I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it will require the Dow Chemical Co. to take immediate steps to clean up dioxin contamination in and around 10 homes on Riverside Boulevard in Saginaw.
EPA officials, along with staff from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Community Health, met with residents of the Riverside Boulevard neighborhood Tuesday night to inform them that samples taken earlier this year show hazardous levels of dioxin on their property.
Dioxin is a carcinogenic and toxic byproduct of the chemical manufacturing process. According to the EPA, past waste disposal practices, emissions and incineration at Dow’s Midland plant have resulted in on- and off-site dioxin contamination.
The state’s allowable level for dioxin is 90 parts per trillion. According to Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Bob McCann, samples from soil around the homes in Saginaw revealed levels as high as 23,000 parts and indoor levels of 1,000 parts.
“When you start talking about residential properties at this level, it is obviously important that this gets cleaned up,” McCann said, adding that this is the first time high indoor dioxin levels have been documented.
EPA, DEQ and Dow were to meet to discuss cleanup plans this afternoon, McCann said, and a strategy for cleanup is expected within days.
Dioxin contamination in the Saginaw Bay watershed made national news earlier this month when regional EPA administrator Mary Gade said she was forced to resign because of her efforts to hold Dow responsible for cleanup.
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