The first Native American tribe in the Midwest to seek a special air pollution protection for its reservation has run into some roadblocks. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
The first Native American tribe in the Midwest to seek
a special air pollution protection for its reservation has
run into some roadblocks. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The Forest County Potawatomi tribe in Wisconsin has a tentative
air pollution deal with the state and the EPA. Under the plan, the
tribe’s reservation would be granted Class One Air Designation.
That top level protection would mean the Potawatomi could
challenge major new air pollution sources within 62 miles of its reservation.
Some of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan falls within that zone… and Michigan
is fighting the designation, citing states’ rights. Steven Rothblatt is with the EPA. He’s
moderating the dispute.
“I don’t think we have an absolute legal time frame that we have to act in
so many days or anything on this. So we’ve taken a position of really trying to work with the
parties to seek agreement.”
The Potawatomi say there’s increasing evidence that air pollution affects the tribe’s natural
resources… and they want to restrict it.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Chuck Quirmbach in Milwaukee.