Whose Democracy?

Osceola Township is zoned, and Nestlé needed a variance to gain permission to withdraw water from Chippewa Creek. Nestlé originally told the township that they were going to pump 150 gallons per minute, reassuring officials that this level of pumping would not hurt the environment. They also said they would build a plant for their water bottling in Osceola County, which would provide hundreds of jobs for the local community. Instead they built it in Mecosta County.

In 2011, Nestlé drilled a well 196 feet deep and installed a pump rated at 317 gallons per minute (GPM) to block the flow of water for their Ice Mountain brand of spring water to White Pine Springs and the entire Chippewa and Twin Creek ecosystem. Chippewa Creek and Twin Creek are tributaries of the Muskegon River, the second longest in Michigan, so pumping water from those creeks has implications for the entirety of the Muskegon River watershed.

It wasn’t too long before Nestlé was pumping 250 GPM. No legitimate permit process. No public notification. In 2015, Nestlé asked what was then known as the Michigan Department of Environment Quality (MDEQ, now Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy–EGLE) for a permit to further increase their allotted pumping to 400 GPM, without any regard for the significant environmental damage that we had already documented.

During July 2017, John McLane and I surveyed both Chippewa and Twin Creeks. We recorded water temperatures and determined that both were carrying less than half of the traditional flow volume of water. A letter was sent to the MDEQ-Lansing with the results of our survey and the declining aquifer at Evart. Four more letters followed documenting environmental changes.

During the process to review Nestle’s permit application to increase pumping to 400 GPM, wetlands disappeared, springs no longer flowed, ponds dried up, and the two streams (Chippewa and Twin) continued to narrow. Meanwhile, the MDEQ extended the deadline for Nestlé to conduct their own data collection to demonstrate limited environmental damage. As the entire aquatic ecosystem was collapsing, the MDEQ in Lansing published a press release that they conducted the most extensive analysis of water withdrawals in Michigan history, and based on their analysis, granted Nestlé the right to increase their withdrawals to 400 GPM.

For the past 30 years or so Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) members Rhonda and Dave Huff have lived in a home overlooking Chippewa Creek just as it flows into a small lake. The twelve foot creek would be flowing rapidly; they could hear its babble during the cool summer evenings. As Nestlé started pumping more and more water, the normal flow of the stream became interrupted; it became noticeably narrower and shallower. In 2019, the small lake that Chippewa Creek flowed into disappeared entirely, and the former 12 foot wide stream was now just 3 feet wide, riddled with mudflats and with the current barely moving.

Rhonda and Dave were outraged over the destruction that occurred. On March 16, 2020, Rhonda penned a letter addressed to Governor Whitmer, Attorney General Nessel, EGLE in Lansing, and two others. No reply was ever received! So much for the DEQ’s extensive review.

When trying to contact a unit of the Michigan government, there is a standard response, “leave your name, telephone number, and a brief message. We will call you back.” Repeated attempts were made to call the former MDEQ and continued after the reorganization of the department to EGLE, and no response was ever received. We gave up on them and filed a 5-page formal complaint with Regina Strong, environmental advocate at EGLE.

On February 20, 2019, after a month with no reply, I called her office and never heard back. Finally, using a different phone number, I contacted her. She asked what organization I was with and promised to review our complaint and call me back, but she never did. I was finally able to reach her, and she promised to review the situation. There was no further response.

On June 9, 2020, MCWC filed a 3-page formal complaint with Attorney General Dana Nessel for violation of Michigan Constitution Article IV, section 52, which calls for protection of the state’s natural resources, including water, and state law which states that pumping groundwater cannot hurt the environment. No response!! Sometime later, on a conference call, Nessel stated that she needs a law to enforce–she apparently never read our complaint.

On August 10, 2019, I sent an email to Peter Manning of the Attorney General’s office with a request to contact me and an invitation to view the destruction of a trout stream and aquatic ecosystem. No response!! Also on that same date, I sent an email to Kara Cook of the governor’s office with a long request to talk to Governor Whitmer and a follow-up meeting. Instead, Cook passed it back to the MDEQ/EGLE, not the Governor. Again, no response!

On February 3, 2020, I tried to call and speak to Cook again at the governor’s office. The guy who answered the phone told me that I had called twice before and he would not connect. What??? No contact!!

I called the governor’s office on July 3, 2019 and August 11, 2019. No response. I sent an email request for the Governor to meet with MCWC. I received a phone call back telling us that Governor Whitmer would NOT meet with us!

On August 2, 2019, I received a call from James Clift, deputy chief of EGLE-Lansing who happened to be instrumental in approving previous permits for Nestle. Once again, I relayed to him the list of destroyed water resources created by Nestlé and sent photos of proof to the organization. Again, NO RESPONSE!

The government owes its people access and accountability. In Michigan, this is far from the truth! Democracy is by the people, for the people. In Michigan, it is by the people, but certainly not FOR the people!

I served the people of Michigan as a member of the Michigan state police for 32 years. During all of those years we were available for whatever reason 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Where has our government gone?

There has recently been some positive response from the legislative committee reviewing the public trust bills being introduced into the House for the third time. We have been told we will be called to testify when they hold a hearing on House Bill 5250, probably in the spring. Representative Pohutsy, head of the appropriate committee has been very responsive to our concerns. We are hopeful that government for the people is finally emerging.