Echo

Salvaging Insolvency: GM bankruptcy could shortchange pollution cleanups

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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.

Echo

Special Report: Salvaging Insolvency

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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.

Echo

The people running your pool: Michigan is one of 21 states not requiring certification for pool operators

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By Haley Walker, Alice Rossignol and Emma Ogutu

Maintaining a pool to be healthy and safe is not easy. And Kevin Hoard would know. As a certified pool operator at Michigan State University, he’s had 70 hours of official pool maintenance training. “It updates us on the current codes, concerns and disease prevention,” Hoard said. “It makes sure we’re in compliance with the law.”

But not all pool operators are trained like Hoard.

Echo

Freight trains pull their weight in energy savings

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By Vince Bond Jr.
Jan. 12, 2010

LANSING, Mich. – The next time you’re stuck watching a seemingly endless train at a railroad crossing, look at it as a down payment on your next electricity bill. Whether freight trains are delivering coal to power plants in mid-Michigan or transporting iron ore in the Upper Peninsula, they still have what it takes to pull the economy forward, said Robert Chaprnka, president of the Michigan Railroads Association. Almost half of the nation’s electricity comes from coal and 70 percent of that is transported by rail, the association reports.

Echo

Clicked-on countdown continues

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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?

Echo

Clicked-on countdown

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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.

Echo

Yet more favorite reader comments from 2009

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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?

Echo

More of our favorite reader comments from 2009

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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.

Echo

Some of our favorite reader comments of 2009

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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.