Great Lakes News Collaborative

With lots of domestic well users and plenty of polluting industries, Michiganders are among the nation’s most likely to have ‘forever chemicals’ in their well water, according to a landmark federal study.

Water levels in the Great Lakes drop as the region experiences drier conditions due to a lack of precipitation.

Researchers have identified the plants and animals that pose the greatest threat to the Great Lakes' region's delicate ecosystems, fisheries and recreational waters. Leading the list are zebra mussels, followed by quagga mussels.

If elected, Trump has vowed to revoke unspent funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, a climate spending law that has heavily benefitted Michigan governments and industry. But experts say it wouldn’t be easy.

A rule finalized Tuesday gives water providers across the country 10 years to get lead pipes out of their drinking water systems.

A court ruling gave Michigan regulators authority to ramp up controls on factory-farm waste that pollutes waterways. Legislators have proposed exemptions for waste produced by ‘biodigesters,’ which capture methane for electricity and transportation fuels.

The plant along Lake Michigan is 53 years-old and closed in 2022. But there’s momentum to bring it back online amid a push to diversify national energy sources.

A Wayne County judge has temporarily blocked shipments of waste to a landfill in southeast Michigan.

At the former Dan E. Karn coal plant, a vision has emerged to replace smokestacks with solar panels and parks. Some hope to replicate the model amid a rush of coal plant closures.

Salmon have to move into rivers from the Great Lakes for autumn, a stunning show that gives anglers one last shot at their prize.

The dam wars may intensify, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants the Michigan utility to apply for loans to upgrade old, unprofitable dams it is looking to unload. Conservationists cry foul.

Geese are a conservation success and huge pain in many communities. So next year, Michigan officials will begin allowing some cities and lake associations to apply for permits to kill them.

The federal government will provide more than $600 million to help two rural electricity cooperatives buy money from the nuclear plant. While proponents celebrate, anti-nuclear activists say the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Michigan has been removing more of its obsolete dams in recent years to bring rivers back to their natural state. The process isn't easy.

By refusing to clean up their mess, researchers found, polluters are pushing untold costs and risk onto the public. And Michigan law allows it.

As it looks to exit the unprofitable hydropower business, Consumers is mulling offers from a handful of potential buyers. But hydro watchdogs warn that cut-rate sales of aging dams often come with hidden public costs.

The waste will be trucked to the Van Buren Township site along a route that avoids homes and businesses, the township supervisor says. State officials say radioactivity levels from the material are very low.

Slow testing methods have hampered efforts to stay ahead of bacterial pollution in the Great Lakes. Beaches in Oakland County and Detroit's Belle Isle are among those working on quicker, more accurate tests.

The Coast Guard offered a warning about the Blue Water tradition, warning of ‘significant risk to public safety and property’ for participants.

In 2008, Michigan created a law to keep electronic waste out of landfills by requiring manufacturers to ‘take back’ consumers’ old electronics. But the law never set binding goals to keep manufacturers accountable, so more than a decade later, Michigan’s e-waste problem hasn’t improved.