Fwd #3: EM:/ News Release: Governor Should Veto DEQ Budget
TJ Patrick
From: David Holtz <da...@progressmichigan.org>
Date: Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 3:11 PM
Subject: EM:/ News Release: Governor Should Veto DEQ Budget
To: envir...@great-lakes.net
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Wednesday, September 29, 2009 Cyndi
Roper 517-490-1394
Anne Woiwode 517-974-2112
Water, Air and Land At Risk With Deep Budget Cuts
Groups Call For Veto, Say Pure Michigan Ads Should Be Dropped, Feds
Brought In To Take Over Enforcement
LANSING, MI--Michigan’s two largest environmental groups said today
that the elimination of the state’s Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ), along with deep cuts in environmental funding by the
Legislature, means the state has effectively turned over Michigan’s
natural resources to polluters.
Sierra Club and Clean Water Action called on the governor to veto the
joint DEQ and Department of Natural Resources budget and said that if
state government fails to fund critical air and water programs in the
days ahead, the federal Environmental Protection Agency should take
over all water and air quality enforcement and permitting activities.
“It’s open season on Michigan’s water, air and land, and from a
budget standpoint entirely unnecessary. There were other choices,”
said Cyndi Roper of Clean Water Action. “It is not an exaggeration to
say the Legislature has completely bent to the will of corporate
polluters who saw an opportunity in this budget crisis to destroy
environmental protection in this state. It’s a complete failure of
leadership from both political parties.”
Since 1996 the DEQ has seen funding adjusted for inflation decrease
by $156.9 million, reflecting a disproportionate drop in budgets
compared to other parts of state government.
“With the Legislature’s cuts this week we will now see even more
polluted rivers and beaches, dirtier air, less wildlife and more toxic
waste,” said Anne Woiwode, Michigan Director of Sierra Club.
“Michigan’s tourism economy will suffer and residents will get sicker.
It’s time to pull the Pure Michigan ads off TV or else someone’s going
to file a complaint charging the state with deceptive advertising.”
With Tuesday’s action by the House, the Legislature, with Governor
Granholm’s support, has now voted to eliminate the Department of
Environmental Quality and transfer all of its programs to the
Department of Natural Resources, while cutting funding for 2010 by
$195.6 million.
Lawmakers yesterday took a budget axe to water, air and other
environmental programs. Dozens of environmental and natural resource
enforcement officers will be cut from an already barebones enforcement
staff. Moreover, the new DNR will not only take on what’s left of
environmental programs. It is also now shouldered with managing
museums, art and library programs as part of the elimination of
another state agency in the 2010 budget.
“Somehow the Legislature found $6 million to fund the state fair, but
Michigan’s Great Lakes legacy is flushed down the drain,” said David
Holtz of Progress Michigan. “That’s not Pure Michigan. That’s pure
B.S.”
Said Woiwode: “Michigan residents have to wonder the next time a
stash of barrels containing toxic chemicals are found in their
neighborhood, will there be anyone to respond to the call for help?
That’s the DEQ’s job. What will happen the next time toxic yellow
fumes begin billowing out of a nearby factory? It’s DEQ’s job to
respond to these emergencies. Already, funding cuts have prevented
the DEQ from stopping disasters like the destruction of 12 miles of
the Black River from an animal factory sewage discharge. What will
happen with more cuts?”
##
--
David Holtz
Executive Director
Progress Michigan
da...@progressmichigan.org
313-300-4454 (cell)
Follow Progress Michigan: twitter.com/progressmich
Facebook: ProgressMichigan
Follow me: twitter.com/dholtz
www.facebook.com/david.holtz
831 N. Washington Avenue
Lansing, MI 48906
517-999-3646
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