Edward Smith, edward.smith@sierraclub.org
Nick Leonard, nicholas.leonard@glelc.org
Detroit, Michigan - A groundbreaking settlement was reached today following a civil rights complaint filed against the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) regarding the department’s disproportionate licensing of hazardous waste facilities in predominantly Black and Brown, lower-income communities, and its approval of a significant expansion of the U.S. Ecology North hazardous waste facility.
The settlement, which came about through years of sustained community pressure, will require EGLE for the first time to use the EPA’s “EJ Screen” tool and integrate Environmental Justice concerns into decision making when licensing hazardous waste facilities.
Settlement agreement highlights include:
- Procedures to ensure EGLE proactively identifies limited English proficient populations and provides such communities with robust translation and interpretation services
- Commits EGLE to engaging with the local community to determine the best methods for providing meaningful public involvement in the licensing process
- Requires a Environmental Justice analysis and cumulative impact review for before issuing or renewing a license to a hazardous waste facility
- Requires that EGLE deny a license for a hazardous waste facility if it will cause unlawful impacts to the environment or human health
- Requires EGLE, in collaboration with the community, to install three Purple air monitors in the area around US Ecology North and make all data publicly available
- Commits EPA and EGLE to developing community health improvement strategies in Northeast Detroit in partnership with local residents and community organizations.
The full settlement can be viewed here.
Sixty-five percent of the Michigan residents who live within three miles of a commercial hazardous waste facility are people of color, despite being only 25 percent of Michigan’s total population.
These facilities put fenceline communities at risk of spill or release of hazardous wastes, chemical reactions associated with the improper storage or treatment of hazardous wastes, discharge of excessive levels of hazardous substances into the sewer system, air quality impacts due to fugitive and stack emissions, emissions from diesel trucks carrying shipments of hazardous waste to and from the facility, and various harmful odors.
This settlement agreement comes amidst a legal effort by numerous Republican attorneys general to eviscerate EPA’s civil rights regulations, which prohibits state environmental departments from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. In the face of such legal challenges, EPA has either abruptly closed civil rights investigations or has reached resolution agreements that have been widely criticized by environmental justice advocates. This settlement agreement stands as a testament to what advocates and state environmental departments such as EGLE can achieve when they work together to find solutions to pressing environmental justice issues.
Statements on the settlement:
“For too long the cumulative health impacts associated with pollution have been manifest in our bodies. Just today my husband was scheduled for four more months of chemotherapy. We have literally sacrificed our lives for the privilege of industry to pollute. Michigan's most vulnerable residents living near hazardous waste facilities are disproportionately people of color and low wealth. With this Civil Rights complaint case we have proven that we won't be silenced and our lives matter,” said local resident Rev. Sharon Buttry, MSW.
“Our community has been fighting for a long time to get equal environmental justice in our eastside neighborhood. We understand that there is a lot of work to do to make our community safe and healthy, but we put a dent in the problem. Looking toward a better future with even more improvement,” said local resident Pamela Mc Williams.
“Every Michigan community should be able to live free of environmental pollutants that cause them and their children harm. A person’s physical and mental health consequences should not depend on their race. The well being of a neighborhood should not depend on their economic or financial condition,” said Alice Jennings, attorney, Edwards & Jennings, PC
“Environmental racism exists because companies like U.S. Ecology continue to put profits before the health and safety of our communities and racist permitting policies have allowed them to do that. This precedent-setting settlement will change licensing for hazardous waste facilities in Michigan and hopefully become a trend to protect Environmental Justice communities across the country,” said Elayne Coleman, Director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.
“This settlement is the culmination of years of hard-fought advocacy on the part of environmental justice communities who refused to stay quiet while hazardous materials were being stored where people of color live, work and play. For too long, siting decisions were made without the input of the communities that would be most impacted - and what’s more, multiple facilities would often be sited next to one another, greatly increasing their cumulative impacts. We look forward to working with regulators in the implementation of these new licensing standards as we continue to build a world where no community has to live next to dangerous, life-threatening toxic waste,” said Juan Jhong-Chung, Executive Director of Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition.
“For decades, Michigan’s communities of color have been the dumping ground for hazardous waste from across the country. This settlement agreement commits Michigan to putting an end to this legacy of environmental racism by centering the community in the hazardous waste licensing process through the use of Michigan’s environmental justice screening tool to conduct environmental justice and cumulative impact analyses. We look forward to working with Michigan and communities across the state to ensure these new commitments are diligently implemented and work effectively to create the environmentally just future we all deserve,” said NIck Leonard, Executive Director, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center.
The complaint was filed in 2020 under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by Sierra Club, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and five individual Michigan residents: Pamela McWilliams, Irene Sinclar, Kheir Arabi, Mark Covington, and Sharon Buttry. They are jointly represented by the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center and Edwards & Jennings PC, with additional support from the Sierra Club Law Program.
The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center is a Detroit-based nonprofit law organization dedicated to furthering environmental justice in Michigan by working with residents confronting pressing environmental issues impacting their health and well-being to create holistic solutions. For more information, visit www.glelc.org.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.