Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
New bills would help clean up, prevent environmental contamination June 11, 2025 Polluter accountability legislation, including Senate Bills 385, 368, 387, 391, 392, and 393, was introduced this week by State Senators. Several of the bills have already been introduced in the House as HB 4636-4640, and the remaining bills will be introduced this week…. Read more »
Canadian pipeline company Enbridge wants to bore a massive fossil fuels tunnel through the publicly held bottomlands of the Mackinac Straits. The State of Michigan is the sovereign owner of the Straits, and has the power and duty to protect them for the benefit of Michiganders and future generations. Let’s take a look at why… Read more »
By Carrie La Seur FLOW Legal Director In April 2023, FLOW’s Dave Dempsey blogged about contamination at a quiet place called Sadony Bayou, north of White Lake along the Lake Michigan coastline, where lime piles and decades of industrial waste have decimated once-thriving habitat. The bayou doesn’t look like much from the road running by,… Read more »
A study recently published in the science journal Nature documents a worsening problem that is invisible to all but the closest observers. The study found that the 28 most populous U.S. cities – including Detroit and Chicago – are all slowly sinking. Massive groundwater extraction is the most common cause of the land movements, the… Read more »
Last week, Grand Traverse County took a major step forward in protecting its waters and residents by unanimously passing a countywide septic regulation. This landmark decision marks the first time the county has adopted rules to systematically evaluate septic systems near water bodies. While the regulation may appear modest in scope, its implications are profound…. Read more »
We are all enamored of the 38,000 square miles of Great Lakes water within the boundaries of Michigan, but few think of the 38,000 square miles of land at the bottom of the Great Lakes. This area, which the State of Michigan is legally required to protect under the public trust doctrine and the Great… Read more »
FLOW has joined a coalition of over 350 farm, food, and rural organizations calling for the passage of the Honor Farmer Contacts Act, which would order the USDA to unfreeze contracts that were targeted by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Elon Musk. The contracts were related to local and organic food… Read more »
Rural Michigan may have a smaller population than Michigan’s urban areas, but viewed from another perspective, it is just as – if not more – densely populated. Rural Michigan has a hidden population that doesn’t play by the same rules as our human neighbors – especially when it comes to waste disposal. Michigan’s livestock population… Read more »
What do you know about drinking water? Take the quiz at the bottom! It’s Drinking Water Week – a time to remember where your drinking water comes from, what the threats to your drinking water are, and what you can do about them. Despite today’s problems, public drinking water has come a long way. It… Read more »
A septic system is an underground wastewater treatment system for homes that are not connected to a city sewer system. When regularly pumped and maintained, a septic system efficiently manages the wastewater produced in a house. These systems generally work very well, and are “out of sight, out of mind.” But when a septic system… Read more »
