LUSTing for Better Leadership
Posted by Lisa Wozniak: I remain hopeful...hopeful that some day we will have real leadership in this state...hopeful that with real leadership will come the connecting of the dots between human health, the health of our communities, and laws that pro-actively protect our environment.
However, there are days like Monday when my hope is challenged....not diminished, just challenged.
Monday, I woke up to stories on the radio and in the papers regarding the thousands and thousands of leaking underground storage tanks that we have in Michigan.
Michigan has more than 9,000 leaking underground storage tanks at roughly 7,500 sites, third highest nationally behind Florida and California.
Was I surprised by the news? Oh, no. I knew that these so called "LUST" sites were (and ARE!) wreaking havoc on communities across our beautiful state, creating small superfund-type sites of contaminated land, polluted drinking water, and vacant lots.
The state is worried about the lack of resources to clean them up, especially since new sites are being discovered as quickly as current ones are being fixed.
We had the money once. Until about a year and a half ago, there was a special pot of money that was designated specifically for clean up of LUST sites. Where did it go? Well, the ever-clever legislature decided to raid it to balance the budget.
With Michigan ranked third in the nation for leaking underground storage-tank contamination, one might think the state would be putting more money toward fixing the problem.
Instead, the state is taking money away. Part of Michigan's current-year budget fix involves siphoning $70 million from a fund that helps pay for underground-tank cleanups, a move that is drawing fire from business and environmental interests.
$70 million. POOF! Gone.
Now we're left with contaminated communities that threaten human health all over the state. Can someone please tell me how this makes sense?
The federal stimulus dollars will put $200 million in the LUST program nationwide, with Michigan getting approximately $7.2 million. The environmental community and State officials estimate that true clean up will cost at least $1 billion (or about $175 million each year) for the next 10 years to take care of all the sites.
So, with legislators in Lansing now dealing with an estimated $1.3 billion shortfall in the 2010 budget, it is highly unlikely that we'll see assistance with the LUST sites that are found in every single Michigan county leaking gasoline, kerosene, used oil, and diesel fuel.
Sigh.
Hope? I remain hopeful that the outrage about this issue, and a host of others, is driving Michigan citizens to the crystal clear understanding that WHO WE ELECT MATTERS! We desperately need visionary leadership that includes the simple (yet seemingly sophisticated) understanding that when we contaminate our land and our ground water, we poison ourselves and our children. Bring on the 2010 elections and let's talk about these issues in a real way....and enter the ballot box with a vision of a better, healthier Michigan!
