Land
Rural population shrinks in Michigan, political clout weakens
By Victor Wooddell
Capital News Service
The number of young people moving to small towns and rural areas across America has been increasing, but not so in Michigan, where populations in rural areas are shrinking and aging, according to a recent report by the Census Bureau. This national trend reverses a pattern since the 1980s in which more people moved from rural areas to urban centers. In Michigan, however, both urban centers like Detroit as well as rural areas continue to lose people under 45, Census data shows.
Water
New book explores efforts to restore West Michigan’s ‘water of the walleye’
By Isabella Figueroa
Hundreds of years ago, the Ottawa people called it Ken-O-Sha, or “water of the walleye”—a 26-mile tributary of Michigan’s Grand River where the fish were abundant. Today it is known as Plaster Creek, a name that refers to the gypsum mines that polluted the waterway near Grand Rapids beginning in the mid-19th century and drove away the walleye. A new book by two Calvin University professors explores an ongoing effort to restore Plaster Creek to a healthy stream worthy of its original name.
Water
NOAA to study Great Lakes climate change with underwater robots
By Georgia Hill
As climate change increasingly shapes the Great Lakes region’s ecology and economy, scientists plan to use underwater robots to gather previously inaccessible data they say will help communities adapt. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in September that its Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory received $1.9 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s one of three NOAA labs that received $6.7 million in total for ocean and Great Lakes observing systems, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which includes the agency.
Study warns of climate risks to hazardous waste facilities
By Great Lakes Echo |
By Anna Rossow
Capital News Service
A new Government Accountability Office study of hazardous waste facilities found them at risk of damage from climate-related events such as flooding and hurricanes.
Some are in the six-state Great Lakes region, including ones near southern Lake Michigan.
According to the study, there are more than 700 treatment, storage and waste facilities in the U.S., 68% of which are at risk of a climate hazard such as wildfires, storm surges and rising sea levels, which can be exacerbated by climate change.
The study recommended that the Environmental Protection Agency provide assistance and training on managing facility climate risks. Kimberly Tyson, the manager of the hazardous waste section in the materials management division at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, said hazardous waste includes ignitable chemicals that may harm people.
She said the department tries to inspect Michigan facilities at least four times a year.
The department’s district staff inspects waste containers to see if they are being stored properly and are of good integrity without any leaks, she said.
“They’re also looking at the facility and making sure that it’s in compliance with our rules and nothing is out of place,” said Tyson. “They’re not getting sloppy with housekeeping and stuff like that.”
Facilities have backup plans or contingency plans in case a leak occurs, Tyson said. For example, there may be a secondary containment area to catch leaked waste, and facilities may have dust on hand to soak up leaked waste as well.