Tag: great lakes

Cleaner Energy = Cleaner Water

Published on October 6th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

 

The Michigan legislature is poised to require that 100 percent of electric power come from carbon-free sources by 2035, in what would be among the most comprehensive clean energy initiatives in the country. The ambitious legislative agenda, fulfilling Governor Whitmer’s MI Healthy Climate Plan, would also increase energy efficiency standards, address energy equity in disadvantaged communities, and empower the Michigan Public Service Commission to consider climate change, affordability, and equity in its decision-making. The passage of the bills would save Michigan ratepayers an estimated $5.5 billion through 2050. 

These benefits to Michigan are on top of the energy investments flowing from the federal Inflation Reduction Act that have catalyzed an estimated over $21 billion in new investment in Michigan, helped create almost 16,000 good-paying clean energy jobs, and brought 24 major new clean energy manufacturing projects to Michigan – more than any other state.

But these are not the only measurable benefits that the energy transition brings to Michigan. As we celebrate Michigan’s newfound leadership in clean energy, it’s vitally important to underscore the positive impact the energy transition will have on Michigan’s water resources.

Decarbonizing Michigan’s Economy Will Dramatically Improve Water Quality

Governor Whitmer’s MI Healthy Climate Plan will not only accelerate Michigan’s clean energy transition and decarbonize our economy, it will provide long-term benefits to Michigan’s water resources.

As we retire fossil fuel-based energy sources and replace them with clean energy technologies – wind and solar power, green hydrogen, electric vehicles, and energy storage devices – we will markedly and measurably reduce the harmful impacts that producing and burning fossil fuels have on our Great Lakes, rivers and streams, and groundwater. 

Unlike fossil fuels which are finite, costly, inherently dirty, and cause billions of dollars of negative environmental and health impacts, wind and solar energy are free, clean, and are almost without harmful impacts to the environment and human health.

Impacts from Thermoelectric Generation

Water and energy have always been highly interdependent. Producing power uses tremendous amounts of water. From the first water wheels used to ground grain 6,000 years ago, through the Roman age of invention where water was moved great distances to irrigate crops and provide drinking water, to the production of energy from hydropower, fossil-fuel, and nuclear power plants, water has always been an essential component of energy production.

Electricity generated by steam from burning coal or natural gas, and nuclear fission – called thermoelectric generation – accounts for 67 percent of water use in the Great Lakes Region, and 74 percent of all water use in Michigan. Thermoelectric generation causes significant, harmful, and destructive direct impacts on our water resources. 

Power plants need massive amounts of cooling water to operate. Water pumped from the Great Lakes and their tributary rivers “entrains” or kills millions of fish and aquatic organisms, including early-life-stage fish, eggs, and larvae. Once heated, water released from power plants causes thermal impacts that stress and kill fish and other aquatic organisms. Warm water also can change fish populations, decrease dissolved oxygen levels, propagate algae, and alter “benthic communities” – the broad ecological biome of animals (including crustaceans and mussels), plants, and bacteria that live in the water and the lake bottom.

Impacts from Coal

Michigan’s coal plants are also responsible for the widespread pollution of our Great Lakes. Available data show that Michigan-based coal-fired plants emit approximately 3000 lbs. of mercury (a powerful neurotoxin) every year.. Coal plants are responsible for 57 percent of all mercury present in the Great Lakes, resulting in  official health advisories cautioning the public to limit consumption of Great Lakes fish. In 2016 alone, thermoelectric power plants in Michigan also emitted 101,950 tons of sulfur dioxide, 57,819 tons of nitrogen oxide, and 58,644,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

In addition to these contaminants, coal combustion produces air emissions that contain lead, particulates, and various other heavy metals that are deposited in our lakes, rivers , and streams. Coal combustion also produces fly ash and slag, which have been deposited in unlined landfills for many decades. Recent research has revealed that of the 52 known coal ash landfills in Michigan, almost all are leaking heavy metals into Michigan’s groundwater. 

Mining coal also consumes huge amounts of water In 2021, 50 to 59 gallons of water were used for each of the 577 million tons of coal mined.

Impacts from Oil and Gas 

There are more than 900,000 active oil and gas wells in the United States. Oil and gas production from shale formations uses 1.5 to 16 million gallons of water for each well. This water becomes contaminated with a variety of chemicals and oil and gas constituents.

Oil and gas produced from shale formations require “hydraulic fracturing,” a process using large volumes of water, chemicals, and sand pumped under high pressure to keep pore spaces open so that oil and gas can be recovered. The drilling process yields contaminated “flow-back” water, as well as naturally occurring brine that is pumped out with the oil and gas. This chemical laden water is then disposed of by pumping it back deep underground. 

Burning natural gas produces emissions that include nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter – all of which inevitably find their way into Michigan’s surface waters.

Pipelines transport crude oil and gas to refineries, and refined oil and gas to their end use. Between 1998 and 2017 there were 11,758 pipeline spills in the United States that were classified as “significant” by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Included among them is the most catastrophic pipeline failure in United States history. The Enbridge pipeline rupture near Marshall, Michigan in July 2010, released more than 1 million gallons of tar sands oil into a direct tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The rupture of Enbridge’s Line 6B resulted in pervasive contamination and massive ecological damage to the waters and surrounding wetlands. 

Another oil pipeline now threatens the world’s most valuable fresh surface water system. The 70-year-old Line 5, also owned and operated by Enbridge, traverses the Straits of Mackinac at the confluence of Lakes Michigan and Huron. The free spanning underwater pipeline has been repeatedly struck by ship’s anchors and cables dragged by passing vessels have damaged the pipeline and its supports. Line 5 is uniquely vulnerable to multiple impacts that could result in irreversible environmental harm and billions of dollars of damage to the Great Lakes regional economy.

Climate Change and Michigan Waters 

We are only beginning to understand the pervasive impact climate change is having on our lakes, rivers, and other water-dependent resources. Climate change brings specific climate related impacts, risks, and challenges to the protection and management of public water resources.

The combustion of fossil fuels has raised regional temperatures 2.3 degrees since 1951. Warming temperatures destabilize lake, river, and stream ecology, altering conditions and habitat for fish and aquatic organisms. Like the oceans, the Great Lakes are absorbing excess heat. Lake Superior, despite its size, is one of the fastest warming lakes in the world with temperatures increasing 3-4 degrees fahrenheit.

Warming temperatures are changing our weather. The National Climate Assessment forecasts both increased frequency and severity of storm events in the Great Lakes region. Increased flooding will cause sewer overflows that reach our Great Lakes; increased soil erosion; and more fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides washing into our streams and rivers.

The Energy/Water Nexus. 

We can mitigate or even potentially avoid the most severe effects of climate change by implementing Governor Whitmer’s energy and climate plans. The transition from fossil fuels to clean energy cannot come soon enough. 

The benefits of the proposed energy transition to our water resources are not speculative, they are measurable and based in science. Wind and solar energy are now the cheapest new energy infrastructure available worldwide. Every megawatt-hour of wind and solar energy saves 8,240 gallons of water from being used for themal cooling.

An acre of solar panels producing electricity keeps 121 to 138 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, every year.  That same acre of solar panels can power an electric vehicle 40 to 100 times farther than ethanol produced from the same acre of corn. And ethanol production can require up to 865 gallons of water for each gallon of fuel produced. 

The benefits of clean energy, significant as they are, pale when compared to the harms that clean energy can help us avoid. The economics of clean energy do not include the difficult to quantify but very real aggregate cost of “negative externalities” – the harmful environmental and health impacts that flow from the use of fossil fuels. 

Annual environmental and health damages linked to coal mining, processing, and combustion have been estimated at $345 billion annually (2010 dollars). The annual environmental and health damages from burning fossil fuels has been estimated at up to $970 billion annually.

Globally, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that pollution from fossil fuels cost the world’s economy more than $5.6 trillion in 2022. This amount, when added to the cost of fossil fuels, is roughly equivalent to total annual global energy expenditures. The favorable economics of clean energy technologies are undeniable. There is an overwhelming and compelling basis to transition from fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

Governor Whitmer’s clean energy and climate initiatives redound with multiple benefits to public health, the environment, the business community, and Michigan citizens at large.  And thanks to the Governor’s policies that are being advanced today, the largest, most extraordinary fresh surface water system in the world – our Great Lakes – will also enjoy long-term future benefits and be preserved and protected for our future generations.

Where do plastic bags and bottles go to die?

Published on August 18th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Where do plastic bottles and plastic grocery bags go to die when they’re discarded?

The better question might be, do they ever die?

Studies around the world have shown that many plastics break into small pieces, or microplastics, that persist indefinitely. They clutter the ocean – and the Great Lakes. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there are 112,000 particles of plastic per square mile of Great Lakes water. And a sampling of Lake Ontario and Lake Superior fish found the “highest concentration of microplastics and other anthropogenic [human-made] microparticles ever reported in bony fish, including 12,442 anthropogenic microparticles in 212 fish from nearshore Lake Ontario, and 3094 in 119 fish from Lake Superior. 35-59% of the particles were microplastics.”

Plastic particles 5 millimeters (0.2 inch) or smaller are considered to be microplastics. Studies have found microplastics in the atmosphere, on land, and in oceans and freshwaters. They have also made their way into drinking water and foods intended for human consumption. And from there they enter the human body.

While the specific, causal effects plastics may have on human health are yet unknown and currently being researched, animal studies suggest that plastics and plastic byproducts affect digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive, and immune systems. Plastics may act as both physical and chemical stressors to people, as they enter through the human digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems.

Another study attempted to estimate the global mean rate of human consumption of microplastics, producing a figure of 0.1–5 g of microplastics per week. Variability is high depending on location, age, size, and cultural factors. The high end is roughly equivalent to ingesting a credit card’s weight of different types of plastics every week.

Although we don’t yet know how microplastics affect human health, there are worrisome signals. Preventing human exposure to microplastics should be a priority. Finding substitutes for the microplastics that are intentionally added to agricultural chemicals, paints, cosmetics, and detergent, for example, is critical. For example, scientists are now piloting a system based on biodegradable silk instead.

There is hope – but there is also urgency.

The Great Lakes State Must Protect Fresh Water and Human Health from Untreated Sewage

Published on March 20th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Editor’s note: Register today! FLOW will host a webinar on Tuesday, March 21, offering legal, scientific, economic, and political perspectives on the urgent need and critical opportunity for Michigan to finally join the rest of the nation in adopting a law to protect public health and fresh water from septic pollution. The online event is free and open to the public. Learn more and register today! Follow FLOW’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to stay current. Also see FLOW’s legislative agenda in Michigan, which highlights the need for a septic code. 

By Skip Pruss, FLOW Legal Advisor

How is it that Michigan, the Great Lakes State, surrounded by the largest, most valuable fresh surface water system in the world, is the only state in the nation without standards to address defective and failing septic systems?

Skip Pruss, FLOW Legal Advisor

Yes, it’s true. The other 49 states recognize that failing and substandard septic systems represent a clear and present danger to public health and the environment. The other 49 states have laws that set minimum standards for the construction, maintenance, and inspection of septic systems for treating human sewage—but remarkably, Michigan has not.

And we know that Michigan’s  neglect has led to widespread surface water and groundwater contamination.

Scientific studies have shown that human fecal contamination can be found in 100% of our river systems in the Lower Peninsula and that substandard, failing, or nonexistent septic systems are the primary cause. Statewide, up to 26 percent of Michigan’s 1.3 million septic systems at homes and businesses may be failing, with many of those floundering systems located on our Great Lakes shorelines and on our inland lakes and streams. 

Failing septic systems deliver disease-causing pathogens to surface water and groundwater. They can elevate nitrate levels in drinking water, putting infants and pregnant women at risk, and cause harmful algae blooms. Poorly maintained septic systems can result in the need for expensive repairs or replacement, impairing property values. 

It Is Time for Legislative Action

Michigan’s new legislature has the opportunity to accomplish what prior legislatures have been unable or unwilling to do—set legal standards for the reasonable oversight of onsite wastewater treatment systems, as every other state has done. Enacting legislation will help identify failing systems, protect groundwater and drinking water wells, support property values, and reduce contaminated wastewater migrating to our lakes, rivers, and streams.  

The Great Lakes surrounding Michigan hold 95 percent of all available fresh surface water in the United States and 84 percent of all fresh surface water in North America. We are blessed with over 3,200 miles of Great Lakes coastline—the largest freshwater coastline in the world.

Safeguarding our Great Lakes is a deeply shared value. Polling by the International Joint Commission has found overwhelming support (88 percent) for protecting water quality across broad demographic groups and respondents of all ages.

Despite daily indications of bitter polarization in our politics, properly addressing failing septic systems is a rare area of political consensus. Protecting Michigan’s extraordinary water resources is an important area of common ground, bringing citizens together in common purpose and bridging political divides. 

Now is the time.

About the Author

Skip Pruss is a legal adviser with FLOW and formerly directed the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth. You can reach him at pruss@5lakesenergy.com.

New York Lawmakers Introduce Bill Based on FLOW’s Model ‘Public Water, Public Justice’ Act

Published on March 9th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

By Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director

FLOW Legal Director Zach Welcker

New York State Senator Rachel May and Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas have introduced companion legislation to enact the Public Water Justice Act, a bill derived from FLOW’s (For Love Of Water’s) model Public Water, Public Justice Act. The proposed legislation, S.238A and A.5104, prohibits the sale of waters of the state unless otherwise specifically authorized and establishes a public water justice fund for royalties collected from persons or entities authorized to sell waters of the state. The fund would be used to achieve a suite of public health and environmental benefits in the State of New York.

New York’s Public Water Justice Act incorporates concepts set forth in FLOW’s Public Water, Public Justice Act—comprehensive model legislation drafted by Jim Olson and FLOW’s legal team in response to the water shutoffs in Detroit and the Flint water crisis. In those cases, many residents were not only denied public water but also forced to buy bottled water from private companies who obtained state-owned water for next to nothing. 

FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood

“It is gratifying to see this legislation move forward in a sister Great Lakes state,” said FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood. “It makes no sense to allow water bottlers to appropriate our public water, sell it for huge profits, without any benefits accruing to the public.”

Liz Kirkwood, FLOW’s Executive Director, said that FLOW’s legal team has been working with New York senate and assembly staff to enact the bill into law. “It is gratifying to see this legislation move forward in a sister Great Lakes state,” Kirkwood said, “It makes no sense to allow water bottlers to appropriate our public water, sell it for huge profits, without any benefits accruing to the public.”

Jim Olson, FLOW’s Founder and Senior Legal Advisor

Jim Olson, the founder of FLOW, who drafted the legislation, stated, “At the end of the day, FLOW works to foster equitable public policy for the common good. With the loss of access to public water from pollution and climate change, underscored by the recent crises in Jackson, Mississippi and hurricane Ian, laws like New York’s proposed Public Water Justice Act will assure public funds from public water to vindicate  the public’s right of access to safe water.”

“At the end of the day, FLOW works to foster equitable public policy for the common good,” said Jim Olson, the founder of FLOW, who drafted the legislation.

While it is unclear how much revenue the proposed legislation would generate in New York, Michigan would raise approximately $250 million per year if it enacted similar legislation.

Combating CAFO Pollution

Published on March 9th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

By Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director

On February 16, 2023, FLOW (For Love Of Water) and 10 other environmental groups filed an amicus brief asking the Michigan Supreme Court to strike down an appellate court ruling that prevents the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (“EGLE”) from fulfilling its duty to protect Michigan’s waters from wastes generated by concentrated animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”). CAFOs are essentially industrial livestock operations masquerading as farms. They put meat on the table by employing a process that is equal parts cruel to animals and destructive to the planet.

FLOW Legal Director Zach Welcker. (Photo by John Robert Williams)

A single, large CAFO produces one-and-a-half times more untreated waste than the human sanitary waste produced by the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Warren combined.

Our amicus or “friend of the court” brief focuses solely on curbing CAFO pollution. There are roughly 300 CAFOs in Michigan. A single, large CAFOs produces one-and-a-half times more untreated waste than the human sanitary waste produced by the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Warren combined.

In order to avoid the costs of transporting all of this untreated waste for proper disposal, CAFOs spread what they can on their land under the auspices of crop fertilization. If they run out of room on their own land, CAFOs “manifest” their untreated waste for disposal on someone else’s field. Plants don’t need or absorb all of the nutrients and contaminants in the waste, so much of it runs off into Michigan’s streams, rivers, and lakes. This is why Lake Erie now turns green with toxic algal blooms every summer and E. coli contamination is widespread in our waterways.

CAFOs are a key reason “why Lake Erie now turns green with toxic algal blooms every summer and E. coli contamination is widespread in our waterways.”

In 2020, EGLE updated its 2005 General Permit for CAFOs in order to enhance protection of Michigan’s waters. Despite having succeeded in substantially diluting more stringent pollution-control requirements during the development of the 2020 Permit, the CAFO industry still was not happy with its new obligations. The Michigan Farm Bureau filed suit, arguing that EGLE cannot change its existing 2005 Permit without undertaking new rulemaking. The court of appeals issued a decision adopting this argument, and EGLE sought review by the Michigan Supreme Court.

A green, soupy Lake Erie from excess nutrients causing a toxic algae bloom.

Our amicus brief explains that, if left unchecked, the appellate court’s ruling will effectively freeze in place the terms of the 2005 Permit because the legislature eliminated EGLE’s rulemaking authority after 2006. Because these terms are inadequate to protect state waters from CAFO pollution, the appellate court decision forces EGLE into permanent noncompliance with its duties under Michigan’s two landmark environmental statutes: the Natural Resource Environmental Protection Act (“NREPA”) and the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (“MEPA”). The decision also creates a constitutional problem because the legislature’s elimination of EGLE’s rulemaking authority under these circumstances violates the legislature’s duty under Article IV, Sec. 52 of the state constitution to protect state waters from impairment.

To be clear, an EGLE victory before the Michigan Supreme Court would not resolve this matter to the satisfaction of FLOW and our allies.

To be clear, an EGLE victory before the Michigan Supreme Court would not resolve this matter to the satisfaction of FLOW and our allies. We ultimately think the 2020 Permit is insufficient to protect Michigan’s waters and intend to resume our separate, currently stayed contested case against EGLE following the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision.

Learn more: See more of FLOW’s original articles on CAFOs.

Keeping Water Public and Protected for All in the Great Lakes State

Published on March 9th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Photo of children playing at Lake Michigan by Chelsea Bay Dennis.

Editor’s note: Sign up today for FLOW’s twice-monthly e-newsletter for updates on the advancement of these legislative recommendations and take action opportunities in support of keeping water public and protected.

Michigan’s 2023-2024 legislative session in Lansing is a chance to apply long-overdue solutions to the state’s biggest water problems, and FLOW has big ideas on how to ensure the waters of the Great Lakes State are healthy, public, and protected for all.

Capitol of Michigan (Photo credit: David Marvin via http://capitol.michigan.gov/)

Today FLOW is pleased to release our legislative agenda by sharing it directly with lawmakers in the Michigan House and Senate and publicizing it broadly with our partners and supporters to help us advance it. FLOW is calling on Michigan’s 102nd Legislature to:

  • Protect Michigan’s waters and public health from failing septic systems;
  • Hold polluters accountable; and
  • Create a public water trust fund with royalties on bottled water, with the money to be used to prevent shutoffs of household drinking water service and support other water protection needs.

During the last several decades, Michigan has lost its reputation as a leader in the country in water protection. Acting now on these priorities can begin restoring Michigan’s environment in ways that other states would envy.

1. Statewide Septic Code

Septic system: click to enlarge.

The Problem—Michigan is the only U.S. state without a uniform septic code governing the construction, maintenance, and inspection of septic systems. As a result, the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) estimates that roughly 330,000 failing septic systems are polluting ground and surface waters with human fecal microbial waste. In addition to harming our natural resources, this septic contamination poses a serious public health problem to the drinking water of nearly 4 million Michiganders who rely on private wells. 

The Solution—The keys to overcoming more than 30 years of legislative gridlock in passing a statewide septic code are establishing a reasonable inspection schedule, ensuring county health departments have sufficient resources to administer inspections, and providing financial assistance to septic owners who may not be able to afford the cost of septic repairs or replacements.

2. Polluter Accountability Act

Photo by Chelsea Bay Dennis.

The Problem—Over the last three decades, the Michigan Legislature has enacted polluter entitlement laws that prevent state agencies from adequately protecting water resources. These destructive legislative actions include:

Michigan now has 24,000 known contaminated sites, including thousands of known and unknown sources of groundwater and surface water contamination. More than half are “orphaned” sites with no known responsible party, resulting in the state being responsible for assessing and remediating these sites without adequate funding. 

The Solution—The answer is to pass legislation that restores polluter pay, limits the use of “institutional controls” as a cleanup option unless other remedial alternatives would increase exposure to the contaminants at issue, and eliminates Michigan’s “no stricter than federal” law.

3. Michigan Water Trust Fund Act

The Problem—Bottled water plants in Michigan make hundreds of millions of dollars each year selling waters of the state without providing a significant benefit to Michiganders. Michigan has the right and obligation to secure greater benefits for its citizens based on the sale of a publicly owned natural resource. This is especially true when a large and increasing number of Michiganders in both urban and rural communities cannot afford to pay their water bills and face the prospect of water shutoffs.

Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Solution—The solution is to enact a bill that expressly affirms public ownership of Michigan’s ground and surface waters, create a licensing system for bottled water facilities that generates state revenue through a royalty fee, and channel this revenue into a public trust fund that helps put an end to water shutoffs.

Stay Tuned for Legislative Updates

FLOW will keep you updated on the advancement of these legislative recommendations and provide opportunities to take action in support of keeping water public and protected. Be sure to sign up here for FLOW’s twice-monthly e-newsletter for news, event announcements, and more related to our shared efforts to protect the Great Lakes and groundwater and ensure access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Good News on Groundwater

Published on March 9th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Photo: Capitol of Michigan. Credit: David Marvin via http://capitol.michigan.gov/.

Editor’s note: Register today for FLOW’s March 21 groundwater webinar, “The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to Protect Fresh Water.”

There is good news in the often-overlooked realm of groundwater protection in Michigan: millions of dollars proposed to study and protect Michigan’s vital underground resource. And FLOW is lifting it up during National Groundwater Awareness Week that runs through March 11.

If approved, Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, on top of funding appropriated by the Michigan Legislature last year, will enable implementation of many or most of the groundwater data recommendations of the state Water Use Advisory Council (WUAC) to be implemented in the next year. The governor’s proposed budget includes:

  • $23.8 million for the collection and management of data on Michigan’s groundwater. The Governor’s budget proposal notes this will fund activities that “collect data and conduct studies on the state’s underground aquifers.”
  • Funding for the “modernization of legacy information technology systems,” specifically including groundwater protection.
  • Investment in four new positions to handle a backlog of groundwater discharge permits, which limit pollutants allowed to be discharged.

 The $23.8 million is in addition to $10 million the legislature appropriated and the governor approved last year to provide funds to address recommendations included in the 2020 Michigan Water Use Advisory Council report. 

Proposed Funding Aligns with Michigan Groundwater Table Recommendations

Groundwater tips: Click to enlarge image.

In 2022, the Michigan Groundwater Table—convened by FLOW and comprised of 22 knowledgeable and influential stakeholders from local government, academia, and regulatory agencies—examined the state’s groundwater data needs, concluding, “It is difficult to manage a resource when basic data are lacking and poorly coordinated.” 

The Groundwater Table found that improved data “will not only provide a means of informing and supporting water-related programs, but will also yield technical information, tools, data, assumptions, and decision endpoints used to assist water users in resolving and preventing water conflicts. In so doing, WUAC’s recommendations also will benefit the agricultural community and municipal, county, and township governments.” The Groundwater Table report, in turn, endorsed the Water Use Advisory Council recommendations.

Learn More about FLOW’s Groundwater Program

FLOW is working to inform Michiganders about the critical importance of protecting the state’s groundwater resources. FLOW’s articles, reports, webinars, story map, and podcasts have stressed that while groundwater is out of sight, Michigan’s residents, communities, businesses, organizations, and government cannot afford to let it slip out of mind.

Did you know that groundwater accounts for at least 25% of the total water inflow to the Great Lakes via groundwater inflow into tributaries? Groundwater is vital to Michigan’s public health, agriculture, economy, wetlands, stream ecology, coldwater fisheries, and the Great Lakes.

Register today for FLOW’s groundwater webinar: The Case for a Statewide Septic Code.

Michigan depends on groundwater as a source of drinking water for more than 4 million people, relying on more than 1 million private wells. There are an estimated 24,000 contamination sites in Michigan, most involving groundwater pollution. One site alone has contaminated 13 trillion gallons of groundwater. Michigan is the only state that does not have a law protecting groundwater (and surface water) from failing septic systems.

FLOW’s groundwater policy recommendations include increased funding of groundwater data collection and analysis, a law regulating septic systems, bans on chemicals that frequently contaminate groundwater, monies to enable well owners to get tests on the quality of their water, and funding for cleanup of groundwater contamination. 

Learn more on about FLOW’s program to protect Michigan’s groundwater—the Sixth Great Lake beneath Michigan’s ground that is vital to the quality of life and prosperity of Michigan and the Great Lakes.

Register Today for March 21 Webinar: The Case for a Statewide Septic Code in Michigan

Published on March 6th, 2023 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

Editor’s note: Members of the media are encouraged to register for the webinar. For more information, contact FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood at Liz@FLOWforWater.org or (231) 944-1568.

Register today! FLOW (For Love of Water) will host a webinar—The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to Protect Fresh Water—on Tuesday, March 21, from 12 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EDT. 

The online session will offer legal, scientific, economic, and political perspectives on the urgent need and critical opportunity for Michigan to finally join the rest of the nation in adopting a law to protect public health and fresh water from septic pollution. The online event is free and open to the public. Register today!

Billions of gallons of poorly or untreated sewage flow each year into an estimated 330,000 failed septic systems. An unknown amount of that raw sewage ends up in lakes, streams, and groundwater, the source of drinking water for 45% of Michigan’s population. 

FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood will host the webinar, and Legal Advisor Skip Pruss will moderate the panel discussion with:

  • Brad Ward, Legal and Policy Director of the Michigan Realtors

Click here to register for the webinar or go to https://bit.ly/3ZBqwSy.

Background

Click here to learn more about FLOW’s efforts to build awareness of the need for a statewide septic code in Michigan to protect public health and fresh water.

Got Groundwater?

Published on March 5th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

Photo: Groundwater helps recharge the Great Lakes, and is the source of drinking water for 45% of Michigan residents. Credit: José Manuel Suárez, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Editor’s note: Register today for FLOW’s March 21 groundwater webinar, “The Case for a Statewide Septic Code: Michigan Must Inspect Septic Systems to Protect Fresh Water.”

It’s not easy to be aware of something you can’t see. But that’s precisely the challenge from March 5 to 11, National Groundwater Awareness Week.

FLOW is working to inform Michiganders about the critical importance of protecting the state’s groundwater resources. FLOW’s articles, reports, webinars, story map, and podcasts emphasize that while groundwater is out of sight, Michigan’s residents, communities, businesses, organizations, and government cannot afford to let it slip out of mind.

The first step to take toward greater groundwater awareness is to understand it. Groundwater is not an underground lake. It is present beneath Earth’s surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. Groundwater is recharged by rain and snow melt that percolates downward from the soil surface.

Approximately 25% of the volume of the Great Lakes originates from groundwater.

Michigan depends on groundwater as a source of drinking water for more than 4 million people. Here are key points we continue to bring forward as part of our groundwater program:

  • Michigan depends on groundwater as a source of drinking water for more than 4 million people, relying on more than 1 million private wells.
  • There are an estimated 24,000 contamination sites in Michigan, most involving groundwater pollution. One site alone has contaminated 13 trillion gallons of groundwater. 
  • Approximately 25% of the volume of the Great Lakes originates from groundwater.
  • Groundwater is important to agriculture for irrigation and for industrial processes.FLOW has worked to inform Michiganders about the critical importance of protecting the state’s groundwater resources. Our articles, reports, webinars, story map, and podcasts have stressed that while groundwater is out of sight, we cannot afford to let it slip out of mind.
  • Michigan is the only state that does not have a law protecting groundwater (and surface water) from failing septic systems.
  • Michigan lacks key data on the volume, location and movement of groundwater.
  • Groundwater is in short supply in some areas of the state.

    Groundwater is the main source of drinking water for one-third of people living in the United States and 45% of Michigan’s population, which relies more than 1 million private wells.

Michigan depends on groundwater as a source of drinking water for more than 4 million people, relying on more than 1 million private wells.

FLOW’s groundwater policy recommendations include increased funding of groundwater data collection and analysis, a law regulating septic systems, bans on chemicals that frequently contaminate groundwater, monies to enable well owners to get tests on the quality of their water, and funding for cleanup of groundwater contamination.

A state that prides itself as a water wonderland can do better. And it must, for the health of Michigan residents and our future prosperity. Only awareness can make that happen.

FLOW and Allies File Amicus Brief with Michigan Supreme Court to Protect Waterways from Industrial Agriculture Pollution

Published on February 23rd, 2023 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

Photo: A harmful algae bloom causing a dead zone in Lake Erie primarily due to excess agricultural nutrient pollution.

Editor’s note: Members of the media can reach Zach Welcker, FLOW Legal Director, at Zach@flowforwater.org or (231) 944-1568.

Lansing, MI – Eleven environmental groups, including FLOW (For Love of Water) late last week filed an amicus or “friend of the court” brief asking the Michigan Supreme Court to reverse a state appellate court ruling that wrongly locks into place a failing Clean Water Act permit for industrial livestock operations that are polluting Michigan’s waters with E. coli and contributing to toxic algal blooms.

The Michigan Supreme Court is poised to decide whether to take the case of the Michigan Farm Bureau v. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) where the state Court of Appeals erroneously interpreted the Michigan Administrative Procedure Act. That ruling, if left unchanged, effectively wipes out two landmark environmental laws that embody the Michigan Constitution’s explicit directive to protect the State’s natural resources, which are “of paramount public concern.”

“Lake Erie turns green every summer due to algal blooms caused by CAFOs. The Court of Appeals decision prevents EGLE from doing anything to fix the problem. Our amicus brief asks the Supreme Court to restore EGLE’s permitting power to make Lake Erie swimmable and fishable again. The Michigan Constitution and Michigan’s environmental laws demand this result,” Zach Welcker, Legal Director, For Love of Water (FLOW).

The dispute involves the Clean Water Act permit for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which confine thousands––sometimes hundreds of thousands––of animals in a relatively small space. As a result, they generate far more manure and other waste than they can safely dispose of. A single large CAFO annually produces one and a half times more untreated waste than the human sanitary waste produced by the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Saginaw, Traverse City, and Warren combined. When not properly regulated, CAFOs cause pollution by inundating Michigan’s waters with excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), pharmaceuticals, E. coli, and other pathogens.

“The Court of Appeals ruling is wrong on the law and dangerous for clean water in Michigan,” said Rob Michaels, Senior Attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, one of the groups represented in the amicus brief. “The stakes couldn’t be higher. If left standing, this ruling will handcuff EGLE from issuing clean water permits that are strong enough to protect Michigan waters from the growing dangers of CAFO pollution. The Court of Appeals ruling also imperils EGLE’s ability to issue adequate permits for other types of polluters. It turns Michigan law upside down and halts environmental protection in its tracks.”

In effect, the appellate court ruling says EGLE permits cannot contain new measures that weren’t specifically listed in the original rules when a permitting program was established. Instead, the agency has to create a new rule. But EGLE no longer has the authority to issue new rules, so this court decision freezes the agency’s current CAFO permit in place. Importantly, that permit was first issued in 2005 when the number of such industrial agricultural farms was much smaller, and the science linking CAFOs with water pollution was less well understood. EGLE’s own staff admitted the existing permit is failing to protect Michigan’s waters.

The non-profits signed on to the amicus brief are: Alliance for the Great Lakes, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Freshwater Future, For Love of Water, Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and University of Detroit Mercy Law School’s Environmental Law Clinic.

Additional quotes from the above groups:

Tom Zimnicki, Agriculture and Restoration Policy Director, Alliance for the Great Lakes, said, “The Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling will be a precedent-setting decision with ramifications far beyond the 2020 CAFO General Permit. Michigan’s freshwater resources are an invaluable resource to Michigan residents and protecting them is vital for everyone in the Great Lakes Basin. If this decision stands, Michigan will be unable to adequately protect its waters for current and future generations. We urge the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn the erroneous lower court ruling.”

Tyler Lobdell, Staff Attorney, Food & Water Watch, said, “The Michigan Farm Bureau has long shown contempt for reasonable regulation of factory farms’ pervasive water pollution. This latest effort to undermine effective pollution oversight and upend environmental protection throughout the state is the latest chapter in that story. The Supreme Court must uphold EGLE’s ability to follow the science and protect Michigan waters from this dangerous industry.”

Zach Welcker, Legal Director, For Love of Water (FLOW), said, “Lake Erie turns green every summer due to algal blooms caused by CAFOs. The Court of Appeals decision prevents EGLE from doing anything to fix the problem. Our amicus brief asks the Supreme Court to restore EGLE’s permitting power to make Lake Erie swimmable and fishable again. The Michigan Constitution and Michigan’s environmental laws demand this result.”

Megan Tinsley, Water Policy Director, Michigan Environmental Council, said, “For too long, laws that are supposed to protect our water have given industrial agriculture a free pass and because of that, we continue to see industrial livestock operations spew manure and fecal waste into our drinking water, lakes, and rivers with no recourse. The 2020 CAFO permit was a good first step by our state decision-makers to start to hold these polluters accountable. The Court of Appeals decision was misguided and also removes one of the only tools our environmental regulators have to protect our water from CAFO waste. We urge the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn this order.”

Nick Occhipinti, State Government Affairs Director, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said, “The Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) is the State of Michigan’s lead agency in protecting our Great lakes, inland lakes, and streams from harmful industrial farm operations. This ruling directly blocks their ability to do that. We must uphold EGLE’s authority to protect our health, drinking water and water resources through enforcing permits.”

Marc Smith, Policy Director, National Wildlife Federation Great Lakes Regional, said, “Unfortunately, the Court ruling does not protect our drinking water, wildlife, communities, or our quality of life here in Michigan. We need stronger, not weaker, regulation of CAFO pollution.  We call on the Michigan Supreme Court to overturn this decision and provide EGLE the authority to protect our drinking water and the entire Great Lakes from the spreading concern of CAFO pollution.”

Anne Woiwode, Chair of Michigan Chapter, Sierra Club, said, “For more than twenty years Michigan’s industrial agribusinesses have resisted every effort to require factory farms to be good corporate citizens that meet the same pollution standards as every other polluter. The industry’s efforts to undermine Michigan’s right to protect the health and well-being of our citizens and our right to clean water has to end now, and Sierra Club is proud to join with these partners to support EGLE in this case.”