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.
A coalition of labor groups said today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed guideline for dioxin cleanup at commercial and industrial sites is not strong enough to protect workers and others from cancer risks.
Late last year EPA recommended that cleanup goals for commercial/industrial soil be changed from 5,000-20,000 ppt to 950 ppt.
Dioxin, an extremely toxic and cancer-causing byproduct of the chemical manufacturing process, has contaminated a 52 mile long stretch of the Saginaw River downstream from Dow Chemical’s Midland plant.
In a letter mailed to EPA Director Lisa Jackson today the coalition — which includes the National Council on Occupational Safety and Health, the American Federation of Government Employees and the United Auto Workers — called dioxin cleanup an environmental justice issue.
Another problem with the commercial/industrial PRG for Dioxins is that at 950 ppt, it is significantly higher than the proposed “residential” level of 72 ppt. This [Preliminary Remediation Goal] PRG fails to protect workers and sensitive populations from exposure to Dioxin, and ignores Dioxin’s cancer risks. Workers at remediated commercial and industrial sites will be exposed to unsafe level s of dioxin in the soil and dust. We strongly recommend that EPA set a health-protective commercial/industrial PRG for Dioxins that follows your agency’s cancer risk guidelines and is based on both cancer and non-cancer health effects. Therefore, we strongly urge EPA to adopt your proposed alternative PRG for Dioxins at 17 ppt TEQ for commercial/industrial soil, which would be protective for both cancer and non-cancer effects.
The public comment period for EPA’s interim dioxin cleanup guidelines ends April 2.
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