Search Results for: Line 5

My Memories on the 50th Anniversary of Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore

My first experience with Sleeping Bear Dunes was in the mid-1950s, when I was a teenager, accompanying my family on the Dunesmobile ride. I recall the ride in those convertible Oldsmobile 88s with the big, balloon tires so they didn’t get stuck in the soft sand. That sticks in my mind all these years later because a 1954 Oldsmobile 88 was the first car I ever owned, and I used primarily for my commute from home in Detroit to attend Wayne State University (WSU).

From Earth Day 1970 to Today: 50 Years of Lessons Learned and the Path Forward

Throughout 2020, FLOW has been remembering and reflecting on one of the most consequential years for the environment in America’s history. The 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day — the year in which the U.S. EPA was created, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was authorized, the Michigan Environmental Protection Act became law, and much more — made 1970 a year to remember.

Swine CAFO Threatens Environment, Public Health along Lake Michigan Shoreline

Public notice in a local newspaper in October 2017 announced a permit application for a mammoth swine factory near the Oceana/Muskegon County line along Lake Michigan. Called a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), this proposed pollution factory activated our resistance. Reviving Our American Democracy (ROAD) is a White Lake Area public interest group that has worked hard to stop this outrage ever since.

Déjà Vu: PFAS are Latest in Long Line of Failed Chemical Policies

The discovery of toxic per or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in many Michigan locations, the fear and concern these chemicals have stirred, and the difficulty posed to government officials and the public on how to respond feel familiar to those residents 50 and over. PFAS are just the latest symbols of failed chemical policy in a chain reaching back to World War II. That policy has caused disease and death, ruined landscapes and waters, and cost taxpayers scores of billions of dollars. And still politicians haven’t learned.

Walking the Water Line — a Legal Right, But Difficult as Great Lakes Levels Rise

Pack away those dreams of walking miles from bay to bay along the shores of Lake Michigan this summer—unless you want to get wet, that is—reports Linda Dewey for the Glen Arbor Sun. The U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the public’s right to walk the Great Lakes shoreline in February when it declined to hear an… line-a-legal-right-but-difficult-as-great-lakes-levels-rise/" title="ReadWalking the Water Line — a Legal Right, But Difficult as Great Lakes Levels Rise”>Read more »

DDT: The 50th Anniversary Everyone Forgot

Photo: Michigan State University ornithologist George Wallace By Dave Dempsey Engulfed in a mammoth chemical crisis involving a family of chemicals known as PFAS, Michigan has something to learn from a 50th anniversary that passed unnoticed last month.  In April 1969, Michigan became the first state to effectively ban DDT. It wasn’t easy or quick.  Michigan… Read more »

Public Comment to Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to comment on what is unfortunately a deeply flawed final Line 5 alternatives study. The people of Michigan are ill-served by this study. It cannot serve as a basis for an informed and intelligent decision about the fate of this profound threat to the Great Lakes. Members… pipeline-safety-advisory-board/" title="ReadPublic Comment to Michigan Pipeline Safety Advisory Board”>Read more »