked with Enbridge,  the company responsible for the largest inland oil spill in American history. While on the other; voters can choose a candidate who has pledged to work for our communities and not the banks that held us hostage, to strengthen the economy not give a free pass to predatory industries, and to create a clean, safe environment that all Michiganders can enjoy.

Bobby is the clear choice to be the next Congressperson for Southeastern Michigan.  His commitment to strong environmental protections, rolling back decades of industrial pollution and support of increased investment in research and development are clear signs he’s ready to lead Michigan towards forward thinking 21^st Century solutions to our energy, economic and environmental challenges.”

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