The following post was written by Jonathan Sharp. Jonathan is the CFO of the Birmingham, Alabama-based, Environmental Litigation Group, PC, a law firm specializing in toxic exposure cases that helps individuals injured by hazardous chemicals on US army installations. Over the past hundred years, the US army has dealt with the lasting consequences of its negligent handling and disposal of […]

We’ve been writing about Line 5, Enbridge’s 67-year-old twin pipelines under the straights of Mackinac for 5 years now: June 23, 2015 — Enbridge Line 5 pipeline beneath Straits of Mackinac – too old, unsafe, and a threat to the Great Lakes September 10, 2015 — As protesters call for Straits of Mackinac oil pipeline to be shut down, Enbridge […]

The Clean Air Act requires U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for pollutants that are considered harmful to the public and environment. In order to do this, the EPA has a long history of including the advice of independent groups of scientists. However, in October of 2018, Trump’s EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, appointed a […]

What’s become painfully clear over the past two and half years is the Donald Trump is the master of creating chaos, in part to create a distraction from the things he doesn’t want people to know about. Many of these things he wants to keep in the shadows relate to reversing any progress made on reversing global warming, loosening environmental […]

We all suspected this was going to be a VERY rough enflamed duck session and we all were right. Two bill introduced this week seek to hurt Michigan’s environment. The first is House Bill 6532. This bill would do away with Michigan’s law that requires non-reusable containers to have a deposit which encourages people to return them to the store […]

The following guest post was provided by Clean Water Action in Michigan, our state’s top environmental watchdog and advocate for clean water. If you’re not familiar with State Rep. Lee Chatfield, I urge you to read the piece I wrote about him last week titled “Northern Michigan Republican Lee Chatfield can’t control his guns or his campaign“. If you’re unfamiliar […]

The following post is cross-posted from our good friends at Michigan Clear Water Action. In mid-June, after months of pressure from Clean Water Action members and public health advocates, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) finally released their study on the health effects of PFAS contamination. Emails between Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials, the White House, and […]

Last week, 550 gallons of coolant containing toxic organic solvents (alkyl derivatives of benzene, specifically) were released into Lake Michigan from an electrical transmission cable running under the Straits of Mackinac. It happened because a ship went through the Straits dragging its anchor. (UPDATE: It appears that it was a tugboat owned by VanEnkevort Tug & Barge.) Enbridge Energy clearly […]

On January 20th, 2009, scientists (and anyone who values science) in the USA breathed a collective sigh of relief. After eight years of President George W. Bush, a Democratic president – Barack Obama – was taking over and science once again took its rightful place in American society as a force for good and an asset to policy making. It’s […]

Three years ago, I was fortunate enough to join nearly 400,000 people in New York City for what has been called the “largest climate-change demonstration in history.” I was in NYC with water warrior, Monica Lewis Patrick of We the People of Detroit to attend the climate march and facilitate a workshop on water at the Church Center for the […]

Next Wednesday, April 13, 2016, Clean Water Action Michigan will hold their 2016 Great Lake Awards Celebration. As in past years, they will be honoring a number of people who have contributed to the important cause of clean water in the Great Lakes State and continue to make waves — keeping the fight to protect Michigan’s most important resources in […]