Michigan Lawmakers urge MDEQ to reject Detroit oil refinery permit, compare risk to Flint water crisis

I have nothing to say....right now...except that the air and water quality is really, really nasty...well, for at least for the last 10 years that I know about.

#DONOTSWALLOWMIWATER

Lawmakers urge MDEQ to reject Detroit oil refinery permit, compare risk to Flint water crisis

DETROIT, MI -- A group of Democratic state lawmakers are urging the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality not to approve a permit that would allow Marathon Oil to release more pollutants into the air at its southwest Detroit refinery.

The changes Marathon is proposing would not violate state or federal air quality standards, the MDEQ found in a preliminary determination.

The company wants to install equipment that would allow it to reduce sulfur levels in the gasoline it produces to meet new Environmental Protection Agency standards.

But the changes would cause the Detroit refinery to release more sulfur dioxide, as well as other pollutants, into the air, according to records related to the permitting process.

And the EPA has already determined that sulfur dioxide levels in parts of Detroit and the downriver area exceed federal air quality standards.

The MDEQ has found that the increase in emissions the refinery project would cause is not significant enough to reject the project.

"The MDEQ's Air Quality Division has evaluated these proposals and made a preliminary determination that they will not violate any of the MDEQ's rules nor the National Ambient Air Quality Standards," the agency announced in a detailed fact sheet on the permit proposal.

The decision is not yet final, and a public hearing is scheduled Wednesday -- the final day of a public comment period on the matter -- 6 p.m. at River Rouge High School, 1460 West Coolidge Highway in River Rouge.

"When we allow our refineries and coal-fired power plants to belch toxic fumes into our neighborhoods, we set ourselves up for a legacy of poor health and skyrocketing medical bills," said state Sens. Coleman Young II (D-Detroit), Morris Hood III (D-Detroit), Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park) and Vincent Gregory (D-Southfield) in a joint statement.

"We call on the MDEQ to take a stand in favor of protecting our citizens and deny these permits — it's time for the state to stop using poor communities as dumping grounds."

The group compared the situation to the water crisis in Flint, where the MDEQ last year told residents they could safely drink from their faucets, months before elevated lead levels were discovered in children who underwent blood testing.

(Related: Governor declares state of emergency over lead in Flint water)

"We already know that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has made serious errors in Flint, and they're about to make one in Detroit," the lawmakers said.

"The dangerous emissions and particulate matter that Marathon's revised permits would allow are directly linked to increased asthma rates, heart attacks and early deaths — and children and seniors will suffer the most. This is why asthma rates in Michigan are 10 percent higher than the national average."

The EPA lists potential health risks related to sulfur dioxide here.

The Detroit refinery operates 24 hours a day, year-round, and can process 140,000 barrels of crude oil a day, according to the MDEQ.

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