The
Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC) is the Grand Traverse region's oldest
and best-known grassroots environmental advocacy organization. Meetings are the 2nd. Tuesday each month—the public is invited.
The 5 day hearing of MCWC v Nestle will begin on Monday, July 6 at 9:00 a.m. in Big Rapids. The location has been moved to the Big Rapids City Offices at 226 N. Michigan Av., Big Rapids, MI. As you know, MCWC is in the longest running bottled water battle with Nestle anywhere, having started in December 2000 and gone through trial, appeals, and remand injunction proceedings for almost 9 years now. MCWC and its 2,000 members funded this by bake sales, raffles, garage sales, and an occasional grant. We have raised over $1 million for expert witness fees, attorney fees, and costs over the first 8 years, but we need to raise much more.
Please send your donation today: MCWC - P.O. Box 1 - Mecosta, MI 49332
April 17, 2009 Environmentalist of the Year Award Recipients
-- Student Environmentalist of the Year: Mackenzie Vance, Traverse City West High School
-- Environmental Educator of the Year: Mark Wassa, Betsie Valley Elementary
-- Environmental Grass Roots Group of the Year: Friends of the Jordan River Watershed
-- Environmentalist of the Year in Journalism and Communications: Lou Blouin, Radio Anyway
-- Environmentalist of the Year in Business: Chris and Jody Treter, Higher Grounds Trading Company
-- Environmentalist of the Year in Public Service or Public Office: Grand Traverse County Health Department: Fred Kesslar, Tom Buss and Dan Thorell
-- Environmentalist of the Year, General: Patty Cantrell, Michigan Land Use Institute
-- Environmentalist of the Year, Professional: Patty O'Donnell, Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
-- Environmentalist of the Year, Volunteer: Terry Swier, Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation
-- The John Nelson Water Steward Award: Colleen Masterson, Grand Traverse Conservation District
-- The Golden Beaver: Penny Krebiehl, founder of Little Artshram
-- The Clarence Kroupa Award: Steve Largent, Grand Traverse Conservation District
-- The River Guardian Award: Rusty Gates, Anglers of the Au Sable
-- Education Through Music Award: Earthwork Music Collective
-- Excellence in Business Award: Jim MacInnes, Crystal Mountain Resort
-- Bioneer of the Year Award: Bob Struthers, general manager of Oryana Natural Food Market
Local TV2 producer Rick Beemon covered this public hearing by the EPA for public comments on the proposed changes to the Hubbell Injection Well in Whitewater Township. Proposed changes include injection of cherry brine waste.
The Hearing took place May 19, 2009.
We need your help distributing the "Pledge to Protect the Waters of the Great Lakes Basin". Please take a copy to your place or work, worship, and when you meet up with friends and associate. We need as many signatures as possible to plug the loophole in the Great Lakes Compact agreement. MORE INFORMATION
NMEAC Upcoming Events
Environmental Justice
Sediment Removal Action Work Plan at Cone Drive Operations (CDO) Facility
Grand Traverse County—The Sediment Removal Action Work Plan to address the aesthetically impacted sediments of Boardman Lake as part of the CDO facility has been finalized. The sediment removal action will be accomplished by excavation of the sediments following the isolation of the area from the remainder of Boardman Lake by a temporary cofferdam and removal of the overlying water. The sediments will be dewatered in place by conventional dewatering wells, allowing the sediments to be removed dry. Non-hazardous solid wastes generated during the process will be disposed of at Waste Management’s Glen’s Landfill. The water produced during the dewatering process will be treated and discharged to Boardman Lake under a NPDES permit.
Face-Off Over 'Fracking': Water Battle Brews On Hill
Environmentalists and the natural gas industry are getting ready for a battle in Congress over something known as "hydraulic fracturing." "Fracking," as the industry calls it, involves injecting a million gallons or more of water and chemicals deep underground to pry out gas that's locked away in tight spaces. Environmentalists want the federal government to regulate the practice because, fracking may be harming nearby water wells.
Nations around the world, and various States in this great nation are already realizing the enormous health, financial, and environmental risks inherent in coal. Only you can help to stop this problem in Michigan. We need your help today to stop the construction of dirty coal-fueled power generating plants (along with their toxic emissions) in Michigan..
Every year 24,000 people die prematurely because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.
Every year 38,000 heart attacks occur because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.
Every year 12,000 hospital admissions and 550,000 people suffering asthma attacks result from power plant pollution.
Every year, coal-fired power plants release 48 tons of mercury nationwide.
Power plants release over 40% of total U.S. C02 emissions, a primary contributor to global warming...
O.I.L. Energy applies for underground waste
WILLIAMSBURG -- A local company could pump waste liquids from cherry processing deep underground, if state and federal environmental authorities give the OK. NMEAC does not think that this is a good idea. We urge you to contact the EPA today:
Written comments should be mailed to: Leslie Patterson, EPA Region 5, Water Division (WU-16J), 77 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL, 60604-3590.
NMEAC is now at Facebook
It’s an exciting day at NMEAC – we’re happy to announce we’re now on Facebook! Please check out our page and let us know what you think. We’ll be posting videos, sharing ideas, and more, so don’t miss it! We invite you to join us and share your stories and photos on the Facebook wall.
Forests Pay the Price for America's Love Affair with Really Soft Toilet Paper
Greenpeace, the international conservation organization, contends that Kimberly Clark, the maker of two popular brands, Cottonelle and Scott, has gotten as much as 22 percent of its pulp from producers who cut trees in Canadian boreal forests where some trees are 200 years old. Instead of waiting decades for carbon-soaking forests to stop being decimated by our need for t.p., this is an area where the government should step in. Someone needs to step up and tell us that next year or in two years or three, all toilet tissue will be 20 percent recycled fibers (for example). DOWNLOAD HANDY GUIDE
Some residents oppose deep-injection well
ACME -- Acme Township residents plan to fight a proposed deep-injection disposal well for oil and gas brine. They worry about potential impacts to groundwater and believe the well eventually could be used for fruit processing wastewater, akin to another nearby well in Whitewater Township. Environmental consultant Chris Grobbel is concerned about the proposed Acme well's proximity -- a few hundred yards -- to a drinking water recharge area for a nearby residential development. It's "too close for comfort, should there be any subsurface impact," he said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold an informational meeting about existing and proposed O.I.L. Energy Corp. wells in Grand Traverse County on May 19 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Mill Creek Elementary School, 9039 Old M-72, in Williamsburg. Public hearings will immediately follow at 7 p.m. for the proposed Acme Township well and at 8 p.m. for the Whitewater Township well re-classification. Officials from the EPA, the company and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will be available to answer questions.
Statement of former Governor William G. Milliken On Conservation of Michigan Wetlands
As the Governor and Michigan Legislature review the status and determine the future of Michigan’s Wetland Protection Act, I would like to urge them to take the long view of what is best for the state and its natural resources. I am proud to have signed the Wetland Protection Act into law in 1979. Enacted with bipartisan support, the law has protected large amounts of valuable wetland resources from alteration and destruction. Estimated annual losses of wetlands covered by the law have slowed from thousands of acres per year to a few hundred. Where alteration or destruction of wetlands has occurred, the law has required the creation of wetlands and the permanent protection of existing undeveloped wetlands.
Water currents can power the world
The system, conceived by scientists at the University of Michigan, is called Vivace, or "vortex-induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy". Currents can power the world, say scientists Existing technologies require an average current of five or six knots to operate efficiently, while most of the earth's currents are slower than three knots. The technology can generate electricity in water flowing at a rate of less than one knot - about one mile an hour - meaning it could operate on most waterways and sea beds around the globe. Systems could be sited on river beds or suspended in the ocean. The scientists behind the technology, which has been developed in research funded by the US government, say that generating power in this way would potentially cost only around 3.5p per kilowatt hour.
DEQ investigating Tamarack Lodge Hotel
State environmental officials continue to investigate alleged unlawful beach clearing at an East Bay hotel, and the county prosecutor could consider criminal charges.
Stop Invasive Species
Problem: Invasive Species like the zebra mussel continue to wreak havoc on the Great Lakes - racking up control costs to the tune of $120 billion annually. What's more, new invaders are arriving in the Great Lakes about once every 28 weeks, mainly from the ballast tanks of ocean going ships. Solution: The Senate must act this summer to pass strong ballast water treatment standards similar to those in the House.
Blanchard, Milliken: Protect the water
TRAVERSE CITY -- Two former governors -- Republican William Milliken and Democrat James Blanchard -- prodded legislators Thursday to prevent large-scale uses of Michigan water that would not be in the public interest.
Friends of the Jordan River Watershed Protection Alba—If you go with the flow, the waters (and wastes) of the Lake Charlevoix Watershed flow in a North, Northwest direction from Alba Lake Michigan. Learn more about proposed toxic waste deep injection wells in Northern Michigan.
Will the Great Lakes become a nuclear dump? We must join together and make our voices heard. The Canadian government plans to build a dump site right on the shores of Lake Huron to store radioactive waste from 20 nuclear plants for hundreds of years. As if that wasn't bad enough: Oil company Shell Canada wants to build a giant refinery along five miles of the St. Clair River that will process 250,000 barrels of heavy crude oil daily - and put one of our most important waterways at risk. Canada is already treating Michigan like a dumping ground, sending millions of tons of their garbage each year to our communities. Now, it wants to give us more mercury, more sulfur dioxide, more CO2 emissions, more overall pollution and radioactive waste that will put our citizens at risk for hundreds of years. The nuclear waste site and the oil refinery pose a real danger to our families today and for generations to come.
Joe Moffa, President of Omni Hospitality Hotels was found guilty.
TC hotel owner sentenced for damaging bottomlands
A Traverse City hotel executive has been placed on probation and ordered to do conservation work for damaging protected Great Lakes bottomlands. Joseph C. Moffa, an owner of the Cherry Tree Inn, was convicted in September of two misdemeanors for having a bulldozer dredge and groom part of the Grand Traverse Bay waterfront. On Tuesday, District Judge Michael Haley sentenced Moffa to a year of probation and instructed him to work 30 days for the Grand Traverse Conservation District. Moffa also has reached a deal with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to restore nearly an acre of damaged wetlands and pay a $35,000 fine.
Hotel owner charged in wetlands dredging
TRAVERSE CITY A hotel owner charged with wetlands tampering surrendered to face criminal charges. Eighty-Sixth District Court Judge John D. Foresman on Friday arraigned Joseph Moffa on two misdemeanors for violation of state wetlands and submerged bottomlands law. Both offenses are punishable by up to one year in jail.
Beach grooming laws have been given teeth
It is a concept we don't see much of any more. Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider said he decided to charge Joseph Moffa, an officer in the company that owned the Cherry Tree Inn, with two criminal misdemeanors connected to a beach grooming incident in 2007 because "People make decisions ... and individuals are responsible for their conduct." Over the Thanksgiving weekend in 2006 (perhaps in hopes the powers that be would be too sedated by turkey to notice), and without benefit of a permit, Omni Hotels sent a bulldozer more than 120 feet into the water, dredged the lakebottom and filled other areas. Land below the normal waterline has long been recognized as taxpayer-owned property and under state juristiction -- not the whims of property owners.
Traverse City hotel owner facing charges
An owner of the Cherry Tree Inn hotel faces criminal charges for sending a bulldozer into Grand Traverse bay to reshape his beach. Authorities charged Joseph Moffa, 42, president of Ohio-based Omni Hospitality and vice president of Pride One Cherry Tree LLC, with two criminal misdemeanors for violation of state wetlands and submerged bottomlands law. Both offenses are punishable by up to one year in jail. State and federal authorities who investigated the inn and its owner determined a bulldozer drove as far as 122 feet into East Bay over Thanksgiving weekend in 2006. Moffa's attorney told Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider's office that Moffa would turn himself in Thursday, but he failed to show.
Quit Coal - Save Our Climate
One-hundred-fifty coal-fired power plants are currently proposed to be built. If even a small portion of these plants are constructed the global warming pollution pumped into our air will make all our other efforts to reverse climate change irrelevant. Coal plants are the dirtiest, most regressive source of energy possible - poisoning our communities and environment. The Environmental Law Program is working with activists around the country to champion clean energy in the face of this unprecedented rush to build new coal plants.
Coal Not Looking So Hot
The fate of scores of new coal-burning power plants is now in limbo over whether to regulate heat-trapping greenhouse gases. The uncertainty resulted when an Environmental Protection Agency appeals panel on Thursday rejected a federal permit for a Utah plant, leaving the issue for the Obama administration to resolve. The panel said the EPA's Denver office failed to adequately support its decision to issue a permit for the Bonanza plant without requiring controls on carbon dioxide, the leading pollutant linked to global warming. "It's going to stop everything while EPA mulls over what to do next" about how the federal Clean Air Act is to be used to control carbon dioxide, said David Bookbinder, a Sierra Club lawyer. "And that will be decided by the next administration."
How Clean Coal Cooks Your Brain
"Clean coal" is not an actual invention, a physical thing – it is an advertising slogan. Like "fat-free donuts" or "interest-free loans."
NOTEABLE: We Hold Its Value to Be Self-Evident
Ecuador approved a new constitution this weekend that, among other things, grants inalienable rights to nature, the first such inclusion in a nation's constitution, according to Ecuadorian officials. "Nature ... where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions, and its processes in evolution. Every person, people, community, or nationality will be able to demand the recognition of rights for nature before the public bodies," the document says. The specific mention of evolution isn't accidental; besides being an activity nature arguably likes to do anyway, evolution as we know it has close ties to Ecuador's territory of the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin formed his famous theory. Ecuador's constitution grants nature the right to "integral restoration" and says that the state "will promote respect toward all the elements that form an ecosystem" and that the state "will apply precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems, or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles."
Just say “NO!” to Plastic Bags & Bottles
Traverse City Passes Resolution to Reduce Plastic Bag Waste PDF
Traverse City, in an effort to protect the environment, reduce waste, and save wildlife and fish, passed a Resolution (brought before the Commission by NMEAC) to Ban Plastic Bags.
Record Eagle Editorial: Downtown should widen shopping tote program
Downtown should widen shopping tote program At the urging of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council, the Traverse City commission last month passed a resolution encouraging retailers to eliminate the use of plastic bags, the flimsy white numbers that are in every way, a pain. While inexpensive and practical, the bags are a pox. They're made with petroleum products, driving up the demand for oil. They're difficult to recycle, one thing Grand Traverse county -- with the highest landfill rates in the state and a faltering recycling program -- doesn't need. They can tangle birds and other critters and they're so light they can end up anywhere the wind blows -- on the beach, in the water or in the woods. And they take forever to decompose. Thankfully, a possible answer is already here. This summer, the Downtown Traverse City Association began offering merchants reusable totes, [as have many local and big box stores in the area]. The totes, which cost $1 each, are flying off the shelves. An initial order of 2,000 bags was followed by an order for another 4,000, Downtown Development Authority marketing director Colleen Paveglio said. One store has already gone through four 100-bag boxes.
Group Meets to Fix the Great Lakes Compact
Traverse City—The initial goal is to pass a Michigan constitutional amendment, either through the legislature or by popular referendum, that would accomplish two things: No. 1, eliminate what some environmentalists feel is a dangerous loophole in the recently passed legislation designed to protect waters of the Great Lakes basin and No. 2, clearly establish that Michigan citizens own their water and only they have the right to determine whether and who would be able to sell it for private gain. The legislation of concern, the Great Lakes Compact, is now federal law after having been ratified by legislatures in the eight states with land in the Great Lakes basin. The law prevents diversions of water to outside the basin except under some very specific and controlled conditions. But the law allows companies to ship water out of the basin in containers of 5.7 gallons or smaller if the diversion does not cause certain, specified environmental damages. Buried in the fine print, the Compact by definition also excepts "water produced as a product" from the ban on diversions. “This sets up a climate where hungry states, corporations, or nations outside the basin could tap Great Lakes water if it is packaged in any size containers,” says environmental attorney James Olson, an organizer of the November 16 event.
Why Can't We Just Stop Drinking Bottled Water!
Human beings are basically a watertight envelope filled with fluid and a few bony bits. We need water. Plus, it's great for your skin. But the main reason the bottled water industry has exploded over the last decade isn't because tap water is unsafe. It's because, with the market for soft drinks basically flat, beverage manufacturers needed a new growth industry. They piggy-backed the chic of bottled water sold in restaurants in places like Europe (where the quality of tap water can sometimes be iffy) onto health worries of all kinds and mounted large advertising campaigns, complete with pictures of snow-capped mountains, pristine streams, and healing mineral springs. And we bought it. Big time. So what's wrong with us? It's not as safe, it's bad for our planet and it's clearly more expensive. It's just become a nation wide nasty habit. So let's all start today and SAY NO to bottled water. Done. Finished. Never again.
Bottled Water Toxicity Shown To Exceed Law
Bottled water brands do not always maintain the consistency of quality touted in ads featuring alpine peaks and crystalline lakes and, in some cases, contain toxic byproducts that exceed state safety standards, tests show. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization with offices in Oakland, tested 10 brands of bottled water and found that Wal-Mart's Sam's Choice contained chemical levels that exceeded legal limits in California and the voluntary standards adopted by the industry. The tests discovered an average of eight contaminants in each brand. Four brands besides Wal-Mart's also were contaminated with bacteria. The environmental group filed a notice of intent to sue Wal-Mart Tuesday, alleging that the mega-chain failed to warn the public of illegal concentrations of trihalomethanes, which are cancer-causing chemicals.
Bottled Water: The Height of Stupidity
Bottled water is a joke, one of the biggest consumer and taxpayer ripoffs ever. I applaud California's Attorney General Jerry Brown who said recently that he will sue to block a proposed water-bottling operation in Northern California by Nestle. Attorneys General everywhere should require recycling of all plastic bottles and containers by requiring deposits to be paid to encourage returns, as is the case with aluminum cans. Not only do society and the environment pay an unfair price for this consumer hoax, but consumers are being hoodwinked. They are paying from 300 to 3,000 times more than the cost of tap water without any benefit.
Give Bottled Water the Boot
For the price of one bottle of Evian, you can receive 1,000 gallons of tap water. Most of the price of a bottle of water goes for its bottling, packaging, shipping, marketing, retailing and profit. Just supplying Americans with plastic water bottles for one year consumes more than 47 million gallons of oil, enough to take 100,000 cars off the road and 1 billion pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Billions of plastic water bottles end up in landfills each year, taking up valuable landfill space, leaching toxic additives, such as phthalates, into the groundwater and taking thousands of years to biodegrade. Tell your favorite restaurant or grocery store to, "Kick the Bottled Water Habit!" Ask the chef, manager, or owner to pledge to:
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Eliminate the sale of non-carbonated bottled water in single use containers;
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Switch to serving only municipal tap water;
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Help educate customers about the benefits of tap over bottled water;
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Whenever possible, install a carbonation machine to make sparkling water from the tap;
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Consider filtering tap water if they want to feel reassured;
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Let NMEAC know about restaurants in Northern Michigan who are showing real leadership by eliminating bottled water.
Plastic is Passé
Paper or plastic? It's a question we hear every time we go to the grocery store. It's time shoppers in NW Michigan had a better choice – recyclable and reusable containers. Dear consumers and shoppers. I wouldn't bring this matter up if it wasn't incredibly important. May I have a moment to share a few ideas on plastic single use shopping/grocery bags? In all honesty, I probably wouldn't be asking for your time if all of your plastic was being properly recycled... ...But it's not. Plastic bags are in trees and on fences, in the creek near my house, flapping on windy days from my shrubs, and rolling across the lawn like tumbleweed on the way to their next unsightly outpost. READ ARTICLE
NMEAC “Environmentalists' of the Year” Updates
Friday, April, 17, 2009 - location to be announced The 2009 Environmentalists of the Year Event is on the Radar
Mark your calendars for the one the only the best environmentalist annual event in NW Michigan. Watch this space for details!
Acme voters endorse directed growth
The issue: Acme board prevails again; Our view: Voters demand the right to direct development in their community and to decide what the future will look like, as well as demand a township board that will represent their interests -- no matter what...
New round of lawsuits could crack Meijer's facade
A ruling that allows more Acme Township officials to sue Meijer Inc. for alleged harassment and intimidation may help finally reveal just how high in the Meijer organization the decision to make war on Acme really went. New revelations could also set the stage for an array of criminal charges against Meijer officials and/or its attorneys, its public relations firm and local citizens who aligned themselves with the big-box and recall efforts. What Acme residents must demand this time around is a full and final accounting of who at Meijer decided it was time to intimidate instead of negotiate, who decided to knowingly break the law, who decided to essentially try to overthrow an elected local government. Who put profit ahead of the law? (As the result of Meijer's legal activities brought against citizens and commissioners, a growing chorus of consumers in Michigan have begun a personal boycott against shopping at Meijer)
All aboard a sinking ship
If Meijer Inc. thinks it has new headaches now that seven Acme Township officials have been given the green light to sue the retail giant, wait till its former allies weigh in. Representatives of The Village, a proposed Acme mega-development, appear ready to place the blame for alleged wrongdoing against Acme officials on Meijer and its former attorneys, including Timothy Stoepker, law firm Dickinson Wright PLLC, and the Traverse City firm of Smith & Johnson Attorneys PC. It is a classic cop out. Next to "The dog ate my homework," "He made me do it!" may be the most popular alibi of all time.
Meijer gets judge to hide papers
Meijer Inc. convinced a state appellate judge to hide from public view documents related to Grand Traverse County's efforts to investigate the retailer's campaign finance violations. A motion to seal the appellate case was filed by John Pirich, a Lansing attorney hired by Meijer.
Acme Group was a Front for Meijer
TRAVERSE CITY -- Meijer Inc. secretly gave an Acme Township political group $12,400 to fund its operations, and paid a local law firm, Smith & Johnson P.C., $6,400 to perform campaign work that wasn't reported as required by state law. The latest revelations provide the strongest evidence to date that Meijer operated Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government, formed in 2005, as a shell organization to carry out its financial and political goals. On Tuesday Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land said she reached a deal with Meijer over campaign finance violations regarding the retailer's efforts to manipulate two Acme Township elections -- a 2005 zoning referendum, and an unsuccessful 2007 recall election that targeted the township board. Land's deal requires Meijer Inc. to pay $190,000, the largest campaign finance violation fine in state history, but may well protect Meijer corporate officials and others from criminal charges.
Meijer to pay $190K in civil fines
Acme Trustee Frank Zarafonitis' day began on a good note, when he learned Meijer Inc. would pay a fine for illegal campaign acts in the township and that criminal charges could be pursued against the people who crafted that strategy. But reality struck late Tuesday, when Zarafonitis discovered that Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land's back room deal with Meijer Inc. -- civil fines totaling $190,138 for violations in 2005 and 2007 Acme elections -- undercut any possibility of state election law criminal cases against Meijer and its hired hands.
Meijer hadn't counted on Acme's Bill Boltres
Every uprising begins with one man or woman standing up and saying "enough." In Acme Township, that was Bill Boltres. The 72-year-old township treasurer lit a fuse back in 2006 when, after suffering two heart attacks and numerous sleepless nights over lawsuits filed against him by Meijer, Inc., he fought back. During depositions related to his counter-suit it was revealed that a law firm hired by Meijer had paid a public relations agency more than $30,000 to secretly orchestrate a failed recall election against the Acme board in 2007. A report done for Meijer also indicated the company made illegal contributions to a 2005 referendum on halting big-box development. The findings from the Boltres depositions prompted a blistering attack on Meijer's goonish tactics from across the state, Boltres not only didn't back down, he filed his own suit and Meijer was sent reeling. Boltres has since sued the Village at Grand Traverse LLC, the corporation behind the Village at Grand Traverse, claiming Meijer-like illegal harassment. Now other Acme officials are contemplating their own lawsuits. Bill Boltres didn't go looking for a fight. All he wanted was to serve his township, help guide development and keep the books balanced. Meijer, though, decided to declare war. MORE
Meijer Actions in Acme Township Causes Investigation
Meijer Inc. has acknowledged it probably violated state law by donating to an effort to recall seven elected Acme Township officials who objected to the chain's development plans, and by failing to report its activities. In a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, a Meijer attorney said the company also may have illegally contributed to a 2005 ballot initiative that overturned a moratorium on big-box store construction in Acme. Rich Robinson, executive director of the nonpartisan Michigan Campaign Finance Network, said what sets this case apart, is the apparent extent of Meijer's behind-the-scenes involvement in Acme Township politics. The company's role is detailed in documents made public in a lawsuit against the company. "For a corporation to secretly finance a recall campaign is pretty unique," Robinson said. [Editor: Acme Township was the recipient of this years NMEAC Profiles in Courage Award.]
READ THIS STORY | VIEW AWARD
Elk Rapids also Honors NMEAC “Environmentalist of The Year in Education” : Kip Knight
Elk Rapids Honors NMEAC The NMEAC Environmentalist of The Year in Education Award Winner Kip Knight brought his students to the Elk Rapids Village Council Meeting on May 19th and was recognized by the village. Kip and the students set up water quality testing stations at the village hall as part of the evening. It seems these awards keep going and going and going spreading good will and education along the way.
Rewarding Project: Teacher among winners
TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE—Kip Knight has seen the benefits of engaging students when it comes to the environment. It took about a year for the Lakeland Elementary teacher to organize a day-long field trip for 85 fifth-graders to study water quality in downtown Elk Rapids. But the students' smiling faces as they stood knee-deep in the water was all he needed to know that his efforts weren't in vain. "They are discovering, thinking, wondering. You realize that it is all worth the anxiety of pulling something like this off," Knight said. "My reward is seeing the kids taking it on and knowing they will benefit from this now and hopefully later on." Knight received another reward Friday when he was named Environmental Educator of the Year by the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council... MORE
Transportation
and land use. Growth is the greatest single issue affecting the environment of Northern Michigan. NMEAC is active on several fronts to help local officials to curb sprawl development and avoid its devastating impacts on wildlife habitat, clean air, clean water and quality of life. NMEAC is a founder of, and leader in,
The Grand Vision, a $1.6 million, six-county regional planning process that is involving several thousand residents of Northern Michigan in defining our future. We encourage NMEAC members to find out more about the project by clicking The Grand Vision logo.
Contamination
cleanup. Northern Michigan has scores of contaminated sites
left over from industrial activities dating back as far as the 1800s.
We are pressing local and state officials to accelerate efforts at
cleaning these up.
Inland Lakes Initiative. We've begun engaging riparian property owners,
public officials, lake association members, and others in focused
discussions revolving around our region's inland lakes. These finite
and land-locked resources face many threats, from over-development to
invasive species to poor water quality. NMEAC aims to head up an
umbrella group of inland lakes champions and collaborate with
water-based partners to implement real strategies for protection. Be
sure to check out our Inland Lakes page to stay up-to-date on recent
inland lakes activities!
NMEAC is now at Facebook
Rewarding Project: Teacher among winners
