Statewide protective agency

Keith Matheny Detroit Free Press Published 6:17 PM EST Dec 18, 2018 Dozens of Michigan schools and communities may be providing drinking water that's potentially harmful to health, with no state intervention because contaminant levels fall within Michigan's regulatory limits — limits a science panel convened by Gov. Rick Snyder now says may be inadequate. That finding comes as lame-duck bills move to the outgoing governor's desk that, critics contend, would make Michigan's regulation of such chemicals even weaker.  At issue are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, potentially health-harming and long-lasting chemicals in the environment. Once widely used in consumer products and industrial processes, PFAS contamination emerged as a high-profile statewide issue within the past year. State regulators have tested more than 1,200 school and community water supplies for potential PFAS contamination, using a 70 parts per trillion … [Read more...] about Science panel: Michigan’s PFAS limit may not adequately protect health

David Crary AP National Writer Published 12:09 AM EST Nov 7, 2018 New York — In the first statewide referendum on transgender rights, Massachusetts voters on Tuesday beat back a repeal attempt and reaffirmed a 2016 law extending nondiscrimination protections to transgender people, including their use of public bathrooms and locker rooms. Supporters of the law had feared a vote to repeal would prompt a wave of similar efforts to roll back protections in other states. Already, some protections at the federal level are under threat from President Donald Trump’s administration. “When transgender rights are being threatened nationally, we absolutely must preserve the rights we have secured at the state level,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Civil-rights activists also scored a major victory in Florida, where voters approved a ballot measure that will enable more than 1 million ex-felons to regain … [Read more...] about U.S. ballot issues: Mass. protects transgender rights

Detroit Free Press Published 8:28 p.m. UTC Aug 23, 2018 A resident of Wayne County died of complications from West Nile virus, one of eight human cases so far this year, state health officials confirmed today. Health officials are urging residents to take precautions against mosquitoes, which carry the blood-borne illness. “It only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to cause a severe illness, so take extra care during peak mosquito-biting hours, which are dusk and dawn for the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus,” said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. "Mosquito bite protection should continue until the weather significantly cools.” The other cases involve a resident of Kent County, a resident of Oakland County and five residents of Wayne County. All but one have been hospitalized with neurologic disease, officials said. In addition, three … [Read more...] about Wayne County resident dies of West Nile; 8 human cases statewide

Keith Matheny Detroit Free Press Published 10:00 p.m. UTC Jul 30, 2018 The potentially health-harming chemical compound that shut down the drinking water supply in two West Michigan communities last Thursday may contaminate more than 11,300 locations statewide, according to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The DEQ provided the observation on the contaminants as part of a presentation to the Michigan Environmental Compliance Conference in Lansing last month, displaying a series of maps with various facilities that could have PFAS contamination: 1,487 fire stations across the Upper and Lower Peninsulas; 27 municipal airports; 519 waste-water treatment plants, and more.  All told, more than 11,300 sites were listed in the presentation maps. "The number is staggering," said Anthony Spaniola, a Troy attorney whose family has owned frontage on Van Etten Lake in Oscoda for years. There, PFAS contamination emanating from … [Read more...] about DEQ: Harmful PFAS might contaminate more than 11,000 sites statewide