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New Report Details State DEQ's Continuing "Dereliction of Duty"

February 9, 2001

Contact:
R. P. Lilly, RECAP, 734-753-4320
Mary Beth Doyle, Ecology Center, 734-663-2400 ext. 108
Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council, 517-487-9539

ROMULUS -- A coalition of 20 Michigan environmental groups today said the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's decision to grant a hazardous waste deep well injection permit in Romulus proves the agency's continuing dereliction of its duty to protect public health and the environment.

Releasing a 20-page report, Continuing Dereliction of Duty: How Michigan's Environmental Agency Defies the Law and the Public, the groups criticized DEQ's performance in solid and hazardous waste management, air pollution control, and wetlands protection. The report is a sequel to Dereliction of Duty, a report issued last fall that laid out a separate set of policies and permit decisions harming the public interest in Michigan.

DEQ issued the Romulus permit to Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc., (EDS) for the hazardous waste well in defiance of a recommendation to deny the permit from a site review board that held a series of public meetings to review the proposal. "This decision illustrates how the top management of DEQ sees its job as protecting industry rather than protecting people and the environment," said R.P. Lilly of RECAP. Michigan hazardous waste imports have already jumped from 301,000 tons in 1992 to 607,000 tons in 1998, and the new facility will increase imports even more, the groups said.

In the report, the groups call for reform of the DEQ to fulfill a positive vision in which "the agency adheres to the law, issues permits designed to reduce further the pollution of air and water, boldly but fairly enforces against violations of the law, and vigorously promotes prevention of pollution. Working through processes which respect and welcome public participation, the agency assures not just maintenance of environmental quality, but strives to restore and enhance the state's legacy of wetlands, sand dunes, lakes and rivers, healthy air and protection of children."

"The issuance of this permit is not in the public's best interest," said Debbie Romak, Romulus City Councilperson. "The Site Review Board determined that the facility would place many of our citizens at an unacceptable level of risk, but Mr. Harding has again put industry first and citizens last."

The newest report, as well as last fall's report, can be viewed on-line at:

http://www.mecprotects.org

Executive Summary

In this report, Michigan environmental groups update and expand on the critique of the state Department of Environmental Quality's failure to protect the environment, first outlined in our October 2000 report, Dereliction of Duty. We highlight both policies and specific communities harmed by DEQ management's failure to abide by the law and good public policy. We again stress our support for the many DEQ staff at the middle and lower levels of the agency who strive valiantly to pursue the public interest in spite of management's dereliction of duty.

Polluted Policies

  • Money collected from polluters is plummeting.
  • Michigan is becoming a trash magnet.
  • The DEQ Director uses inappropriately inflammatory rhetoric invoking the Waco tragedy against EPA after the federal agency steps in to protect the environment in the face of DEQ recalcitrance.
  • An EPA review of Michigan's wetlands program identifies serious deficiencies.

Goring Communities to Benefit Special Interests

  • Romulus: DEQ overrules a state board to issue a hazardous waste injection permit.
  • Northport: A judge finds DEQ's interpretation of wetland law "absurd."
  • Rockwood: A landfill gets a slap on the wrist from DEQ.
  • Ludington: DEQ defines a wetland out of existence so it can be developed.
  • Hamtramck: Instead of cracking down on toxic mercury reductions from a medical waste incinerator, DEQ rewrites a permit to allow the emissions.
  • Charlevoix: DEQ reverses course and grants a wetland development permit on Lake Charlevoix in a delicate, rare habitat.
  • Cadillac: DEQ refuses to use its authority to control emissions from a tire burning facility.
  • Antrim County: Local officials step in when DEQ won't protect local wetlands under state law.
  • Grosse Ile: DEQ defines a wetland out of existence, allowing development in the face of scientific findings to the contrary.