Residents of Beniteau File Civil Rights Complaint Detailing Descrimination By EGLE in Permitting of Stellantis Detroit Complex

Photo courtesy of Detroit People’s Platform

Residents living near the Stellantis complex on Detroit’s east side are not just sick and tired of it, they are quite literally sick and tired from it.

From developing symptoms that include chronic coughs, chest tightness, and headaches, to the near nightly sleep disturbances that come with an industrial facility expanding into their backyards, the effects have been significant and adverse.

The community residing near the complex is comprised nearly entirely of people of color. At the same time, signs of preexisting respiratory sensitivities in the area, including asthma rates, are among the highest in the state of Michigan. Still, the State of Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has issued numerous permits allowing for increases in the emissions of air pollutants by Stellantis. The company has also been allowed to offset some of those emissions by reductions at a plant in the Detroit suburb of Warren.

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, on behalf of five residents of Beniteau Street, formally filed a discrimination complaint regarding the issuance of these permits and the State’s unwillingness to adopt policies that would curb the cumulative impacts of pollution disproportionately impacting low-income communities of color across the state. Submitted to the US Environmental Protection Agency on Monday November 8, 2021, the complaint chronicles the experiences of numerous residents as they request a formal finding that the actions by the State were discriminatory in violation of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The complaint can be read in full below.

Detroit River Protection Ordinance Heads to Final City Council Vote

Aerial view of the Detroit Bulk Storage spill area (Courtesy of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy)

On Nov. 26, 2019, a portion of the Detroit River shoreline collapsed. The property, located at 5851 W. Jefferson Ave. in Detroit, houses Detroit Bulk Storage. The company uses the shoreline property to receive, store, and ship limestone aggregate. A massive pile of limestone approximately 40 feet high was being stored on the shoreline, causing the shoreline to collapse. At the same time, the collapse of the long contaminated site caused the upstream and downstream release of metals, PCBs, and petroleum byproducts into the Detroit River.

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center provided legal support to Council-member Castañeda-López and the team of community organizations involved in drafting the ordinance, which would regulate industries storing materials along the shoreline, preventing the collapse of other docks that could pose a risk to the safety of our waters and those that rely on them. Detroit City Council will be holding a final vote on the Detroit River Protection Ordinance tomorrow, September 28, 2021 at 10am.

We encourage all concerned with the health of the Great Lakes and the communities relying on them to join the Detroit City Council meeting virtually through the link below.

 https://Detroitmi.gov/Online-CC-Meeting

Supporting Organizing by Impacted Flint Residents, GLELC and Earthjustice Submit Comment Urging State to Deny Asphalt Plant Air Permit

When Flint Rising, the Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint, and the St. Francis Prayer Center contacted Great Lakes Environmental Law Center (GLELC) and Earthjustice attorneys with concerns about Ajax Materials’ plan to build an asphalt plant in Flint, Michigan, it immediately raised significant alarms. The city has been an epicenter of environmental injustices for decades, the most recent of which captured attention of people across the world after thousands of residents were exposed to toxic drinking water.

Recognizing the cumulative impacts of the current environmental risks posed to the community, along with the undeniable disparate impacts of the proposed plant on a low-income community of color, GLELC and Earthjustice attorneys submitted a comment on behalf of their clients that urges Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to deny the permit.

If granted, the permit would authorize air pollution from a hot mixed asphalt plant at 5088 Energy Drive without any cumulative impact analysis. Of the 2,970 people living within 1-mile of the proposed plant, 86% of the population identify as people of color, including 77% of the population identifying as Black and 10% of the population identifying as Hispanic. Forty-three percent of households have incomes of less than $15,000 a year. The area’s per capita income in 2018 was $14,991.18.

EGLE’s failure to utilize its power to conduct a cumulative effects analysis perpetuates a long history of societal disenfranchisement, disinvestment, and disregard for communities of color. The confluence of environmental and social impacts, when combined, must trigger this heightened level of scrutiny applied to permit decisions for facilities near these large historically marginalized communities.

The comment can be viewed in its entirety below.

Petition Seeks Emergency Action from EPA to Address Ongoing, Imminent, and Substantial Endangerment to Health of Benton Harbor Residents Subjected to Lead Contaminated Water for at Least Three Years

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center joined a coalition of petitioners seeking emergency action from the EPA to stop ongoing lead contamination impacting the 90% black community of Benton Harbor, MI.

For at least the past three years, Benton Harbor’s residents have been subjected to levels of lead contamination from their public water system that presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to their health. Levels of lead contamination have significantly exceeded the lead action level set by the EPA’s lead and copper rule continually since at least the fall of 2018.

Joining GLELC in the request for emergency action under the Safe Drinking Water Act are  Benton Harbor Community Water Council, NRDC, Flint Rising, People’s Water Board Coalition, Michigan Welfare Rights Coalition, Water You Fighting For, Safe Water Engineering, LLC, Highland Park Human Rights Coalition, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Clean Water Action, Ecology Center, Freshwater Future, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, Detroit People’s Platform, Campaign for Lead Free Water, For Love of Water, and Environmental Transformation Movement of Flint.

The entire petition can be reviewed below.

GLELC Attorneys Urge State to Protect Health of Rural Michiganders from CAFO Pollution

Comments submitted by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center seeks greater protections for rural communities increasingly impacted by pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). The comment, submitted to the Agriculture Commission and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, was drafted in response to a request for public comment on proposed 2022 Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practices. In an oral comment presented at a virtual public meeting on August 25, 2021 and in a formal written comment submitted on Aug 27, 2021, GLELC attorneys highlighted the ongoing degradation of air and groundwater quality near CAFO facilities and sites where the enormous volume of animal waste they produce is sprayed or injected onto fields. Specifically, the comments stress the severe impacts this pollution has on the health and quality of life of nearby residents.

The entire comment can be read below.