Asian Carp & the Great Lakes

This week, the Environment Report is taking an in-depth look at the connections between cancer and the environment. When somebody gets cancer, one of the first questions is usually "why?" Does this kind of cancer run in my family? Was it something in the water, or in the air around me? Did I get exposed to something? What would you do, or where would you go to answer these questions?

Asian Carp Invasion

The Environment Report has been covering the introduction of the Asian Carp species since January of 2000, when catfish farms in the south were importing them to control pests. The fish have since spread throughout the Mississippi River system. Millions of dollars of taxpayer money has been spent to try to keep these foreign species from swimming into the Great Lakes. Some scientists say their presence in the Great Lakes would be an "ecological disaster." Today, evidence of an Asian Carp species was found above an electric barrier designed to prevent their movement into the Great Lakes.

Cancer and Environment: Searching for Answers

This week, the Environment Report is taking an in-depth look at the connections between cancer and the environment. When somebody gets cancer, one of the first questions is usually "why?" Does this kind of cancer run in my family? Was it something in the water, or in the air around me? Did I get exposed to something? What would you do, or where would you go to answer these questions?

Coal: Dirty Past, Hazy Future

A five-part series from the Environment Report on the future of coal in this country. Lester Graham, Shawn Allee, and Matt Sepic break down a debate taking place over the public airwaves and in the public policy arena. Can coal be a viable option in the new green economy? Support for this series comes from the Joyce Foundation.

Dioxin Delays

In this series, The Environment Report's Shawn Allee investigates Dow Chemical and dioxin contamination in mid-Michigan. Central Michigan has lived with toxic dioxin pollution in two major rivers and Saginaw Bay for decades. Shawn looks at who's been affected, why it's taken so long to clean up, how the science behind dioxin has played into this, and what the cleanup means for the rest of the country.

Green Burial

A series of reports about efforts to make the burial process more environmentally friendly.

Greenovation

The Environment Report has been following Matt and Kelly Grocoff in their effort to make their Ann Arbor home the oldest net-zero house in America. That means in a year the home will produce as much energy or more than it uses. Matt wanted to show that making an older home an energy efficient showcase made more sense than building new.

Is Fire Safety Putting Us at Risk?

You have flame retardant chemicals in your body. Scientists are finding these chemicals, called PBDEs, in newborn babies, and the breast milk those babies drink. We Americans have the highest levels of anyone in the world. We're exposed to these chemicals every day. They're in our couches, our TVs, our cars, our office chairs, the padding beneath our carpets, and the dust in our homes. They're building up in pets, wild animals and fish. They're even in some of the foods we eat. Doctors and public health experts are worried because hundreds of peer-reviewed studies are suggesting links to neurological and developmental defects, and fertility and reproductive problems.

Life on the Kalamazoo River

It’s been more than a year since a pipeline owned by Canadian company Enbridge Energy ruptured, spilling more than 843,000 gallons of tar sands oil into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. In this three part series, we explore what life is like now for people who live near the river, what the spill might mean for the health of wildlife and the ecosystem, and the status of lawsuits and claims filed against Enbridge.

Pollution in the Heartland

Pollution in the Heartland looks at the impact of farming practices on our water supply and what some people are doing about it.

Swimming Upstream

A special Environment Report series on fish and the fishing industry in Michigan. Are our fish safe to eat, what can they tell us about the health of our lakes and rivers, and what's the future of commercial fishing in the Great Lakes? Reporter Dustin Dwyer traveled around the state and brings us these seven stories. Support for coverage of Great Lakes fishery issues comes from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust .

Tar Sands Oil

We've been reporting on tar sands oil and the oil spill cleanup throughout the year. Here are our stories:

The Collapse of the Salmon Economy

The Great Lakes are changing so fast that the agencies which manage fishing cannot keep up with the changes. Some types of fish populations are collapsing and others are thriving… at least for now. In a project between The Environment Report and Michigan Watch, Lester Graham has a series of reports on what’s happening and why.

Your Choice; Your Planet

Your Choice; Your Planet is a yearlong series of reports on how the consumer choices we all make affect the environment. Many environmental stories look at government regulations and industry failures, but the greater impact on the environment is determined by the choices that we make every day. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium plans to go far beyond the question of 'Paper or plastic?' The series will look at our attitudes about buying, consumer confusion, misleading marketing, and short-term thinking versus long-term effects when it comes to purchasing food, clothes, services and big ticket items. Being an environmentally friendly consumer is not always easy. Your Choice; Your Planet stories help you make better informed decisions.

A Dam Problem (Part 3)

  • Chris Pierce works to remove a dam on the Manistee River. (Photo by Dustin Dwyer)

All this week, we’re focusing on stories about fish for our series, “Swimming Upstream.” Dustin Dwyer traveled all around the Lower Peninsula for the series, and for today’s story, he went to the site of a former trout farm along the headwaters of the Manistee River, near Grayling. Dustin went to learn about the complex world of dam removal:


The Flowing Well trout farm was built half a century ago. Dotted along the river here are a number of little dams, each one only 4 or 5 feet high, built out of simple wood planks. But if you’re a fish, this might as well be the Hoover.


“You cannot swim from down there to up there. You cannot access the miles and miles of river that we have upstream of here because the dam blocks fish passage.”


Mark Tonello is a fish biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He says dams like the one we’re standing next to give fish less space to feed and less space to spawn. Dams also warm the water, which makes it harder for fish to survive.


Over the past decade or so, people have started to take this dam issue more seriously, and there’s a big push to get rid of old dams.


But the work can be surprisingly tedious.


One group that’s taken up the cause is the Conservation Resource Alliance.


Chris Pierce is a biologist with the CRA. I look on as he and another biologist carefully remove a single wooden plank from the dam.


“You really want to remove the impoundments and the boards, or whatever type of structure is holding the water back, as slow as possible.”


Dustin: “That’s really not as exciting. Dynamite would be much more fun.” (both laugh)


But Pierce says a quick, explosive demolition would release a lot of sediment. A lot of times in Michigan, that sediment holds some pretty nasty toxins.


This one board is all the crew will remove for the day.


(chainsaw sound)

Transcript


The crew also chops up logs downstream so they won’t jam up once the river returns to its full flow. It’s just one of the many mind-numbing details involved in dam removal.


But so far, we’ve just been talking about the science of dam removal. There’s a whole other side to dam removal where things get REALLY complex.


If a dam is in an urban area, removal changes how people use the water – take away a dam below a pond, and the pond goes too, along with all the boating fun.


Rick Westerhoff is a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. He’s the point person for another dam removal project in Traverse City, along the Boardman River. Compared to the Boardman removal, this Flowing Well project is a breeze.


“There’s not many people out here. Still important, but there’s just not the issues related to – you don’t have hydro-power, you don’t have community involvement, you don’t have road-stream crossings, you don’t have potential flooding issues.”


The Boardman River project may well be the largest in the state’s history. It could also cost 20 million dollars.


And that’s another thing – dam removal is never cheap.


Amy Beyer is head of the Conservation Resource Alliance. She says even the Flowing Well project will cost a million.


“People are shocked when they find out the price tag and the time frame that it takes to remove some of these dams. And we’re learning that it really can be a really large effort to do it right, to remove dams.”


There are hundreds of aging dams in Michigan. Removing them is good for fish. It can be good for humans, in case the dams start crumbling away.


But the work is far from easy.


For the Environment Report, I’m Dustin Dwyer.


Tomorrow, we’ll hear about a fish that’s been around since before the age of dinosaurs… and we’ll hear about the people who camp out to protect the fish from poachers. That’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

The Fish Monger’s Wife (Part 2)

  • The Petersens sell fresh whitefish filets at the Muskegon Farmer's Market. (Photo by Dustin Dwyer)

Today we continue our series, Swimming Upstream. Dustin Dwyer took a road trip around the lower peninsula, to bring us stories about fish. Yesterday we heard about the Petersens. They’re one of the few remaining non-tribal commercial fishing families in the state.


Today Dustin tells the story of the Fish Mongers Wife:



It’s a grey day at the Muskegon Farmer’s market, but Amber Mae Petersen is selling the heck out of some fresh Michigan whitefish.


“We’re based here in Muskegon, my husband’s family has been commercial fishing here for 75 years. So we sell what we catch.”


The vacuum-sealed bags of whitefish filets, and packages of smoked whitefish are disappearing quickly. Petersen’s husband Eric stands next to her, packing the fish in ice and wrapping it in old copies of the Muskegon Chronicle.


“It’s the only way to do it.”


People who love to eat local fish always seem to find a way to get it, but sometimes it’s not easy.


Melissa Frey had a hookup better than most of us – her husband has known the Petersens all his life. So she could drive over to the dock to get some fish.


“Occasionally we’d go down there and get a treat, but this is exciting.”


Dustin: “But now you get it more often?”


“Oh my gosh, every week. Fish tacos, fish on the grill. We love that. We’re absolute whitefish fans.”


The Petersen’s have been pulling whitefish out of the waters near Muskegon for eight decades. But this Farmer’s Market stand marks the first time the family has ever had a retail operation.


Talking to Eric, you can see why there was a reluctance. The family has distributors it trusts. Going through them is simple and it pays the bills.


So he says when Amber Mae pitched the idea of selling at the farmer’s market, it took some convincing.


“I said go ahead, but I don’t want anything to do with it, you know, because I’m not really a people person. But I got into it you know, and came with her a couple of times and everybody already knew who I was, so it kinda made me feel a little bit better about working with her, and so I come every Saturday with her.”


Dustin: “She roped you in…”


“Yeah, she did.”

Transcript

Amber Mae also won Eric over on the name for the new business. That quirky and catchy name is now splashed on a board above their market stall: the Fish Monger’s Wife, LLC.


She can afford to gloat a bit because, well, the Fish Monger’s Wife has been a huge hit.


” It just took off. The response from the community was absolutely amazing. People were excited that we were here. We actually sold out our first Saturday within an hour and a half I think it was. It was just crazy.”


But success brings its own challenges.


Amber Mae says one of her big questions right now is how big can this business really get? At the size they’re at now, they’re debt free and all the fish gets cleaned and filleted by hand.


“You know a filet machine used is $30,000. And if we had a filet machine, that would allow us to take and look at doing larger quantities, which would allow us to expand into restaurants and things like that … so, you know, when you’re running a business and you’re saying okay do we really want to do a business loan or not, it becomes complicated.”


Complications like that help explain why there aren’t more people clamoring to get in the fish business. And why people like me have trouble finding fresh local fish at the store.


But the Petersens are making a go of it. The Fish Monger’s Wife is still a pretty small part of the entire Petersen family fishing operation, but it is opening a new door and a new way for the rest of us to enjoy Michigan fish.


For the Environment Report, I’m Dustin Dwyer.


Next time, Dustin visits the headwaters of the Manistee River. We’ll hear how removing dams can be good for fish… but it can also be a nightmare.


That’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

The Shrinking Commercial Fishing Industry


Today we begin a series called: “Swimming Upstream.” It’s about one of Michigan’s most valuable natural resources: fish. These slimy, scaly water dwellers contribute to the ecology of the Great Lakes, our economy, and, of course, our dinner plate.


Reporter Dustin Dwyer has traveled all over the lower peninsula to gather these fish stories for us, and he starts with a simple question: why can it sometimes be so difficult to buy fresh fish caught in Michigan?


The short answer to that question is: Michigan’s commercial fishing industry is pretty small. Other than tribal fisherman, only about 50 people hold commercial fishing licenses in the state.


Bill Petersen estimates that the number used to be a thousand.


Petersen is a third generation commercial fisherman in Muskegon. I met him on a concrete dock, tucked behind a little house near where Muskegon Lake meets Lake Michigan. It’s not an easy place to find.


“Not too many people even know about us down here.”


Dustin: “You don’t have a sign out.”


“We don’t advertise. Sometimes you’re better off that way.” (laughs)


The business seems to be getting by fine without it. Bill’s grandfather started Petersen’s Fisheries in 1927. Bill started young.


“Well I’m 62 years old, and I’ve been working 53 years.”


In that time, he’s seen several fishermen go out of business just in Muskegon. He puts most of the blame on regulation. Starting in the ‘60s, the state put in rules to protect fish populations in the lake. And now the state doesn’t issue any new commercial fishing licenses. Petersen says the rules have definitely helped the fish. But the industry is a shadow of what it once was.


“Well, there’s only two commercial fishermen on this side of the state from here in Muskegon to the Indiana border. Got the whole lake and two fishermen, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. (Dustin: It’s good business for you, though) Good for us, yeah, but the fish are just back to back. They’re thick.”


As we talk, the boat chugs in with the day’s catch.


(sound of boat coming in)


The catch on this particular day isn’t that great – maybe 1,200 pounds of fish in all. They’re packed in green plastic tubs full of ice.


The crew hauls the tubs up to the dock. If these guys are lucky, they’ll get out of here after a 14 hour work day.


And the profit from that work, well, it can vary.


“You put in long hours and sometimes it’s low pay. So you either gotta like it, or be crazy, one of the two.”


Dustin: “Well, which are you?”


“Take your pick.” (laughs)


At least, if he’s crazy, he’s crazy like a fox. The Petersens have managed to keep a fishing business going in Michigan for about 80 years now, while hundreds of other fishermen went under.

Transcript


But for folks who just want to buy fresh, local Michigan whitefish, there’s a downside: to stay in business, the Petersens stick with just a few trusted distributors. And once the fish gets loaded up on a truck, those distributors send almost all of it to Chicago or New York. From there, the fish gets hard to track.


Dustin: “If someone’s listening to this radio piece, how would they know if they’re eating a Petersen’s Fisheries fish?”


“They wouldn’t. They would never know. There’s no way that you know where the fish comes from.”


But, that’s actually not entirely true. There is one way to know for sure that you’re getting a fish from the Petersen family. And that is our story for tomorrow.


For the Environment Report, I’m Dustin Dwyer.

And while we have Dustin tracking the Petersen family, we want to know your favorite places to get Michigan fish. You can find our discussion on our Facebook page. Just search for The Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

Transporting Tar Sands Oil

(Part 2)

  • The Kalamazoo River on July 30, 2010, after the Enbridge pipeline broke. (Photo courtesy of the State of Michigan)

The Enbridge pipeline that broke and spilled into the Kalamazoo River last summer was carrying raw tar sands oil. In part two of our series on regulating pipelines, Julie Grant looks at the transport of tar sands oil from Alberta:


The Canadian company Enbridge says it ships both conventional crude, and tar sands oil through its pipelines. Spokesperson Lorraine Grymala says in recent years they’ve been getting an increasing amount of tar sands oil.


“Because there’s being more produced, and there’s more of a demand for it in the United States.”


This increase in tar sands oil transport worries environmentalists and pipeline safety advocates. Anthony Swift is with the Natural Resources Defense Council. He co-authored a report called Tar Sands Safety Risks.


The report says raw tar sands oil has as much 20-times more acid and is more corrosive than traditional crude oil. Swift says transporting this type of oil could lead to more pipeline breaks.

Listen to the first part of this series on tar sands oil

Association of Oil Pipelines

The NRDC report on tar sands oil

Transcript

He says while tar sands oil is relatively new to U.S. pipelines, its been flowing through Canadian pipelines much longer.


“We did kind of a mile by mile comparison of the Alberta pipeline system to the U.S. pipeline system. And we found that the Alberta pipeline system had 16 times as many leaks of 26 gallons or greater than the U.S. system per pipeline mile.”


Swift says the Alberta pipelines had more leaks, even though it’s a newer system.


He wants the U.S. government to study raw tar sands oil before allowing more of it to flow into the U.S.


The federal government approved two permits in recent years for the construction of new pipelines from the Alberta tar sands into the U.S. Andy Black is president of the Association of Oil Pipelines. He says tar sands oil is no different than other heavy crudes. And he says the government stamp of approval means tar sands oil can safely flow through the pipes…


“In neither of those cases have the government agencies suggested that the product was any more corrosive, and they haven’t required any conditions to accommodate this alleged increased corrosivity.”


But we couldn’t figure out how the federal government decided that raw tar sands oil is safe to send through the pipelines.


The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, called PHMSA, is the federal agency that monitors pipelines. PHMSA declined to be interviewed for this story. But in an email, the agency said tar sands oil is regulated the same as any other hazardous liquid, such as light crude or gasoline. They said all hazardous liquids have to meet federal standards. PHMSA sent us to FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for more information. A spokesperson at FERC says they don’t regulate what flows through the pipelines. They sent us back to PHMSA.


The U.S. State Department decides whether a pipeline can cross the Canadian border into the U.S. But they declined to comment for this story.


Lorraine Grymala, the spokesperon at Enbridge, did offer some answers…


“There’s a technical standards group, maybe that’s the best way to put it, that basically are the ones that dictate what can go in the line, what’s safe to go in the line.”


Grymala says this group is called the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. It is a trade group representing the oil and gas industries. So, she’s saying that in Canada the oil and gas industries decide what’s safe to put through the lines.


The Canadian government also has oversight. In an email, a spokesperson for the Canadian National Energy Board said they need to know what’s going to flow through a pipeline before they approve its operation. But like in the U.S., Canada does not distinguish between raw tar sands oil and other heavy crudes in the pipelines.


Environmental and pipeline safety groups are urging the U.S. government to spend more time studying tar sands oil, and the effect it might be having on the nation’s aging pipeline system.


For the Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

Tar Sands Oil & Michigan Pipelines (Part 1)

  • Dick Denuyl and his neighbor, Tom Philp, live along the St. Clair River. Philp is a pipeline inspector. (Photo by Suzy Vuljevic)

The pipeline break that spilled more than 840,000 gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River last summer is still being cleaned up. It has left some Michigan residents with questions about the safety of sending heavy crude oil through those lines. In part one of our series on regulating pipelines, Julie Grant looks at concerns about inspections in Michigan:


Dick Denuyl is a retired school teacher in Marysville. When he bought his home along the St. Clair River, he loved the beautiful setting. And he wasn’t worried about the pipelines running under the water.


“I really never gave it much of a thought, until the one in California blew up, the high pressure gas line, destroyed a city block. And then the one, the Enbridge pipeline that broke and polluted the Kalamazoo river.”


The official cause of the Kalamazoo River oil spill is still under federal investigation. Enbridge officials say they also found a 12-inch dent in that same pipeline, this time in a section under the St. Clair River. Company spokesperson Lorraine Grymala says the dent did not cause any problems:


“Based on the internal inspection data, there really wasn’t, we were not concerned it was going to be an issue for the line, but it’s better to take more precaution then less, and so we did work to replace that section of the line.”


Actually, the federal government ordered Enbridge to replace that section of the pipeline. The company says the work will be complete by the end of June.


Dick Denuyl’s neighbor in Marysville is a pipeline inspector. Tom Philp does inspections for a company called Nova Chemicals. Philp says when he’s inspecting the Nova pipeline, he walks a few miles from his house along the St. Clair River to an oil refinery.

Environment Report story: Oil Lingers in Kalamazoo River

Environment Report story: Health Concerns After Oil Spill

A related article

Transcript

“I do it every two weeks. I just look for any possible leakage, like through stained grass, or bubbling, or anything like that.”


Enbridge also runs a pipeline along his route:


“There is another pipeline that runs parallel with the Nova lines, and I have yet to see an inspector.”


“We have thousands of miles of right of ways, so the likelihood that you’re going to run into one person is probably not very good.”


Enbridge spokesperson Lorraine Grymala says the company does a variety of pipeline inspections. They use special tools to look inside the pipes for cracks, corrosion, and dents. They do aerial inspections. And they have crews on the ground, inspecting like Mr. Philp does.


The government does have some oversight on pipeline inspections. But here’s where things get complicated.


The Michigan Public Service Commission oversees natural gas pipelines that flow entirely within the state’s borders. But no state agency regulates oil pipelines that flow entirely in Michigan.


PHMSA, the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration, is the federal agency in charge of monitoring pipelines that run across state borders. PHMSA declined an interview for this story. In an email, PHMSA says it does some of its own inspections. But it has only 110 inspectors to keep track of 2.3 million miles of pipelines nationwide. PHMSA says it inspects the companies and enforces compliance.


Susan Harley says the government is leaving the fox in charge of the hen house. Harley is policy director for Clean Water Action in Michigan. She’s concerned that the companies are largely responsible for inspecting their own pipelines:


“It really is an operator inspection program, versus the government having oversight authority. The state doesn’t even have a hand in ensuring that these pipelines are being operated safely and inspected frequently.”


Harley doesn’t expect that to change, because of the tight state budget. Meanwhile, Enbridge has announced that it will replace 75 miles of pipeline in Indiana and Michigan.


For the Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.


RW: On Thursday, Julie takes a closer look at the transport of tar sands oil.


That’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

Pipeline Safety & Deer Baiting Ban

  • Baiting deer with corn, apples, sugar beets or carrots has been banned for three years in the Lower Peninsula. (Photo by Scott Bauer - USDA)

The people who operate oil and gas pipelines – and the people who regulate them – met in Washington D.C. yesterday.


The forum on pipeline safety was triggered by last summer’s oil spill in the Kalamazoo River and two fatal gas line explosions in California and Pennsylvania.


U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says current regulations need to be stronger.


“Look it, we get it. We know these pipeline breaks and explosions cause a lot of, in the case of Michigan, a lot of environmental degradation. So we’re stepping up on our side of things and we’re going to use the bully pulpit to make sure the companies do the same.”


Secretary LaHood wants to increase fines for companies that violate safety rules.


Representatives of the gas and oil pipeline industries both said they are working toward a goal of zero accidents.


(music sting)


This is the Environment Report.


Baiting deer is the subject of lots of debate in Lansing this month. There’s a ban on feeding deer in the Lower Peninsula that could be lifted in June. The restriction was a response to the discovery of chronic wasting disease in one deer in 2008. But no more sick animals have been found and the pressure is growing to let hunters bait wild deer. Peter Payette reports:

Transcript

For at least a half century hunters in Michigan have put out corn, sugar beets, carrots and other vegetables to attract deer in the fall. When baiting was banned in Lower Michigan three years ago, a state hotline was flooded with calls from people reporting neighbors.


Almost 600 tickets were issued.


But now phone calls and tickets are fewer.


Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement Dean Molnar thinks people are tired of the ban and less inclined to report illegal baiting.


Molnar recently told the Natural Resources Commission hunters are also working hard to avoid being caught.


“They’re finding that the bait is being cut up and chopped. We’ve had some reports of people actually buying juicers and are juicing their beets and their carrots and spreading the pulp out as you would with apple mash after it was going through the cider process.”


Wildlife biologists generally agree it’s a bad idea to feed wild deer. Setting out a pile of food causes them to congregate in ways they usually wouldn’t. And that can spread diseases like bovine tuberculosis and chronic wasting disease.


Many hunters recognize this and oppose baiting.


Kevin Gould from Ionia County told the commission disease is just one reason not to allow baiting.


“I see huge benefits for us not baiting deer. One it increases the number of hours and days in the woods. I think that’s a huge benefit. Be out in the woods longer to harvest that deer. Be more selective. Learn about the environment. Huge benefit.”


But many other hunters want to bait, especially in northern Lower Michigan.


Deer are most plentiful in the southern part of the state and in the UP baiting is still allowed. But up north lots of people hunt on land where deer are scarce. Some corn or a few apples can improve their chances of seeing a deer on opening day.


Don Inman thinks it should be allowed. He’s a retired conservation officer who lives in Presque Isle County. The baiting ban has been around there longer because of bovine tuberculosis. Inman says the ban hurts the sport of hunting.


“There’s no question that the number of hunters that have been coming up here has gone down.”


Inman thinks concerns about diseases might be overstated. And he says small amounts of bait don’t attract big crowds of deer.


“From my experience and all my friends too who have hunted in this area and hunted here when bait was legal, we very seldom saw like four deer. We put out a coffee can of corn and spread it around.”


So far the state’s largest conservation group, Michigan United Conservation clubs is opposed to lifting the ban. But MUCC recently held a panel discussion to explore the issue at the request of its members.


For the Environment Report, I’m Peter Payette.


And that’s the Environment Report for today. I’m Rebecca Williams.

Health Concerns After the Oil Spill (Part 2)

  • The Kalamazoo River on July 30, 2010, after the Enbridge pipeline broke. (Photo courtesy of the State of Michigan)

Waiting to find out if there are long term health effects from the Enbridge oil spill…


This is the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.


Until last July, many people in Marshall had no idea an oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners ran underneath their town.


Then, it broke. More than 840,000 gallons of thick, black oil from the Canadian tar sands poured into the Kalamazoo River.


“I think I can sum it up in one word and that is nightmare.”


Deb Miller lives just 50 feet from the Kalamazoo River.


“The smell, I don’t even know how to describe the smell, there are no words. You could not be outside.”


Miller and her husband Ken own a carpet store. It’s right above the Ceresco Dam, about 20 feet from the River. So she couldn’t escape the oil spill by going to the store.


“The headaches were just absolutely intense, watering eyes. The cough, it was chronic.”


She says the daily headaches and coughing lasted for months.


And many of her neighbors felt the same way.

Part 1 of this series

The Michigan Dept of Community Health report

The NRDC report

Transcript

Last fall, the Michigan Department of Community Health issued a report on acute health effects of the oil spill. The report says headaches, nausea and respiratory symptoms were the most common problems. Some people reported rashes. The report says that’s consistent with what you’d expect for short term health effects from an oil spill.


But many people are wondering if the chemicals they may have been exposed to from the oil will affect them later on.


Paul Makoski is an environmental health manager with the Calhoun County Health Department.


“We had residents that were exposed to any number of chemicals and substances that are certainly not in their everyday exposure. What effect those have in the amount that they were in the environment is still the great unknown and that’s why we’re still trying to find somebody with that expertise who can help us with that.”


He says the health department is just in the beginning stages of considering a long term health study. They haven’t yet approached Enbridge to ask them to pay for a study.


The type of oil spilled in the Kalamazoo River was diluted bitumen. Bitumen is a type of oil that comes from tar sands. It’s a very thick oil, and it has to be diluted in order to move through pipelines. It’s often diluted with natural gas condensate.


Anthony Swift is with the Natural Resources Defense Council. He’s an author of a recent NRDC report on the risks of tar sands oil.


“Part of the difficulty is there are so many different toxins in diluted bitumen, each has its own rap sheet of symptoms. But several of them are carcinogenic, you have heavy metals that have all sorts of different systemic risks to various organ systems.”


He says bitumen has significantly higher concentrations of mercury, arsenic, and chromium than conventional crude. But he says there haven’t been any academic studies on the long term health effects of diluted bitumen… so there are many unknowns.


Lorraine Grymala is a spokesperson with Enbridge. She says Enbridge has put together a panel to review medical claims.


“You know, Enbridge’s business is energy transportation, that’s what we know, that’s what we’re good at, and when it comes to evaluating the validity of medical claims that’s out of our realm of understanding.”


But some residents worry when the oil spill is declared cleaned up… they’ll be forgotten about.


Susan Connolly lives in Marshall with her family. She says she’s concerned about her 5 year old son and 3 year old daughter.


“If my son or daughter becomes ill, I will track you down. The government needs to step up and enforce Enbridge to pay for a long term health study. Make them do it!”


There is a precedent for this now. Some of the people affected by the BP spill in the Gulf will be getting a long term health study. The National Institutes of Health has launched a 10-year study of 55,000 cleanup workers and volunteers. BP chipped in $10 million for a portion of that study.


That’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

Oil Lingers in Kalamazoo River (Part 1)

  • A Great Blue Heron covered in oil after the rupture of Enbridge's Line 6B near Marshall in July 2010. (Photo courtesy of EPA Region 5)

It was one of the largest oil spills in the Midwest… and it’s not over yet.


This is the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.


Crews are still cleaning up from last July’s oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. An oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners ruptured… and spilled more than 840,000 gallons of heavy crude. The oil polluted Talmadge Creek and more than 30 miles of the Kalamazoo River.


Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency say most of that oil has been sucked out of the river… and tens of thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil have been removed.


But the work is far from done.


(heavy machinery sounds)


Mark Durno is the Deputy Incident Commander with the EPA. He’s overseeing the cleanup teams.
He’s standing on the bank of the Kalamazoo River. Dump trucks and loaders rumble over a bridge out to an island in the river.


“The islands were heavily contaminated, we didn’t expect to see as much oil as we did. If you’d shovel down into the islands you’d see oil pool into the holes we’d dig.”


Workers are scooping out contaminated soil… hauling it to a staging area and shipping it off site.


Mark Durno says the weather will dictate what happens next. He says heavy rainstorms will probably move oil around. They won’t know how much more cleanup work they’ll have to do until they finish their spring assessment.


“Once the heavy rains recede, we’ll do an assessment over the entire stretch of river to determine whether there are substantial amounts of submerged oil in sediments that still exist in the system.”

Transcript

He says if they find a lot of oil at the bottom of the river… the crews will have to remove it.


Reports that Enbridge submitted to the EPA and the state of Michigan show the type of oil spilled in the Kalamazoo River was diluted bitumen. Bitumen is a type of oil that comes from tar sands. It’s a very thick oil, and it has to be diluted in order to move through pipelines.


Mark Durno says the nature of the oil is making the clean up more difficult.


“I truly believe the characteristics of this material is the reason we still have such a heavy operation out here. Because it was a very heavy crude, we ended up with a lot more submerged oil than we anticipated having to deal with.”


He says the cleanup could continue for another year. But that doesn’t include restoration of habitat, and that’ll take even longer. And workers will not be able to clean up every last drop of oil. Mark Durno says that’s not feasible… and it would mean damaging sensitive habitats. So he says it’s possible some oil will turn up years down the road. Right now… more than 30 miles of the Kalamazoo River down to Morrow Lake are closed to the public. No fishing. No boating. No swimming.


The official cause of the oil spill is still under federal investigation.


Susan Hedman is the EPA Administrator for Region 5. She says Enbridge won’t be fined until the investigation is done.


“We are committed to holding Enbridge accountable. Not a single penny of taxpayer money will be used to recover this spill.”


Enbridge noted in its annual report that the cleanup has cost $550 million dollars so far.


Lorraine Grymala is a spokesperson with Enbridge.


“We expect the majority of that to be recovered through insurance. That $550 million doesn’t include fines or penalties or lawsuits related to the incident.”


She says Enbridge spends millions every year to monitor their pipelines for safety.


The pipeline that broke in Marshall is part of Enbridge’s Lakehead system. The system stretches from North Dakota across Michigan into New York. Over the past decade, the federal government has documented 83 spills and other safety problems on the Lakehead System.


The pipeline system is more than 60 years old. EPA’s Mark Durno says that’s been on his mind a lot lately.


“We know this is an aging pipeline system, so we’re prepared for more frequent spills of this nature. We hope that we don’t but we have to be prepared to do it.”


On Thursday, we’ll hear from people who have been directly affected by the oil spill and their worries about long term health effects.


That’s the Environment Report. I’m Rebecca Williams.

Industrial Boilers & New Report on Oil and Gas Pipelines

  • The Au Sable River. (Photo courtesy of National Scenic Byways)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency appears to have missed
yesterday’s court-ordered deadline to issue a new rule regulating industrial boilers. There are about 60 boilers in Michigan which provide power for chemical plants and paper mills. As Tracy Samilton reports, the rule is likely to become a political football – when it is issued:


Mike Garfield of the Ecology Center says boilers release lead, mercury, and fine particulates – just like their larger cousins, coal-burning power plants. He says pollution scrubbing equipment on the boilers could save lives.


“The EPA has calculated the new pollution control requirements will prevent nearly 5,000 deaths a year.”


But industry lobbyists said the expense of the equipment will mean lost manufacturing jobs. A group of U.S. Senators says they’re planning to draft a bill to give the EPA more time to improve the rule, so it protects public health without hurting the economy.


For the Environment Report, I’m Tracy Samilton.


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This is the Environment Report.


The Anglers of the Au Sable has a new report that details the group’s concerns over oil and gas pipelines in northern Michigan. They’re especially worried about protecting the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers.

Read the report

A related Environment Report story

Enbridge website about the Kalamazoo River spill

Transcript


John Bebow is with the Anglers group. He says they started investigating pipelines after the major oil spill last summer in the Kalamazoo River. A pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners broke… and spilled more than 800,000 gallons into the river.


“And we quickly determined an even bigger pipeline owned by the same company flows under the Au Sable and its tributaries numerous times.”


That pipeline is called Line 5. It’s the largest oil pipeline in the Midwest… and it goes through the very heart of the Au Sable watershed. The report notes that Line 5 carries as much as 22 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids beneath the Au Sable River every day.


John Bebow calls the Au Sable a world class trout stream. He says if there were an oil spill… it would be devastating.


“The Au Sable River is a major magnet for tourism and recreation. It is a river life up there.”


Bebow says they have serious concerns about a potential oil spill. But he says his group’s been surprised at how responsive Enbridge has been.


He says the company is planning to put in a new remote controlled valve on Line 5 that would help stop the flow of oil into the river in the case of a spill. Bebow says Enbridge is also running mock disaster exercises on Line 5.


The Anglers group also investigated natural gas pipelines in Michigan. They’re worried if there was a big rupture and it ignited, it could start a devastating forest fire. The Anglers report notes that the state of Michigan has just six inspectors to oversee 65,000 miles of pipelines.


Here’s where the Anglers ran into trouble. They wanted to find out the condition of the pipelines in northern Michigan where the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers flow. So, they filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Michigan Public Service Commission. The commission regulates natural gas pipelines within the state.


“They asked us for almost $14,000 in order to fully review all of the natural gas pipelines in northern Michigan. A regulatory agency oughta have their records in a format that wouldn’t require $14,000 of staff time in order to review so they would be publicly available.”


The Anglers group filed a second – more narrowly defined – request. The commission said that would cost $889 dollars. The Anglers group is planning to pay that. But that’s only going to give them a limited picture of the condition of natural gas pipelines.


The report came out on President’s Day – and neither Enbridge nor the Michigan Public Service Commission were reachable for comment.


I’m Rebecca Williams.

Report: Tar Sands Oil Boosts Pipeline Risks

  • A map of current and proposed oil pipelines carrying raw tar sands oil in the U.S. and Canada. (From the report: Tar Sands Pipelines Safety Risks)

An oil pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners broke last summer. It spilled more than 800,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River.


A new report warns a corrosive type of oil flowing through pipelines in Michigan might lead to more spills.


Susan Casey-Lefkowitz is with the Natural Resources Defense Council. She’s one of the report’s authors.


She says the pipeline that broke last summer was carrying raw tar sands oil. It’s also called diluted bitumen.


“Diluted bitumen or the raw tar sands oil is more acidic, it’s more corrosive, it’s very thick so you need high pressure and heat to have it go through a pipe.”


Enbridge did not agree to be recorded for this story. But in an email statement, an Enbridge spokesperson said there can be several different types of crude oil in any of their pipelines at any given time.

Read the report

Response to the report from the Alberta government

NRDC response to the Alberta government

Transcript

And that the type of crude oil that leaked at Marshall was from the Cold Lake area of Western Canada… which is classified as heavy crude.


The NRDC’s Susan Casey-Lefkowitz says Enbridge has called tar sands oil by other names in the past.


“In the very first news reports about the Enbridge break, the head of Enbridge himself was denying that this was diluted bitumen, and yet the reports very clearly stated this was oil from the Cold Lake region, where that’s what they produce, they produce raw tar sands oil there. And it’s been since shown in court documents that that’s indeed what this was.”


She says raw tar sands oil is being transported through U.S. pipelines from tar sands mines in Alberta, Canada. She says Canadian refineries are reaching capacity… so oil companies are bringing more raw tar sands oil to U.S. refineries.


“And really what you’ve got is a U.S. pipeline system that was not built and was not regulated for anything other than conventional oil. And when you start putting material into it that is more corrosive and has very different characteristics, it’s not really something our pipelines are prepared for.”


And she says this puts the Great Lakes region at an increased risk that another spill will happen.


The official cause of the Kalamazoo River spill is still under investigation.


In an email statement, an Enbridge spokesperson said tar sands oil is no different from oil transported by other crude oil pipelines. And that their oil pipelines meet all Canadian and U.S. regulations. The spokesperson said the company has quote: “an intensive ongoing pipeline maintenance program.”


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This is the Environment Report.


Like most Michigan cites, Grand Rapids’ budget is leaving little room for the extras in life. But Lindsey Smith reports they’re still finding ways to fund the creation of new parks:


Grand Rapids’ director of parks and recreation, Jay Steffen, was excited to address city commission this week.


“When I get up and talk about this park I’m reminded of a song by Joni Mitchell, where she said ‘paved over paradise to put up a parking lot.’ Well we hope to bring paradise back. (laughs)


The city wants to take a 2-and-a-half-acre-parking lot and turn it into, as Jay says, paradise. Pleasant Park would have a rain garden, native shrubs and trees… in a neighborhood that’s one of the most densely populated, with the least amount of green space. That’s why they’re targeting it.


Mayor George Heartwell told city commissioners not to let the $800,000 price tag discourage them.


“We’ve been nothing if not inventive in pulling together resources from the community.”


They’re applying for federal grants usually reserved for low income housing improvements for the park. Nearby neighborhood associations are collecting private donations. The city decides next month if it’ll apply for state grants too.


For the Environment Report, I’m Lindsey Smith.


And that’s the Environment Report for today. I’m Rebecca Williams.