Walking Distance

We have ongoing issues in the little city I live in.?The people here work hard, have families, strive to make ends meet, play by the rules - all that.

A citizen sent a note over to me that she received from the Governor of Michigan.

As you read through this notice I received from the Governor please keep in mind that we are engaged in ensuring that our citizens have clean water, air and soil - by :

1. Getting lead lines replaced

2. Dealing with the heavy dust generated by facilities in the Charter Township of Canton

3. Dealing with unknown airborne contaminants also from facilities in the Charter Township of Canton

4. Confronting the continuing ordeal with the Rouge River - it is still under 'Do Not Contact' order and a rather irresponsible group is encouraging people to boat and wade in it

Here are some images of the reality -

Along Hannan Road. A large waste company is moving a mountain of garbage from one location to another. (The dumps are located on top of major freshwater springs that used to grace the area)

A walk in the woods is liable to turn up anything. We battle daily against the waste that polluted this area for more than half a century.

Don't even know how this got here. It's a water flow on a public street originating from ? - we were told a ditch. This flows into a street grate marked 'Drains to River'

Somebody's having fun. A trio of international corporations are benefitting from the waste gas generated by the garbage brought from all over Michigan and southeastern Canada into Michigan right here in this little bitty city.

24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week, 365 Days a Year. What's in it? We ask. No answer yet. We also don't know what is going on with the sewage and drains - no kidding - that's another department.

Would your grandfather go ahead and grandfather something like that? Sitting on drains that head down to the river.

First it was major natural springs circulating in a vibrant swamp and marshes, then a golf course - now it's a dump. Did you know that Canada generates so much garbage it has to truck it to Michigan for disposal?

This is directly across from a neighborhood filled with a couple of hundred children.

This used to be farmland and gameland but the new use and money maker is something else.

Some more of the new greenery

Whatever it is it flows 365 days a year even when the Michigan winters are here and the world is frozen - still it flows

We were told 'these particulates don't travel that far'. Here is what happens when they fall into a drain heading to the river.

24 hours a day just like I said

A mysterious milky substance

Just another day

Streams used as an open sewer for surface water laden with silt and roadway pollution - this is also where the substances viewed above end up

These are just some of the issues we are engaged in.?Our city's workforce is stretched thin and areA mysterious mily substance doing heroic things on a daily basis.?It can't go on.?It cannot be sustained.

Okay - now back to the communication below - take a look at this sentence :?

"We must work together to build a Michigan where every Michigander has clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and access to healthy, affordable local food.?"

Should we have to take out loans to ensure that what we pay for in taxes is actually put into motion?

McBain is mentioned in the letter below - Population 724 - getting State Aid for replacing lead lines.

There are about 107 people out of that 724 reportedly living in poverty in McBain.?That's a 14.8% poverty rate.

Wayne has a reported 21.9% poverty rate which equates to?3717 people.?We have more people in poverty in Wayne than they have people in McBain.

Benton Harbor, which our City Manager has mentioned, has a unique position in the State of Michigan.?Why??I can't tell you.?It's got a high crime rate, They got 5 to 7 State Troopers assigned to the city of 9,843 to help local police keep the peace and improve relations with the citizens.?Benton Harbor is getting all of its lead lines replaced by the State of Michigan - no loan.

Benton Harbor has a golf course, a regional airport and is very close to a nuclear plant that is being shut down.?I mention the last because earlier this year I received a similar notice to the one below touting the fact that the State had put aside $50,000,000 to refurbish the nuclear plant.?That is, the State of Michigan was apparently going to go into the business of rebuilding a nuclear reactor to increase its life span.?About 60 days later the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced that it was decommissioning it and taking that thing apart.?The reason I bring that up is that it is close to Benton Harbor and I didn't hear anything else about the 50 million that had been set aside.

These are serious issues and the silence from our elected officials as we enter the election cycle is deafening.??

I'll finish with this for now - recently Senator Polehanki proudly announced, along with Charter Township of Canton officials, that she had secured (from the State of Micihgan) over $750,000 to close sidewalk gaps.?We have poverty and health gaps and the State of Michigan is giving money to the Charter Township of Canton whose year end General Fund excess will be more than 16 million dollars.

"We must work together to build a Michigan where every Michigander has clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and access to healthy, affordable local food."

Thank you for your time and attention.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From the Governor of Michigan :

Dear Friend,?

I want to take a moment to thank you for reaching out to me over the years about protecting Michigan’s environment. We must work together to build a Michigan where every Michigander has clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and access to healthy, affordable local food. That’s why my administration is working to ensure that we meet the goals of the?MI Healthy Climate Plan?so we can combat climate change while creating tens of thousands of clean-energy jobs, spurring economic development and innovation, protecting clean air and water, and improving public health.??

Our hard work is getting noticed. Through bipartisan deals and executive actions, we are laying the groundwork for Michigan to be a leader in renewable energy. I am proud of our efforts, and I will continue to propose creative solutions to protect our climate.

Last month, I signed another balanced, bipartisan budget—my fourth. This budget invests even more in water, clean energy, and environmental priorities. It will help communities protect water by increasing capacity to test and provide oversight to drinking water supplies and support communities in replacing lead service lines and leveraging state and federal funding. It will also invest in Michigan’s Green Bank and Michigan Saves to help families and small businesses finance clean energy, efficiency, and lead abatement programs, in addition to creating a new transformational education program at U of M focused on research, development, and workforce around advanced mobility and electrification. Beyond these statewide investments, this budget makes investments in communities across the state – from a recreation area in Shelby, wastewater upgrades in Lawton, lead service line replacements in McBain, and so much more.?

Please do not hesitate to contact my office in the future with any questions about the MI Healthy Climate Plan, investments in the FY23 Budget, or other concerns you have about how we can best protect our beautiful state. I appreciate hearing from Michiganders across the state and I look forward to your future feedback.?

Sincerely,?

Gretchen?Whitmer

Governor of Michigan

That's a TV panel. What's in the water?