Michigan Environment Watch

A year after the Biden administration enacted nationwide limits on PFAS in drinking water, the Trump administration announced a plan to rescind some of those limits and lengthen the compliance deadline on others. State-level limits enacted in 2020 will remain in effect.

Once ringed by polluting factories, Muskegon Lake has attracted a wealthier clientele to blue-collar Muskegon thanks to a taxpayer-funded cleanup. Cheers about the economic gains are mixed with fear that the lakeshore will become ‘a gated community.’

Several moves are aimed at clawing back billions in spending authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Research on all kinds of fish is conducted in labs around the Great Lakes region. The different state agencies have agreed to a Joint Strategic Plan that compiles their data to provide a big picture of the fisheries in the lakes.

Michigan last year began allowing landowners to get permits to kill nuisance geese. But after outcry from animal rights activists, the state is pausing the program and looking into non-lethal options.

How can states, provinces and tribal nations manage their water resources to create jobs and attract businesses without inflicting severe ecological damage?

The decision comes after public outcry prompted solar developer RWE Renewables to rescind its request to lease the state land. In a letter Friday, DNR Director Scott Bowen left open the possibility of future leases.

Catch and release ethics is credited for the fact that smallmouth bass in Lake St. Clair have been getting larger over the past 50 years, a DNR study finds.

It may take years to fully clear the damage from a historic ice storm. Some debris will be turned into biomass and converted into energy. One firm is using fallen trees to help power 38,000 homes.

Microfibers are plastic strings much thinner than human hair that get into waterways primarily from washing fabrics in machines. A Michigan bill would require new household washing machines to have a microfiber filter.

Arborists are hoping to transform vacant land on Detroit’s east side by planting giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees. Detroit is the pilot city for the Giant Sequoia Filter Forest.

Take an underwater journey as researchers deploy sonar technology to map the lakebed to document organisms that call it home. The goal is to provide data to fishery and hatchery managers and those tracking the spread of invasive species.

The Wednesday announcement marks an unusual use of a regulatory process normally used to speed responses to disasters like dam breaks and pipeline leaks. Environmentalists decried the move.

UP lawmakers say the gas plants should be deemed acceptable under Michigan’s clean energy law, saying Yoopers would see energy bills spike if they are shut down prematurely. Environmentalists argue the bills are premature and unnecessary.

Climate change is making it easier for Great Lakes waterbirds to get sick, according to a recent study.

The Trump administration has reversed a purge of federal workers tasked with combatting one of the Great Lakes’ most damaging invasive species. But a month-plus delay in starting treatments may have consequences.

The Trump administration disinvited two Canadian mayors from a Great Lakes event in Washington and the president has mentioned “revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the two nations.”

Some call it the best walleye fishing in the world when a portion of Lake Erie’s walleye head north during spawning season.

Michigan stood to receive hundreds of millions from a federal financing network that the Trump administration wants to abolish amid claims of a ‘far-left’ conspiracy. Michigan's plans for the money included insulating old homes and building apartments.

The tribes are concerned with an anticipated fast-tracking of the tunnel permit. The Army Corps of Engineers says it will consider comments from tribes as it prepares an environmental impact statement.