New Report Shows At Least 16 Coal-fired Power Plants in Michigan Discharge Toxic Coal Ash or Wastewater

Report Highlights Critical Need for Strong Federal Standards

CONTACT: Alison Flowers, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, alison.flowers@sierraclub.org, 303-246-6297

Patrick Geans, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, patrick.geans@sierraclub.org

DETROIT, MICHIGAN -- Today, a coalition of environmental and clean water groups, including the Sierra Club, held a press conference and water sports demo at Belanger Park, River Rouge, Michigan, to demonstrate the importance of strong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards that limit toxic water pollution from coal plants. This event coincided with the release of a new national report this week which shows at least 16 coal-fired power plants in Michigan discharge toxic coal ash or wastewater.


The report, “Closing the Floodgates: How the Coal Industry Is Poisoning Our Water and How We Can Stop It” reviewed water permits for 386 coal plants across the country, and sought to identify whether states have upheld the Clean Water Act by effectively protecting families from toxic water pollution.

The analysis found:

-Of the 274 coal plants that discharge coal ash and scrubber wastewater into waterways nationwide, at least 16 were in Michigan. Worse, only three of these plants even reports how much toxic arsenic and selenium they are discharging in the EPA’s Toxics Release inventory. Those three that do report alone discharged almost 6,000 pounds of arsenic and selenium in one year, according to the Inventory.

-Only eight of Michigan’s active coal plants have permits which limit dumping of any toxic metal, and none of the permits limit arsenic, cadmium, or lead. DTE’s River Rouge Plant, which the NAACP has identified as one of the worst environmental justice offenders in the nation lacks such limits.

-Ten plants are dumping their wastes into water bodies which have been formally designated as having impaired water quality, which includes mercury contamination and active coal power plants are among the largest sources of this toxic pollutant.

“This report makes it clear that DTE needs a lesson in common sense: dumping poisons into our water without disclosing threatens the health, drinking water and recreation opportunities in Detroit,” said Patrick Geans, Sierra Club Michigan Beyond Coal organizer. “Environmental Protection Agency limits on these toxics in our water will prevent children from getting sick, ensure our water is safe to drink and our fish safe to eat, and save lives.”

Existing guidelines written to limit toxics discharged from coal plants do not cover many of the worst pollutants such as those discharged in Michigan rivers and streams, and have not been updated in more than 30 years. In April 2013 the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first ever national standards for toxics dumped into waterways from coal plants.

The Sierra Club’s Michigan Beyond Coal campaign is organizing to support the strongest options for these “effluent limitation guidelines” that will limit the amount of toxic chemicals that are dumped into our waterways.  These standards will also require all coal plants to monitor and report the amount of toxics dumped into our water, giving us detailed information for the first time about the types and amounts of dangerous chemicals in our water.

The new report’s nationwide findings were similarly shocking:

●      Of the 274 coal plants that discharge coal ash and scrubber wastewater into waterways, nearly 70 percent (188) have no limits on the amounts of toxic metals like arsenic, boron, cadmium, mercury, and selenium they are allowed to dump into public waters.

●      Of these 274 coal plants, more than one-third (103) have no requirements to monitor or report discharges of toxic metals like arsenic, boron, cadmium, mercury, and selenium to federal authorities.

●      A total of 71 coal plants discharge toxic water pollution into waterways that have already been declared as impaired. Of these plants that are dumping toxic metals into impaired waterways, nearly three out of four coal plants (53) had no permit that limited the amount of toxic metals it could dump.

●      More than half of the 274 coal plants plants surveyed (144) are operating with an expired Clean Water Act permit. 53 of these power plants are operating with permits that expired five or more years ago.

The new report also reviewed red-line copies of the EPA’s proposed coal plant water pollution standards or “effluent limitation guidelines” obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, finding that the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) caved to coal industry pressure and took the highly unusual and improper step of writing new weak options into the draft guidelines prepared by the EPA’s expert staff.

Sierra Club Praises House Democrats for Proposing Safeguards on Fracking

LANSING – The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, an environmentally-concerned citizens group, today praised a package of bills proposed by Democratic representatives in the state House that will be the first significant legislative initiatives to deal with the growing dangers of fracking. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a controversial process for extracting natural gas that puts Michigan’s fresh water at risk.

“We welcome this package of bills which provides tools for stronger public involvement and accountability by the oil and gas industry,” said Nancy Shiffler, Co-Chair of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s Beyond Natural Gas and Oil Campaign.  “This is a first, important step toward addressing a range of threats to Michigan’s waters posed by risky, loosely regulated drilling.”

The bills in this package will help protect Michigan’s communities and water by requiring public participation in permit decisions, disclosure of chemicals used in fracking fluid, and the means to hold oil and gas companies accountable for their pollution.

The Sierra Club also believes that lawmakers must go beyond the proposals announced today and stop all fracking activity until comprehensive regulations and other measures are adopted to protect Michigan’s air, water and public health.  Michigan citizens and communities are currently vulnerable to serious injury from fracking activities that now take place in Michigan.

The Sierra Club looks forward to working with lawmakers responsible for these important proposals and any others who are interested in protecting Michigan’s air, water and public health from the dangers of fracking.

The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest most effective grassroots environmental organization, with over 150,000 members and supporters in Michigan.

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Sierra Club Offers Ways to Explore, Enjoy, Protect Environment in Traverse City Region

Public Invited to July 17 Organizing Meeting at TADL; July 21 Outing at Sand Lake Quiet Area

People who enjoy the outdoors or are concerned about the quality of their water, air and natural resources or their family’s health are invited to join a conversation about local environmental issues at a Sierra Club organizing meeting Wed., July 17, at 7 pm at the Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Room, 610 Woodmere, Traverse City. The event is free and open to the public.

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter staff and volunteer leaders will explore ways that local residents can get involved in the effort to protect the area’s great natural heritage through outings, legislative and political efforts and educational programs. The event will also offer the chance for people with common interests and concerns to enjoy refreshments and good conversation.

“Sierra Club has been involved in northwest Michigan for nearly five decades, since local residents mobilized to protect Sleeping Bear Dunes back in the ‘60s,” said Gail Philbin, Chapter assistant director. “The area has a strong tradition of active citizens who will fight to protect the environment but who also enjoy and engage in it through hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities. We hope they will come to this meeting and find out how we can work together.”

To RSVP for this event, email gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or call 312-493-2384.

On Sunday, July 21, at Noon, the Sierra Club will also host a hike at Sand Lake Quiet Area, a place of deep forests, lakes and wetlands where all motorized vehicles are prohibited. The event is free and open to the public. The 2-3 hour trek will wind through a serene portion of the Pere Marquette State Forest with five lakes surrounded by rolling hills of oak-pine forest.  To RSVP and for details, contact Lorne Beatty, Michigan Chapter Outings Leader, lorne.beatty@michigan.sierraclub.org or 810-632-7766.

Sierra Club Michigan Statement on President Obama’s Climate Plan

For Immediate Release
June 25, 2013

Contact:  Emily Rosenwasser, Emily.Rosenwasser@sierraclub.org, 312-251-1680 x119

Sierra Club Michigan Statement on President Obama’s Climate Plan

Washington, D.C. –  Today President Barack Obama announced his administration's next steps for building a legacy of action to fight the climate crisis. The plan includes new energy efficiency standards for federal buildings and appliances, scales up responsible clean energy production on public lands with an ambitious new commitment to power 6 million homes by 2020, and uses the full authority of the Clean Air Act to cut dangerous carbon pollution from power plants.

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Director Anne Woiwode released the following statement in response:

"This is the change Michiganders have been waiting for on climate.

“President Obama is finally putting action behind his words, which is exactly what the Sierra Club, our 2.1 million members and supporters, and coalition partners have worked hard to achieve. Today, we applaud him for taking a giant step forward toward meeting that goal.

"By committing to establish new energy efficiency standards for federal buildings and appliances, scale up responsible clean energy production on public lands with an ambitious new goal to power 6 million homes by 2020, and use the full authority of the Clean Air Act to cut dangerous carbon pollution from power plants, the President is stepping up to reduce the climate-disrupting pollution that is destabilizing our climate while threatening our economy and endangering our communities and families with extreme weather and dramatic sea level increases.

"Here in the heart of the Great Lakes, Michiganders are looking forward to the day when the Administration sees fracked gas and tar sands in massive pipelines across our state for what they are - fossil fuels of the past, and a threat to Pure Michigan and public health. Nevertheless, the President's plan gives us hope he will cement his climate legacy and protect future generations by ending destructive oil drilling in the Arctic, rejecting dangerous nukes, halting mountaintop removal, abandoning dirty fossil fuels in favor of clean energy - and by making the critically important decision to reject the dirty and dangerous Keystone XL pipeline."

Sierra Club Hosts Free Screening of The Sky is Pink in Traverse City

Event at Library Focuses on Fracking and Other Issues in Region

Media Contact: Gail Philbin, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter presents a screening of The Sky is Pink, a short film about the controversial method of natural gas extraction known as fracking, Wed., June 26, at 7 pm at the Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Room, 610 Woodmere, Traverse City. The event is free and open to the public.

Grand Traverse-area residents concerned about the quality of their water, air and natural resources are invited to the screening, which will be followed by a discussion of important regional environmental, legislative and political issues. Sierra Club staff and volunteer leaders will present opportunities for concerned citizens to get involved in environmental protection efforts in northwest Michigan.

To RSVP, email William Strong at williamstrong@sbcglobal.net or call 269-372-3642.

The Sky is Pink is an 18-minute documentary by Josh Fox, the Oscar-nominated director of Gasland, about New York state’s urgent crisis of drilling and fracking, a brutal method of extracting deep-seated natural gas that recently has come to northwest Michigan.  Exempt from environmental regulations, fracking blasts 3-7 million gallons of chemical-laced water into rock to release gas.  The result is air pollution and toxic water wells that can produce flaming faucets, as shown in Gasland, and even earthquakes.

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter has been working with legislators on a package of bills to delay its actual practice in order to strengthen regulations to protect people from the fallout of this dangerous process. Learn more at www.michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/Hydrofracking.html

For more information about this event, email williamstrong@sbcglobal.net or call 269-372-3642.

Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers

Thursday, May 2, 2013 

Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers 

Michigan shareholders and ratepayers hold press conference outside DTE Headquarters to represent Southeast Michigan’s missing voices from DTE shareholder meeting in NYC 

DETROIT – Dozens of ratepayers and shareholders gathered in front of DTE Energy’s headquarters today as Michigan’s largest utility held its annual shareholder meeting in New York City, far from its ratepayers and those affected by its corporate policies. The clean energy advocates raised concerns about DTEs dependence on coal, which poses a health risk for residents and a financial risk for shareholders. Clean Energy Now members spoke to an empty chair, symbolizing DTE CEO Gerry Anderson and the board who refused to face concerned shareholders in the utility’s hometown. The group delivered thousands of comments and petitions from DTE’s ratepayers across Southeast Michigan calling on DTE to support clean energy and energy efficiency as well. 

“Ratepayers and shareholders are paying a heavy price as a consequence of DTE’s dependence on dirty energy. Michigan ratepayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of the utility’s risky business decisions,” said Frank Zaski, a DTE shareholder and ratepayer from Franklin.  “Instead of investing in aging infrastructure to continue to burn dirty coal or building an unneeded and extremely costly nuclear plant, DTE has the opportunity to earn returns on large capital investments in clean renewable energy, unleashing innovation and creating thousands of jobs for Michigan workers in new industries.” 

Southeast Michigan is home to DTE Energy’s dirty and outdated coal plants, which emit enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, mercury, soot, smog and particulate matter. Recent studies have linked these contaminants to numerous health problems, including: heart disease, childhood asthma, lung disease and neurological impairment, particularly in infants.  Currently, almost every coal plant owned by DTE has been cited for environmental violations, with several lawsuits against the company by environmental agencies and organizations pending.   

“My kid deserves better, and so do all of the children of southeast Michigan,” said Nicole O’Brien, a concerned mother and ratepayer in Beverly Hills. “It’s shameful DTE is avoiding listening to parents who have kids with health problems. We know these plants are making people sick, yet DTE continues to rely on coal as our major energy source. I’m encouraging DTE to do the right thing and to open their ears to the voices of concerned Michigan residents. It’s long overdue we transition away from coal and embrace renewable energy alternatives to clean up our state and to prevent pollution from harming our kids.”

Douglas Myers, resident of River Rouge who deals with pollution from DTE’s River Rouge coal plant daily, traveled to the New York City annual meeting and said he “felt it necessary to make our voices heard during DTE’s shareholder meeting in NYC for the future of the Downriver Area as well as others that have been at risk for quite sometime due to the dependency of DTE's use of  antiquated coal-fired power plants.” 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), electric rates in Michigan are higher than in 38 other states and are among the highest in the country. Michigan rates were up eight percent last year, compared to rates across the country that were up one percent. By transitioning away from expensive, dirty coal to renewable sources like wind and solar power and by maximizing energy efficiency, DTE could save ratepayers money.  DTE has not made significant investments or commitments to bolster energy efficiency and renewable energy sources beyond the minimum required by state law, publicly stating that no further decisions on clean energy mandates should be made until after the current ones expire in 2015.

In 2012, DTE spent more than $11.8 million to defeat a referendum to raise Michigan’s renewable energy requirements to the same level as found in several neighboring states, despite private acknowledgement that the increased renewable requirement would not harm the company financially.  DTE is also artificially limiting its energy efficiency programs though they are the cheapest form of power. The shareholders and ratepayers at the event today called on DTE to embrace clean energy to help lower costs for ratepayers and to protect Michigan’s air and water.

 

“DTE needs to answer to Michigan residents instead of hiding in New York,” says Dan Marcin, shareholder and PhD candidate in economics from Ann Arbor. “We're calling on DTE to embrace clean, renewable energy to save ratepayers money, and to protect the health and well-being of middle class Michigan families. Let’s launch DTE out of the past and into a cleaner, brighter future. We can only move forward together if DTE’s CEO Gerry Anderson will listen to our collective concerns, and together we are rallying for change.”

Groups that delivered petitions and public comments on Thursday included: Clean Water Action, Ecology Center, Progress Michigan, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists  .

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Clean Energy Now is a collaboration of nearly 50 non-profit organizations in Michigan working to move our state toward a clean energy future.

Michigan Ranks Ninth Nationally for Solar Job Creation

News from Clean Energy Now

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Michigan Ranks Ninth Nationally for Solar Job Creation

Advocates say stronger renewables policies would produce even more jobs and make state a world leader in clean-energy manufacturing

LANSING - Members of the Clean Energy Now (CEN) coalition are applauding a report that shows Michigan ranks 9th in creating new clean energy jobs related to the solar industry.

The report comes from The Solar Foundation (TSF), which also released its State Solar Jobs Map, a web-based tool providing the first-ever solar jobs number for every state in the country (www.solarstates.org). The report shows that, as of late last year, the U.S. solar industry employed 119,016 Americans. The figure represents a 13.2-percent increase in employment over 2011. During the same time, employment in the overall economy grew only 2.3 percent.

Clean energy advocates are urging policymakers to help accelerate the state’s transition away from power generated by aging, dirty coal plants to energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Wind power and energy efficiency are now cheaper ways to meet demand than building new coal or gas-fired plants.

Meanwhile, solar manufacturing and installation prices are falling sharply, and already are a bargain for utilities on hot days, when they must purchase “peak” power far more expensive than solar to meet ramped-up demand.

The advocates also say efficiency, wind, and solar create good-paying, non-exportable jobs.

"Energy efficiency and clean energy are just the shot in the arm Michigan’s economy needs, and we’re thrilled to have still more statistics proving it," said Jim Dulzo with the Michigan Land Use Institute. "By investing in fuel-free options like efficiency, wind and solar, we can rein in the energy price increases we’re seeing, and expand our state’s clean energy manufacturing base. With good state policies, Michigan would quickly become a global renewables manufacturing powerhouse, while cutting harmful, climate-changing emissions. This win-win protects Michigan’s families, their pocketbooks, and natural resources."

Clean energy advocates are encouraging the public to speak out in support of clean energy, and have the opportunity to do so at Governor Snyder’s final  energy forum in Traverse City on April 22nd. For more information, you can go here xx.

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About Clean Energy Now: CEN is a coalition of groups that supports policies that will move Michigan beyond coal power toward greater use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency as a way to protect the environment and build prosperity. Follow the campaign at CleanEnergyNowMI.org.