The US EPA is holding a Public Hearing on Thursday evening, July 23, in Holland, on the request by Consumers Energy for two injection well waste disposal permits at the J.H. Campbell Plant in Port Sheldon Twp.

What you may not be aware of, however, is how much your presence and public comment at this hearing may affect the outcome. Ottawa County resident Becky Patrick, who spent almost thirty years working for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (now EGLE [Environment, Great Lakes and Energy]), says, “I saw, over and over again, how public participation, particularly at public hearings, affected the DEQ’s decision-making. It absolutely affected whether or not a permit got issued, or, if not that, it affected what conditions got placed on a permit.

“Many of us are concerned about the direction our government has gone. Even though many of us continue to advocate at many levels, we wonder if it has an effect. This is one situation where, if enough of us attend and speak at this meeting, it is likely to have an effect.” 

These permits will allow Consumers to inject waste in close proximity to Lake Michigan, without a means of monitoring it: where it goes, where it flows. Consumers (and EPA and EGLE) will assert that it is safe because they are relying on hydrology and geology modeling that shows that the waste plume, at depths of thousands of feet, is not likely to affect groundwater. However, as proposed, there will never be any attempt made to actually determine, over time, how that waste plume is behaving. Is it staying put, or behaving as the models assumed it would? Or is it flowing upward, or westward, toward the lake? How will anyone know?

It is not too much to ask that US EPA require that Consumers takes extra steps to monitor that plume, over a long period of time, given the contents of the waste (arsenic and other hazardous substances) and the proximity of the waste to one of the largest bodies of freshwater in the world. 

Please try to attend on July 23. If you aren’t able to attend, please submit a written public comment as described in the meeting announcement. Your descendants will thank you!

See you on Thursday, July 23!