The state’s plan to reduce mercury and PCBs to safe levels in Michigan fish could take a half century, according to preliminary state documents obtained by Bridge.
Jeff Alexander
Jeff Alexander is owner of J. Alexander Communications LLC and the author of "Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway." A former staff writer for the Muskegon Chronicle, Alexander writes a blog on the Great Lakes.
Posted inQuality of Life
Michigan rivers polluted by human, animal waste more than double previous estimates
Sign warns swimmers of pathogen pollution at a northern Michigan beach. Pathogen pollution in Michigan’s lakes and rivers – caused by human and animal waste draining into surface waters – is far more widespread than previously documented, according to new state data. The identification of rivers impaired by potentially harmful pathogens has more than doubled […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Great Lakes state playing catch-up in effort to build water-based economy
Michigan may be the Great Lakes state, but its neighbors to the east and west are leading efforts to turn water-based technology, academic research and tourism into jobs and revenue. Milwaukee and the province of Ontario are well ahead of Michigan’s efforts to capitalize on an $850 billion global freshwater economy, according to John Austin, […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Fishing captains’ nerves rattled by Lake Michigan salmon catch
Chinook salmon have been the bread and butter of Lake Michigan’s sport fishing industry for nearly 50 years, but the popular fishery now faces many of the same threats that wiped out Lake Huron’s salmon fishery a decade ago. The similarities between Lake Michigan’s salmon fishery and the Lake Huron salmon fishery in 2003 — […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Water, water everywhere in Michigan – but is it enough?
Bernard and Phyllis Senske encountered many challenges over the years while operating a sheep farm in Kalkaska County, but water scarcity was not among them. That changed earlier this year. Shortly after a Canadian firm attempted to hydraulically fracture a deep shale natural gas well nearby, the water table on the Senskes’ property went down […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Up or down? Which way are Great Lakes water levels headed?
In January, when Lake Michigan’s chronically low water level reached its nadir, Leland Harbormaster Russell Dzuba faced the prospect of closing the popular harbor to keep commercial fishing vessels and pleasure boats from running aground in the shallow channel. Leland is one of dozens of Great Lakes harbors that have struggled for two decades with […]
Posted inMichigan Government
State leaders pledge fixes for leaky fuel tanks fund after audit finds cash diversions
LITTLE HELP?: Michigan’s effort to deal with leaking underground fuel tanks such as this one have been hamstrung by the diversion of more than $200 million in state money that was collected to address the problem. In the wake of a critical state audit, policy-makers are pledging reforms to the program to accelerate the cleanup […]
Posted inQuality of Life
Canadian firm plans fracking campaign that could require 4 billion gallons of Michigan water
THIRSTY WORK: The Encana Corp.’s Westerman well in Kalkaska County recently used 8.5 million gallons of water to complete a hydraulic fracturing process. (courtesy photo) KALKASKA — A Canadian firm has laid out plans to drill 500 new natural gas wells in Northern Michigan, using a technique that could consume more than 4 billion gallons […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Thousands of failed septic tanks threaten Michigan’s waters
Public health sanitarian Regina Young wasn’t sure what her staff would encounter when the Barry-Eaton District Health Department clamped down on failed septic systems in 2007. IT WENT WHERE?: More than 100,000 septic systems are estimated to be malfunctioning and polluting the surrounding environment. (Bridge photo illustration/A.J. Jones) They quickly discovered more problems than anyone […]
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan has nation’s weakest regulations on septic systems
A WORLD OF …: This riding lawnmower was swallowed by a pit created by a failed septic system in Midland County. The state estimates that 10 percent of septic systems in Michigan – more than 130,000 – have failed. (courtesy photo/xxxx) In 2004, former Gov. Jennifer Granholm unveiled a water protection plan that called for […]