FLOW in the News


2024

January 2024

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2023

January 2023

January 8, 2023; MLive

Rollback of Trump-era water rules unlikely to alter Michigan regulations

“Recent rollbacks of Trump-era federal water laws are unlikely to change much about how Michigan’s waterways are regulated, though experts say the move will enhance water protections around the Great Lakes and across the rest of the country.

Michigan is among just a few states authorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to run its own wetlands regulatory program to maintain compliance with the federal Clean Water Act under state laws. The updated federal rule defines which “waters of the United States” are protected.”

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January 13, 2023; UpNorthLive

BATA partners with advertising agency to provide free ads to nonprofits

“It always brings a smile to my face when you see something like that, especially not only because we’re getting a good message out, but also when you have a canvas as large as a bus that you can utilize to get your message out, it just makes it even more stand out you know,” said Eric Linguar director of communications and development for BATA.”

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January 15, 2023, BBC

Why Michigan is trying to shut down Canada’s Enbridge Line 5 pipeline

“But two years later, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Mr Snyder’s Democratic successor and a long-time opponent of Line 5, ordered the company to cease operations in the Straits, effectively shutting Line 5 down. She called it an “unreasonable risk” to the Great Lakes, one of the largest sources of fresh water in the world and an economic engine for the region.

Now, there is no end in sight for the ongoing battle over the fate of the project, the pipeline and the need to protect the Great Lakes.”

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January 17, 2023; Bridge Michigan

Opinion | Keep Michigan water affordable and in public hands

“In 2023, Michigan needs an inspiring vision, championed from the highest places inside our government and out. In her State of the State message set for Jan. 25, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a chance to show the way by articulating bold proposals for Michigan’s water. I urge her to declare 2023 the Year of Keeping Water Public and Protected for All in Michigan.”

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January 21, 2023; Northern Express

Finding Power in All the Right Places

“While the exact numbers vary by study, an increasingly smaller percentage of the world’s population holds an increasingly larger percentage of global wealth. Interwoven with this reality are issues of race, privilege, access, consumption, and power. Wealth also determines who controls and most deeply impacts Earth’s resources, shifting their use from public good to private gain and bringing us to this critical point, where having clean air, land and water, biodiversity, and a stable climate is at risk.”

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January 24, 2023; Illinois State University—By University staff

World Water Day: Tribal sovereignty talk, March 21

“To mark World Water Day, Zach Welcker will deliver the lecture, “Tribal Sovereignty and Water: The Long View on Water Use and Management” at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 21 in the Circus Room at the Bone Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. 

Welcker is the legal director of For Love of Water (FLOW), a nonprofit organization with the mission to ensure the waters of the Great Lakes Basin are healthy, public, and protected. Welker is FLOW’s first full-time legal director, who is responsible for building on FLOW’s legal power, policy acumen, and partnerships among tribes, conversation groups, frontline communities, justice organizations, and scientists. “

February 21, 2033; TVO Today

What Will Be the Fate of Line 5?

“An ongoing standoff between the U.S. State of Michigan and Canada over Enbridge’s Line 5 will likely be on the agenda for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s meeting with President Joe Biden in March. Experts in Michigan, Calgary, Quebec, and Ontario discuss developments related to ageing pipeline, what the two leaders should address, the environmental transition underway in Canada and abroad, the safety of the Great Lakes, the ripple effects disruptions to Line 5 could have, all against a backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impacts on global energy supply and markets.”

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February 22, 2023; TV 9&10

Attorney General’s Case Against Enbridge Could Move to State Court

“The State’s case against Enbridge over Line 5 is one step closer to moving back down from federal to state court. On Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan granted Attorney General Dana Nessel’s request for an appeal. She believes the district court made legal errors when it denied her request to move the case back to state level.”

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February 23,2023; UpNorth Live

Line 5 hearings could soon return to state courts

“The motion argued that the case should have never been brought to federal court to begin with, arguing a district court had made clear legal errors and abused its discretion. Nessel’s petition was granted earlier this week, which allows her to ask the Federal Court of Appeals to step in and possibly bring the case back to the state level. Staff with For the Love of Water(FLOW) said moving the case back to state court is the right decision.”

March 4, 2023; Northern Express

Northern Express Fascinating People of 2023

JoAnne Cook: The Cultural Champion
Growing up in the 1960s in Peshawbestown, JoAnne Cook faced a lot of challenges…and has seen a lot of changes. Today, as the mother of three adult sons, much of her life is focused on being an active member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB). ‘I do cultural activities,’ Cook explains. ‘I’m learning to make quill boxes and learning the language, along with one of my sons.’ And when she’s not working on her quill boxes, you might catch her at a tribal event performing as a jingle dress dancer or teaching a class on Anishinaabe history.”

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March 14, 2023; TV9&10 News

For Love of Water in Traverse City Reacts to EPA’s Proposed Limit on PFAS

“Michigan has become a leader in cleaning PFAS contamination in our lakes since community systems in the state get their drinking water from both surface and ground water sources where these chemicals can be found.

FLOW says that ensuring the water utilities are up to the standard that is protective of human health is a priority.”

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March 23, 2023, Sierra Magazine

A Battle for the Future of the Great Lakes

“The pipelines cross more than 200 waterways. There have been at least 34 known documented spills along Line 5’s pathway. It’s only providing 5 to 10 percent of the oil for Michigan’s needs. That can easily be picked up with other pipelines. A society that treasures its most precious resource—water—would not allow this to continue. That’s what this battle is about: This is a battle for the future of the Great Lakes.”

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2022

January 2022

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Sept. 22, 2022; International Joint Commission

Building Consensus for Prioritizing Groundwater Protections in the Great Lakes

“Water flows through a single cycle from air to surface water and groundwater, or from land to lakes and streams, evaporating and beginning its journey all over again. But environmental law and policy often overlook an entire arc of the cycle, regulating groundwater separately and increasing the potential for risks to public health and ecosystem degradation. 

The 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement is beginning to change that. One important step forward is the inclusion of an annex devoted to groundwater. Annex 8 commits the Canadian and United States governments to coordinating groundwater science and management actions. The goal is to build the base of knowledge about the impact of groundwater on the Great Lakes, leading to specific policy and science actions.”

Oct. 7, 2022; Daily KOS

The Army Corps of Engineers is receiving hundreds of comments daily opposing the Line 5 tunnel

“A proposed tunnel that natural gas behemoth Enbridge claims is necessary to protect a section of its Line 5 pipeline is facing widespread pushback from community members and climate activists concerned about keeping the 4.5-mile section of pipeline that runs through the Straits of Mackinac—which is nearing 70 years in service—connected to Enbridge’s larger 645-mile system. The Army Corps of Engineers is presently in a scoping period seeking public comment on the tunnel project. Hundreds daily are responding with climate concerns as well as environmental justice concerns.”

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Oct. 10, 2022; MLive

Michigan septic inspection bill to protect water from leaks may spill into next legislative session

“Michigan is the sole state in the nation without a statewide septic code and a bill in the state House is meant to remedy that, perhaps in the coming lame duck session.

A Macomb County lawmaker said a point-of-sale septic inspection program works in his community and he believes something similar could be expanded statewide. Scientists estimate as much as 20% of Michigan’s aging and widely unregulated septic systems have failed and are leaking harmful bacteria into groundwater and waterways, which can cause illness if consumed or contacted.”

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Oct. 11, 2022; Life in Michigan

Stand Against Line 5

“Join FLOW today so you can stay informed and help stop the Enbridge Oil Tunnel. A few things I learned:

  • Line 5 carries nearly 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids each day. It was built in 1953 to last 50 years, Line 5 is nearly 70 years old.
  • Outside the Straits, Line 5 has failed at least 33 times since 1968, spilling more than 1.1 million gallons of oil in Michigan and Wisconsin. 
  • A Line 5 oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac could strike a $6 billion blow to Michigan’s economy, communities, and natural resources.”

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Oct. 14, 2022; Daily Kos

Line 5 has got to go—without a tunnel taking its place. Tell the Army Corps of Engineers TODAY

“Line 5, the 645-mile-long segment of Enbridge’s Lakehead Pipeline system that runs between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada crosses one of the most delicate and cherished stretches of fresh water in North America: the Straits of Mackinac. This narrow body of water connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron is a place of subtle beauty and much cultural and ecological significance. For the past 69 years, however, this precious ecosystem has faced a dire threat presented by Line 5. The twin 20-inch pipelines rest out in the open on the bottom of the straits and are vulnerable to the elements, anchor strikes from freighters, and the inherent material stress resulting from the transport of millions of gallons of petroleum products per day under high pressure.”

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Oct. 27, 2022; The Record Eagle

Clean Water Act Turns 50

“The 1972 legislation signified a reckoning of society’s devastating impact on the natural environment. While CWA falls far short of its original objective, the National Wildlife Federation reports CWA succeeds in keeping 700 billion pounds of pollutants out of the nation’s waters annually.

“Analyzing the success and failures over 50 years is complicated,” said Liz Kirkwood, executive director of the Traverse City-based water advocacy nonprofit FLOW (For Love of Water).

“Has there been adequate federal and state level funding? Sometimes there has and sometimes there hasn’t.”

November 16, 2022; The Record-Eagle

Business Memoranda: 11/16/2022

“For Love Of Water (FLOW) recently elected these new board officers for fiscal year 2023: Chair Renee Huckle Mittelstaedt, former president/CEO of Huckle Media LLC; Vice Chair Benjamin Muth, Ann Arbor-based attorney; Treasurer Sarah Naperala, organizational consultant with Naperala Consulting and Secretary Lisa Wyatt Knowlton, executive adviser and learning leader with Wyatt Advisors. Joel Evenhouse, a Traverse City-based client success manager at Betterment, newly joined the board. FLOW is a Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City.”

 

November 18, 2022; Great Lakes Now

Democrats in control: Advocates want action on justice, climate and “stronger leadership” from Gov. Whitmer

“Elections have consequences, the saying goes, and for the Michigan Democratic party, the election last week resulted in a sweep of the race for governor and the legislature. Now comes their opportunity to deliver on long-stalled environmental initiatives.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was re-elected and for the first time in almost 40 years, Democrats will be the majority in the legislature. The results prompted Whitmer to say it’s time to “step on the accelerator” to enact her administration’s priorities that include her climate plan, clean water and environmental justice initiatives.”