Tag: EPA

Flow challenges EPA approval of Michigan potash underground injection permits, citing threats to drinking water

Published on June 17th, 2025 by - Blog Posts, News, Reports & Media Releases

June 17, 2025

Traverse City, Mich. – Flow Water Advocates today announced the filing of a Petition for Review (PDF) with the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), challenging the recent approval and modification of six Underground Injection Control (UIC) permits for Michigan Potash Operating, LLC. Representing Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), Flow argues that EPA Region V’s decision to allow the deep injection of millions of gallons of briny wastewater into wells in Osceola and Mecosta Counties fails to adequately protect critical groundwater resources, which serve as the sole source of drinking water for local rural communities.

The controversial Michigan Potash mine project aims to extract potash and salt through a solution mining process, which involves injecting large volumes of fresh water more than 1.5 miles deep to dissolve minerals, then bringing the briny liquid to the surface. The wastewater from this process, described as non-hazardous salt water, is slated for disposal in deep injection wells, some of which are modifications of existing wells and others are new. This industrial operation, spearheaded by parent company Michigan Potash & Salt Company, has raised alarm bells among environmental advocates and local residents for its potential to contaminate vital freshwater aquifers.

“A rural community’s sole source of precious drinking water deserves the highest standard of protection, and our review indicates EPA has fallen short,” stated Carrie La Seur, Legal Director for Flow Water Advocates and Counsel for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation. “The EPA’s due diligence in reviewing these permits was inadequate, relying on outdated information and flawed assumptions. Our petition asks the Environmental Appeals Board to compel EPA to uphold its fundamental duty to safeguard our groundwater from industrial pollution.”

The Petition for Review meticulously details the alleged flaws in EPA Region V’s permit approval process. A central argument revolves around EPA’s reliance on dated information regarding the status of numerous plugged and abandoned well-bores within the targeted Dundee and Lucas formations. These boreholes, some dating back to the 1960s and earlier from prior oil and gas exploration, pose a significant risk if not adequately sealed. The petition asserts that EPA failed to perform its own research or conduct new testing to verify the physical integrity and suitability of these aging plugs, which are crucial barriers against the upward migration of injected brine into shallower freshwater zones.

Furthermore, Flow challenges EPA’s reliance on flawed engineering assumptions concerning the “Combined” Area of Review for the injection wells and the behavior of incompressible fluids. The petition argues that these technical errors could lead to an underestimation of the area potentially impacted by the injected brine, further jeopardizing underground sources of drinking water (USDWs).

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) explicitly requires EPA to establish regulatory programs to prevent underground injections that endanger drinking water sources. Michigan, not having its own EPA-approved UIC program, relies on federal oversight. Flow contends that EPA’s actions in approving these six new and modified UIC wells do not meet this necessarily high standard, particularly given the fissured and heavily perforated nature of the Dundee formation.

“The scale of this mining operation, which proposes to draw over two million gallons of fresh groundwater per day and dispose of vast quantities of process brine, demands the utmost scrutiny,” La Seur added. “Local residents in Osceola and Mecosta Counties, already struggling with economic challenges, cannot afford the crushing financial burden of contaminated well water if these critical aquifers are compromised. This is not just an environmental issue; it’s an economic and public health crisis waiting to happen.”

Local residents have previously voiced concerns, and MCWC participated extensively in the public comment periods on the draft permits. If successful, Flow’s petition to the Environmental Appeals Board could result in the review and remand of Michigan Potash’s UIC permits, forcing EPA to conduct a more rigorous, transparent, and up-to-date environmental review. This action seeks to set a vital precedent for how industrial projects, particularly those involving deep well injection, are evaluated and permitted, ensuring that the protection of Michigan’s precious groundwater resources remains paramount.

This legal action is a critical step in safeguarding Michigan’s irreplaceable water heritage and holding regulatory agencies accountable to their duty to protect public health and the environment.

Flow Water Advocates is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the Great Lakes and Michigan’s fresh water through policy advocacy, public education, and legal action.

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) is a grassroots organization committed to protecting Michigan’s water resources through education, advocacy, and direct action.

EPA bans toxic TCE, which has plagued Michigan’s groundwater

Published on December 18th, 2024 by - Blog Posts

The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week a national ban on trichloroethylene (TCE), a groundwater and soil contaminant confirmed at over 300 sites in Michigan. The move will save Michigan taxpayers millions of dollars in future cleanup costs and protect public health.

“EPA’s action is critical to public health and the environment,” said FLOW executive director Liz Kirkwood. “It shows why America needs protections against environmental hazards through enforceable rules. The incoming Trump Administration should not pursue deregulation that worsens the health of Americans.”

FLOW called for a TCE ban in our 2021 groundwater report. We have been working with state legislators on a bill banning TCE at the state level if EPA did not act.

Commonly used as a solvent to remove grease from metal parts during manufacturing processes or to make additional chemicals, TCE has also been used to extract greases, oils, fats, waxes, and tars by the textile industry; and in consumer products such as adhesives, paint removers, stain removers, lubricants, paints, varnishes, pesticides, and cold metal cleaners. EPA found that alternatives to TCE exist for most of these uses.

TCE is slow to degrade and time-consuming to mitigate when it contaminates soil and groundwater. When spilled on the ground, TCE can travel through soil and water and contaminate drinking water supplies, including public and private wells.

It can also evaporate. TCE vapors can enter buildings through cracks in the foundation, pipes, and sump and drain systems, thus contaminating indoor air. This phenomenon is known as vapor intrusion. At several Michigan locations where housing and office structures were built on contaminated sites, TCE was left in soils rather than being excavated and removed, and has vaporized into these buildings through foundations and basements. In some cases, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) has temporarily evacuated occupants of the buildings because of the danger of air inhalation of TCE.

TCE has been characterized as carcinogenic to humans. Exposure to large amounts of the chemical may lead to coma, nerve damage, or death. TCE is known to interfere with early life development and lead to developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, and neurotoxicity. TCE has also been linked to damage to eyesight, hearing, the liver, the kidney, balance, heartbeat, blood, nervous system, and respiratory system.

Exposure to TCE may cause scleroderma, a systemic autoimmune disease. TCE has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease.

Dumped in shallow, sandy pits decades ago, TCE has contaminated 13 trillion gallons of groundwater in Mancelona, Michigan, making the Wickes Manufacturing plume the largest TCE plume in the United States. By contrast, the entire Grand Traverse Bay contains about 9 trillion gallons of water.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1977 banned the use of TCE in food, cosmetic, and drug products in the United States. In Canada, TCE is no longer manufactured.

Also included in EPA’s ban is the elimination of perchlorethylene, commonly known as perc, used in dry cleaning and automotive care products. Perchlorethylene is also a carcinogen.

ATSDR Petition for a Public Health Assessment (PHA): BASF, Inc., Wyandotte, Michigan

Published on February 29th, 2024 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

ATSDR Petition for a Public Health Assessment: BASF, Inc. in Wyandotte, Michigan

ATSDR Petition for a Public Health Assessment (PHA) due to significant historic, current, and ongoing air, water, and drinking water contaminant exceedances from BASF, Inc., Wyandotte, Michigan ( EPA FACILITY ID: 110000494019, RCRA MID 064197742) — February 29, 2024

On behalf of the undersigned organizations, representing many thousands of Michiganders, we write to request a Public Health Assessment for the community of Wyandotte, in relation to ongoing toxic discharges from BASF (Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik, Germany’s largest chemical company) facilities there (the “Facility”). Many community members, including members of Congress, have expressed concern about legacy and ongoing contamination described in detail (PDF).

Detroit Riverkeeper
For Love of Water
Friends of the Detroit River
Michigan Chapter of Sierra Club
Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision

Stop doing that, or else we’ll tell you to stop again: BASF polluting the Detroit River

Published on August 29th, 2023 by - Blog Posts

When you get a speeding ticket, you don’t get 43 years to pay it. And when you contaminate a river with toxic materials — a much bigger hazard than going 45 in a 40 – you shouldn’t get 43 years to stop doing it and pay a fine.

But there’s a double standard in Michigan when it comes to toxic discharge from the BASF facility in Wyandotte. Just upstream from a public drinking water intake for the city of Wyandotte, the company has been discharging 3,000 gallons per hour of polluted groundwater into the Detroit River for decades.

It’s been 43 years since the state first ordered BASF to stop polluting the river. 

The trouble is, the state has never enforced the command.

Meanwhile, a toxic stew that now includes everything from PFAS to mercury is coughed up by the old industrial site 24/7/365. Some of these chemicals are not even monitored, even though they are upstream from the drinking water intake.

Last week, at a public meeting to explain the status of the problem, well-meaning public servants from the U.S. EPA and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) told citizens that it will be another three years before BASF begins construction of what is being called the permanent remedy. This is appalling.

Every day that BASF is allowed to contaminate the river is another violation of federal and state clean water laws. According to state statute, the company is theoretically liable for penalties of $25,000 per day. 

The mistakes of previous generations of state officials can’t be blamed on those in decision-making positions in 2023. But unless they – and their bosses at the top of EPA and EGLE today – take action, the degradation of the Detroit River will be the result of their failure to enforce the law. And the public will suffer.

Here’s what you can do:

  • Learn more about the history and current state of the BASF Wyandotte pollution violations via this website.
  • Send an email to the Michigan Attorney General (Dana Nessel (miag@michigan.gov) asking her to immediately enforce provisions of the state Court Order with BASF that her predecessor Frank Kelley fought for and won in U.S. District Court in 1985.
  • Alert the new EGLE Director Phil Roos (roosp@michigan.gov) of the urgent need for his agency to stop BASF from discharging 3,000 gallons per hour of toxic contaminated groundwater to the Great Lakes in Wyandotte, and ask the new director to take action to protect public health and the health of the Detroit River.

FLOW Press Statement—Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in West Virginia v. EPA

Published on June 30th, 2022 by - Blog Posts, Reports & Media Releases

Traverse City, Mich.— The following is a press statement from Jim Olson, Senior Legal Advisor at FLOW (For Love of Water), the Great Lakes law and policy center based in Traverse City, in response to the United States Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision today in West Virginia v. EPA, which cripples the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to limit greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act from existing coal plants to combat climate change.

“It appears the Supreme Court has chosen a political agenda over the law and legal precedent established since the 1970 passage of the Clean Air Act, which authorizes the EPA to set standards on emissions from air pollutants. The Supreme Court previously ruled that the EPA has authority to set standards on emissions because greenhouse gasses are pollutants. Today, the Supreme Court departs from this precedent by weakening EPA’s authority to limit emissions from coal-fired power plants.

“The effect of the Supreme Court’s decision cannot be overstated: At a time when coal plants are being shut down as states, the nation, and world shift to renewable, clean energy, the Court has sponsored the continued burning of coal that will accelerate the climate crisis.

“It is now even more important that states like Michigan step up to defend and strengthen their environmental safeguards. Fortunately, under the Clean Air Act, states can continue to limit and force the shutdown of existing coal plants under state laws and regulations. Just last week the Michigan Public Service Commission, after nearly a decade of contested energy and legal issues, approved a settlement and order that will require Consumers Energy to shut down its remaining coal-fired power plants within 3 years.”