environment

Restoring an ancient Great Lakes fish

Brian Petersen — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:48:24 +0000

Sturgeon have lived in the Great Lakes longer than humans have walked the earth. But the ancient fish now need our help to stay here. A joint project by the federal and state officials with a Native American tribe is trying to do that by rebuilding habitat for lake sturgeon in the Kalamazoo River. WMUK’s Brian Petersen went along to find out how it’s done.

GOP group eyes the Endangered Species Act

Andrew Robins — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:50:38 +0000

A group of Republicans in Congress is casting an eye on the Endangered Species Act. The law was approved in 1973 with encouragement by the Nixon administration to help prevent threatened plants and animals from becoming extinct. The federal threatened and endangered list includes several Michigan species like the Kirtland’s warbler and the piping plover.

Michigan's air quality gets better, and worse

Andrew Robins — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 17:53:58 +0000

The quality of the air in southwest Michigan took a hit last year. But a new report by the American Lung Association suggests that, in general, Michigan’s air is getting better.

The State of the Air 2013 report gives Allegan County an “F” and Kalamazoo County a “C” for ozone levels. But both got much better marks for soot and other particulates. No data was collected in Calhoun, Van Buren, and Saint Joseph counties.

EPA Allied Paper landfill plan faces opposition

Andrew Robins — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:42:18 +0000

City officials, environmentalists, and many residents aren’t happy about a federal proposal for Kalamazoo’s Allied Paper landfill. In March, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency briefed city commissioners on a proposal to leave highly toxic PCB contamination at the Superfund site. The city and the Kalamazoo River Cleanup Coalition want all of the material removed.

Oil spill in 2010 not a threat to drinking water

Andrew Robins — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:05:50 +0000

A new state report says the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill did not cause contamination of residential water wells that threatens human health. The final “health assessment” by the Department of Community Health says no oil-related organic compounds were found in wells near the disaster in Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties.