PA Superfund site map

MONDAY MASHUP: Great Lakes Superfund sites

Hazardous waste sites in Great Lakes states make up a third of the nation’s total, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. Each state page also has information on proposed, existing and remediated Superfund sites.

A tale of three cities: Winners of the GM cleanup lotto are more like survivors

By Brian Laskowski, Shawntina Phillips and Jeff Gillies
Jan. 21, 2010
Editors note: This is part three of a three-day series on the environmental implications of GM’s bankruptcy. Massena, Flint and Bedford are three towns that rose in the industrial might of the General Motors manufacturing era. Now Motors Liquidation Co., the company that owns GM’s worst assets, is preparing to close the door on the automaker’s legacy in these cities. But before it leaves, Motors Liquidation or GM must account for decades of pollution at former factories and waste sites.

Salvaging Insolvency: Sites GM helped pollute no longer get cleanup dollars from the bankrupt automaker

By Kimberly Hirai and Jeff Gillies
Jan. 20, 2010
Editors note: This is part two of a three-day series on the environmental implications of GM’s bankruptcy. The bankrupt shell of General Motors could dodge environmental cleanup costs for dozens of properties that the automaker polluted but doesn’t own. Motors Liquidation Co. — the bundle of old GM debt and real estate that the automaker abandoned though bankruptcy — will clean up polluted property it inherited from GM with part of a $1.17 billion loan from the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Salvaging Insolvency: GM bankruptcy could shortchange pollution cleanups

By Jeff Gillies, Kimberly Hirai and Shawntina Phillips
Jan. 19, 2010
Editors note: This is part one of a three-day series on the environmental implications of GM’s bankruptcy. The money set aside to clean up pollution at 120 sites a bankrupt General Motors left across the country may be enough to address the sites in only two states, according to court records. And that estimate ignores dozens more sites across the country that GM polluted, but either gave away or never owned — sites even less likely to get any cleanup money through the bankruptcy. GM entered a government — engineered bankruptcy aiming to emerge as a new, leaner company with fewer factories, dealerships and employees.

Special Report: Salvaging Insolvency

When an industrial giant like General Motors goes bankrupt, who pays to clean up its toxic legacy? Jan. 19, 2010
GM bankruptcy could shortchange pollution cleanups: The money set aside to clean up pollution at 120 sites a bankrupt General Motors left across the country may be enough to address the sites in only two states, according to court records. Jan. 20, 2010
Sites GM helped pollute no longer get cleanup dollars from the bankrupt automaker: The bankrupt shell of General Motors could dodge environmental cleanup costs for dozens of properties that the automaker polluted but doesn’t own.

Clicked-on countdown continues

Jan. 9, 2010

Here are the five most clicked-on-by-unique-readers stories reported by Echo journalists in 2009:

5. Study projects steep Great Lakes water level drop if greenhouse gases go unchecked

4.  Alewives: The trouble they cause and the salmon that love them

3. Great Lakes bats threatened by mysterious disease

2. Alewives: Should Great Lakes managers kill ‘em or keep ‘em?

Clicked-on countdown

Jan. 8, 2010

Who knows what accounts for a story’s popularity? Here at Echo we like to think that it has something to do with aggressive reporting and fine writing. But any number of factors contribute to whether one story rockets across the Internet more than another. You can go pretty nuts trying to predict which will go viral.

Yet more favorite reader comments from 2009

Jan. 7, 2010

Story: Mining limits proposed, opposed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
Comment: “Did he really just compare current mining practices to “Rome 2000 years ago”

Story: Researchers study environmental impact of free-range pig production. Comment: “…While the benefits to the land from having swine aerate the soil are real (and the damage to the surrounding environment from CAFOs is a serious concern), flash grazing also makes sense in terms of animal welfare. As I tell people, these pigs are smarter than many of my relatives, so I want them to have as good a life as possible. The good news is that freeing the animals from their CAFO prisons also means we can stop pumping them full of antibiotics (and thereby risking the likelihood that the bugs will mutate and make these drugs ineffective when we humans need them.)”

Story: Column: Which Great Lake are you?

More of our favorite reader comments from 2009

Jan. 6, 2010
More of our favorite reader comments from 2009
Story: Top Great Lakes trips
Comment: Depends on what you mean by ‘adventure.’ To some that may mean a cold six pack of beer and a lawn chair on Lake Michigan’s beach at sundown in August. To each his own…
Story: For Great Lakes mudpuppies in decline, new Canadian research is a bright spot
Comment: From one mudpuppy to another, thanks for this story. Story: Find your Great Lakes match
Comment: Lake Huron, I agree pretty much with my results. Growing up a twin I was always average and second best.

Some of our favorite reader comments of 2009

Jan. 5, 2010

A sampling of comments Echo staff enjoyed in 2009:

Story: New Great Lakes quiz
Comment: “My ex is definitely an Asian carp. He’s huge, gross-looking, and he frequently pops up when I least expect him to. I wish there was an electric fence to keep him away from Michigan.” Story: The bed bugs bit but they won’t spread disease, report says
Comment: “They ARE awful, Thanks to my mother-in-law giving us an infested bedframe, now our whole house is infested.