A new environmental justice advocacy coalition is calling on the state to do more to protect vulnerable communities from pollution.
The Clear the Air Coalition, which officially launched in Detroit on Thursday, argues that Michigan environmental regulators are too focused on technical compliance with environmental laws at the expense of public health. Coalition members say the permitting process is skewed in favor of polluters, and overlooks the cumulative impacts of pollution on the most burdened communities.
The group says it’s looking for eventual changes to state law, but also a “change of mindset” from those who enforce rules and regulations at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
Chris Hill of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition said the state’s current permitting process tends to view pollution sources individually, leading to a concentration of environmental burdens in marginalized communities. He said the state needs to consider those cumulative impacts, and regulate industry accordingly.
“Our local and county government needs the state legislative tools to actually come after these companies, to actually tell them ‘No, you're not going to put another polluting factory, you're not going to put another source of paint dust, another source of lead dust, you're not going to put that in this community.’ This community is dealing with enough already,” Hill said.
That sentiment was echoed by Mark Covington, who runs the Georgia Street Community Collective on Detroit’s east side. Covington said his neighborhood is dealing with health hazards from multiple industrial sources as well as truck traffic , but state regulators don’t take that into account.
“They look at each of those sources of pollution and hazards separately. They need to look at the effect of all of those hazards that they have on our health,” Covington said.
EGLE spokesman Hugh McDiarmid said Thursday he wasn’t familiar with the coalition or its specific demands, but went on to say the agency “welcomes all constructive input on how to better protect Michiganders — particularly those in historically underserved and under resourced communities — from pollution. From the establishment of the state’s first Office of Environmental Justice to the development of the state’s first EJ Screening Tool, this [Whitmer] administration is committed to advancing best practices in meeting or exceeding federal and state pollution standards.”
McDiarmid noted that levels of particulate matter and other dangerous pollutants have declined significantly over the past 20-30 years, but added that EGLE is “cognizant that challenges remain. Those include neighborhoods that continue to be directly impacted by nearby emissions sources and the wildcard of Canadian wildfire smoke. We are working closely with local and federal partners to address those challenges and sustain the progress made over the last several decades.”
The coalition stated that its main overall objective is “to get state regulators to take a more realistic account of pollution Michiganders are exposed to and to get the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy to truly engage communities when it comes to protecting public health.” The group also unveiled a list of planned events scheduled for next week, which is Air Quality Awareness Week.
