Michiganders need better protection from multiple polluters at a time | Opinion
When you get a prescription from your doctor or pharmacist, you expect them to factor in your overall health along with potential interactions with other prescriptions you may already be taking.
You expect your pharmacist to not only look for these potentially harmful interactions, but to also warn you about them, to protect your health.
You would think regulators charged with protecting us from life-threatening pollutants would take the same approach by not letting multiple polluting facilities into our communities, especially those inundated with hazards. That would mean using what’s called cumulative impact assessments.
But that’s not how state regulators currently operate.
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Right now, when the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) gets a request from a company to expand or operate in a community, they don’t measure the pollution already in the community. Nor do they consider the rates of asthma, heart disease, cancer or other illnesses the community struggles with.
While Detroit’s asthma rate is twice as high as the rest of the state, current rules say regulators needn’t take that into account when granting permits to potential polluters.
To protect our health, we need EGLE to use the best science available, and consider the combined health effects of exposure to multiple pollutants and chemicals, as well as the community’s health when making permitting decisions or other decisions that impact Michigander’s health.
Studies show that combined pollutants can cause our health to deteriorate quickly over time. The National Institute of Health (NIH) is one of many groups of scientists who affirm we can and must stop health damage from multiple pollutants. The first page of the NIH report: “Role of the Synergistic Interactions of Environmental Pollutants in the Development of Cancer” tells us three things:
Combined pollutants are dangerous because of the way they can interact in our bodies, causing disease and death.
These dangerous effects are underestimated by regulators.
Current rules to protect health are inadequate.
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In short, to save ourselves, we need to change how we measure and regulate pollution. The NIH study also proves, contrary to what industrial polluters and some regulators tell us, that it is quite possible to measure the health damage from exposure to multiple pollutants, and therefore to protect ourselves from harm, using the best science available. EGLE must use cumulative impact assessments to protect our health. This is crucial for the hardest-hit communities — Black, Brown and low income — as they typically face multiple health threats.
But in our opinion, EGLE’s current rules favor companies seeking permits to pollute. EGLE engages with corporations early and often, but only meets with the public after permitting decisions are made. Many times, these companies seem more willing to sacrifice human health than make even minor expenditures to prevent releasing pollutants and chemicals into the air, water or soil. State regulators need to listen to those directly affected by the pollution, instead of those who directly profit from it.
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From Detroit, with myriad sources of pollution, to the Straits of Mackinac, where Indigenous people lead a struggle to protect the Great Lakes from pipeline oil spills — communities of color across Michigan are exerting their rights to live healthy lives. We’ve made strides in protecting the health of hardest hit communities — like shutting down the incinerator in Detroit. Our air will be cleaner and our climate safer, since we forced Michigan’s major energy utilities to stop pollution and carbon emission from burning coal and gas earlier than planned.
Still, EGLE needs to do a better job by following the lead of states like New Jersey, which are already seeing benefits from their historic enactment of cumulative impact assessments. We’re very encouraged that House Majority Leader Abraham Aiyash plans to reintroduce a cumulative impacts bill, House Bill 4777. That would, for example, provide realistic health protections for South Dearborn residents working to combat health damage from compound pollution from corporations like Cleveland Cliffs’ steel factory and the nearby slag company.
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Everyone, regardless of race, income, or ZIP code, deserves the same level of environmental protection. For already overburdened communities, this means considering existing health issues and emissions when it comes to regulators making decisions about pollutants and chemicals that are emitted into our communities, just like the pharmacist checking for potential drug interactions when filling prescriptions.
The health of every Michigander ought to be our top priority. Those charged with protecting our health must provide realistic health protections. Please join us in contacting EGLE at EGLE-Assist@Michigan.gov, and demand regulators protect Michiganders’ health by using cumulative impact assessments.
Juan Jhong-Chung is executive director at Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition. Devon Payne-Sturges is an associate professor at the University of Maryland's Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan pollution and cumulative impact assessments: Why we need change
