This is the "State of Play" in Michigan. This has been a chronic march to doomsday by Michigan judges. They always allow preliminary actions by the government that ultimately destroy public lands. There is a stark example along the Boardman River in Grand Traverse County. It is corruption. There is no other word for it.
The Boardman River once served the logging and oil industry in the early 1900s. The river was harnessed for electric power through a series of dams along this fast flowing river. The "overland flow" of snow, ice and rain caused a great deal of oil pollution runoff into the river for nearly one hundred years. There are still a few pumps along this river that provide an income to government and private non-profits still today. The oil is found in a geological structure called, "The Michigan Reef."
But, that said, one hundred years is a long time and there has been a lot that has transpired in those years, namely population growth and modernization of the area. The ponds formed by the dams were much sought after and until this past year the river was a tourist attraction. There are reviews of The Boardman dating back to the 1950s highlighting it as "A Blue Ribbon Trout Stream." But, that has ended now.
About nine years ago the natural gas industry reared it's ugly head in Grand Traverse County. There were an unemployed fish biologist. The two have provided the worst government infrastructure project in the nation. The project was called, "The Boardman, A River Reborn." It was/is to be the projects of all projects. The river would be returned to it's natural course by dam deconstruction. The project is a deeply corrupted project at the consent of local government.
That aside, the project has resulted in what is termed in Michigan as "Dam Drawdowns." That means incremental amounts of lowering of the ponds occurs while the dam is still intact. It has been years since the first dam drawdown at the Boardman Pond. The drawdown resulted in loss of raparian rights to land owners, devaluation of the real estate, including homes. There are now abandoned homes along the river and more are in the works since the gross mismanagement of the engineering firm, AMEC. AMEC allowed an inexperienced engineer to over see a temporary dewatering facility and it collapsed sending all the contaminated sediment downstream along with huge amounts of water. The entire river is now contaminated by toxic sediment and the status of fishing along the river is basically gone. The homes involved have chronic issues, including Black Mold which is causing respiratory disease and winter it on it's way.
If that isn't enough, far earlier on when the project's first draw down was to occur, there was a resident, an artisan wood carver, that sued the city, county and state for his losses and to stop the project. The citizens basically want the hydroelectric power and until this past year there was a FERC Permit to allow the continuation of it with a private interest. Those people do exist by the way. Honest people, PRIVATE INTERESTS, that believe alternative power far exceeds that of temporary drilling. One hundred years of proof of a highly stable river and it's power generation would turn a nice profit to any private investor and their capital. The returns were far better than Wall Street.
But, back to the lawsuit.
The judge ruled that the permit was a 'temporary draw down permit' and there was no reason for the action until it was to be known to cause PERMANENT damage. The definition to deny the lawsuit relied on the 'idea' that no permanent damaged occurred yet. It didn't matter the property owners were abandoning their property because their homes already lost over 50% of market value, it was all temporary according to the judge. Corruption. Plan and simple. The same dynamics are playing out now since the temporary dam collapse and people could very well die of Black Mold in their lungs. The judicial system in Michigan SLOW WALKS injustice in the hopes it does not appear to be injustice. If you've lived in the state long enough, it is nearly anticipated these days.
But, the entire lawsuit by citizens of conscious who would prefer alternative energies like wind, solar and hydroelectric are being slow walked through the Michigan judicial system to destroy public lands, yet again.
I believe it was yesterday Snyder stated he was creating a commission to study hydrofracking in the state and provide GUIDANCE to local governments. The study is to take about a year. The NC government said that as well and it took less than 30 days.
Snyder is dismantling alternative sources of energy in the state. He has provided the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality monies to deconstruct every dam in Michigan. The Michigan DEQ has rubber stamped every document required to deconstruct these dams. The investigation into any toxins is grossly mismanaged. The Boardman sediment investigation by the DEQ for toxins allowed shallow cores to count for what should have been core samples deep into the sand to find where the contamination ended. The shallow core samples was to mask what actually has accumulated in the way of toxins over a century. See, the sand along the Boardman is the reason for the temporary dam collapse, but, they won't admit it. According to official sources the cause is unknown. But, that sand, WHEN UNDISTURBED, acted as a filter to the toxic sediment that washed into the river and trapped the toxins away from water quality. UNTIL NOW.
So, the focus by Snyder is to indulge Koch Industries, deconstruct dams regardless of the hardship to citizens, glamorize the process, hide the facts and don't forget deforest the beauty everyone loves.
The judicial system is no place for citizen interests in Michigan and this is another example.
By
on August 19, 2013 at 10:42 AM, updated August 19, 2013 at 8:45 PM
Michigan Air Land Water Defense (click here) filed the suit in October 2012, challenging leases sold by the state at auction in 2012 in the Allegan State Game Area, the Barry State Game Reserve and Yankee Springs Parks and Recreation Area, arguing that the state needed to first assess the environmental impact of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, on public lands.
Circuit Court Judge Amy McDowell granted the motion of summary disposition filed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Aug. 13, saying that MLAWD's claim was not ripe for review.
In her opinion, McDowell called the plaintiffs' claims premature, since the leases auctioned were classified as nondevelopmental, which means that no surface drilling can occur without an application to the state for a change of status.
"As asserted by Defendants, the mere act of leasing oil and gas rights, in and of itself, does not constitute actual or imminent injury," wrote McDowell. "If the DNR initially classified that lease as 'developmental' or 'developmental with restrictions' prior to a review of the impact on protected areas, then this Court may have reached a different conclusion."
Just as a side note. Don't bother about the local newsprint, they are bought and sold on money and one sided politics. There is no fair play in Michigan. There is no OTHER SIDE, everyone is on the same side. There simply is not other view to provide 'equal opportunity' to be heard.
The Boardman River once served the logging and oil industry in the early 1900s. The river was harnessed for electric power through a series of dams along this fast flowing river. The "overland flow" of snow, ice and rain caused a great deal of oil pollution runoff into the river for nearly one hundred years. There are still a few pumps along this river that provide an income to government and private non-profits still today. The oil is found in a geological structure called, "The Michigan Reef."
But, that said, one hundred years is a long time and there has been a lot that has transpired in those years, namely population growth and modernization of the area. The ponds formed by the dams were much sought after and until this past year the river was a tourist attraction. There are reviews of The Boardman dating back to the 1950s highlighting it as "A Blue Ribbon Trout Stream." But, that has ended now.
About nine years ago the natural gas industry reared it's ugly head in Grand Traverse County. There were an unemployed fish biologist. The two have provided the worst government infrastructure project in the nation. The project was called, "The Boardman, A River Reborn." It was/is to be the projects of all projects. The river would be returned to it's natural course by dam deconstruction. The project is a deeply corrupted project at the consent of local government.
That aside, the project has resulted in what is termed in Michigan as "Dam Drawdowns." That means incremental amounts of lowering of the ponds occurs while the dam is still intact. It has been years since the first dam drawdown at the Boardman Pond. The drawdown resulted in loss of raparian rights to land owners, devaluation of the real estate, including homes. There are now abandoned homes along the river and more are in the works since the gross mismanagement of the engineering firm, AMEC. AMEC allowed an inexperienced engineer to over see a temporary dewatering facility and it collapsed sending all the contaminated sediment downstream along with huge amounts of water. The entire river is now contaminated by toxic sediment and the status of fishing along the river is basically gone. The homes involved have chronic issues, including Black Mold which is causing respiratory disease and winter it on it's way.
If that isn't enough, far earlier on when the project's first draw down was to occur, there was a resident, an artisan wood carver, that sued the city, county and state for his losses and to stop the project. The citizens basically want the hydroelectric power and until this past year there was a FERC Permit to allow the continuation of it with a private interest. Those people do exist by the way. Honest people, PRIVATE INTERESTS, that believe alternative power far exceeds that of temporary drilling. One hundred years of proof of a highly stable river and it's power generation would turn a nice profit to any private investor and their capital. The returns were far better than Wall Street.
But, back to the lawsuit.
The judge ruled that the permit was a 'temporary draw down permit' and there was no reason for the action until it was to be known to cause PERMANENT damage. The definition to deny the lawsuit relied on the 'idea' that no permanent damaged occurred yet. It didn't matter the property owners were abandoning their property because their homes already lost over 50% of market value, it was all temporary according to the judge. Corruption. Plan and simple. The same dynamics are playing out now since the temporary dam collapse and people could very well die of Black Mold in their lungs. The judicial system in Michigan SLOW WALKS injustice in the hopes it does not appear to be injustice. If you've lived in the state long enough, it is nearly anticipated these days.
But, the entire lawsuit by citizens of conscious who would prefer alternative energies like wind, solar and hydroelectric are being slow walked through the Michigan judicial system to destroy public lands, yet again.
I believe it was yesterday Snyder stated he was creating a commission to study hydrofracking in the state and provide GUIDANCE to local governments. The study is to take about a year. The NC government said that as well and it took less than 30 days.
Snyder is dismantling alternative sources of energy in the state. He has provided the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality monies to deconstruct every dam in Michigan. The Michigan DEQ has rubber stamped every document required to deconstruct these dams. The investigation into any toxins is grossly mismanaged. The Boardman sediment investigation by the DEQ for toxins allowed shallow cores to count for what should have been core samples deep into the sand to find where the contamination ended. The shallow core samples was to mask what actually has accumulated in the way of toxins over a century. See, the sand along the Boardman is the reason for the temporary dam collapse, but, they won't admit it. According to official sources the cause is unknown. But, that sand, WHEN UNDISTURBED, acted as a filter to the toxic sediment that washed into the river and trapped the toxins away from water quality. UNTIL NOW.
So, the focus by Snyder is to indulge Koch Industries, deconstruct dams regardless of the hardship to citizens, glamorize the process, hide the facts and don't forget deforest the beauty everyone loves.
The judicial system is no place for citizen interests in Michigan and this is another example.
By
on August 19, 2013 at 10:42 AM, updated August 19, 2013 at 8:45 PM
Michigan Air Land Water Defense (click here) filed the suit in October 2012, challenging leases sold by the state at auction in 2012 in the Allegan State Game Area, the Barry State Game Reserve and Yankee Springs Parks and Recreation Area, arguing that the state needed to first assess the environmental impact of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, on public lands.
Circuit Court Judge Amy McDowell granted the motion of summary disposition filed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Aug. 13, saying that MLAWD's claim was not ripe for review.
In her opinion, McDowell called the plaintiffs' claims premature, since the leases auctioned were classified as nondevelopmental, which means that no surface drilling can occur without an application to the state for a change of status.
"As asserted by Defendants, the mere act of leasing oil and gas rights, in and of itself, does not constitute actual or imminent injury," wrote McDowell. "If the DNR initially classified that lease as 'developmental' or 'developmental with restrictions' prior to a review of the impact on protected areas, then this Court may have reached a different conclusion."
Just as a side note. Don't bother about the local newsprint, they are bought and sold on money and one sided politics. There is no fair play in Michigan. There is no OTHER SIDE, everyone is on the same side. There simply is not other view to provide 'equal opportunity' to be heard.
