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 town of Waukesha, Wisconsin which has a water supply that is contaminated by radium, has become the first community to request a diversion of water from the Great Lakes drainage basin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
The Great Lakes Compact of 2008 requires that out of basin water diversions be approved by the governors of all Great Lakes state.
Waukesha estimates an average daily water demand of 10.9 million gallons a day after 2035. In 2009, the city’s average daily demand was 6.8 million gallons.
Constructing a pipeline to bring lake water to the city, and a pipeline to return the city’s treated wastewater to the lake, are among the major costs. The Great Lakes protection compact requires a municipality outside the basin to return almost all of the water that it buys to the lake as treated wastewater.
To build the lake water option, the city could spend an estimated $164 million, if Milwaukee is the supplier. It would cost more to bring the water a longer distance from Oak Creek or Racine.
It is unclear how the city’s request will be received by the governors.
Some environmental groups in Wisconsin have criticized the city for failing to enact a strong water conservation program.
In an editorial to the Journal Sentinel Melissa Malott, water program director for Clean Wisconsin in Madison wrote:
The compact requires water conservation actions to be outlined as a part of any approved diversion. Should Waukesha receive approval to divert water outside of the Great Lakes basin, it likely will represent the first community in the region to receive such authority.
It is imperative to the strength of the Great Lakes compact that Waukesha’s diversion application set a precedent ensuring strong water conservation measures are a prerequisite to approval. Should Waukesha receive authority to divert water outside of the basin without strong water conservation measures, the compact will be significantly weakened and our most precious lakes left once again at risk.
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