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 Holland Board of Public Works has approved a plan to sue the state Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment for failing to take action on a permit for a coal plant expansion that has been pending since January 2007.
The Board’s decision follows a July Michigan Public Service Commission report that stated that the Holland BPW had failed to adequately demonstrate the need for the plant.
The Grand Rapids Press reports that the BPW says the state’s ongoing review of the permit is unjustified.
“Our permit application has long been administratively and technically complete, and we have worked tirelessly to address the state’s ongoing requests regarding the application, even when those requests were not legally justified,” BPW General Manager Loren Howard said in a prepared statement. “Action on our air permit is way overdue, and issuance should be made without further delay.”
BPW officials say the expansion is needed to assure its baseload energy requirements are met well into the future. They are backed by a 354-page report by the engineering consulting firm Black and Veatch, which says the BPW is projected to exceed its current generating capacity by 2015. The Black and Veatch report describes the DeYoung project as “having the greatest level of control” among BPW’s various options, which also includes buying additional capacity off the grid.
The DNRE is required to take MPSC evaluations into account when considering coal plant permit applications according to a February 2009 executive order issued by Governor Jennifer Granholm.
In May the DNRE denied a permit for a 600-megawatt petroleum coke and coal plant planned by the Wolverine Power Cooperative in Rogers City. In issuing its denial the department referred to an MPSC report that indicated the plant was not needed.
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