Michigan regulators settle civil rights case over environmental racism in Detroit

Environmental activists reached a “groundbreaking settlement” with Michigan regulators following a civil rights complaint over the state’s disproportionate licensing of hazardous waste facilities in predominantly Black, brown, and lower-income neighborhoods.

The settlement, announced Thursday, also addresses the approval of a significant expansion of U.S. Ecology North, a hazardous waste facility in Detroit, which has sparked intense community opposition.

After years of persistent community advocacy, the settlement is a key victory in the fight against environmental racism.

It marks the first time that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will be required to use a federal mapping tool that identifies areas facing greater environmental risks and challenges. The tool, the Environmental Protection Agency’s EJScreen , helps policymakers direct resources and regulations to areas most in need.

“This settlement is the culmination of years of hard-fought advocacy on the part of environmental justice communities who refused to stay quiet while hazardous materials were being stored where people of color live, work and play,” Juan Jhong-Chung, executive director of the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, said. “For too long, siting decisions were made without the input of the communities that would be most impacted — and what’s more, multiple facilities would often be sited next to one another, greatly increasing their cumulative impacts. We look forward to working with regulators in the implementation of these new licensing standards as we continue to build a world where no community has to live next to dangerous, life-threatening toxic waste.”

EGLE Director Phil Roos said his department shares the same goals with environmental activists.

“We look forward to continuing to work with residents across the state to ensure all Michiganders, regardless of where they live, have safe air to breathe, clean water to drink, and healthy communities to thrive in,” Roos said. “This agreement combined with recent announcements like EGLE’s new Environmental Justice Impact Grants, exemplifies the state’s commitment to empowering communities and advancing environmental justice.”

The settlement stems from a 2020 complaint filed by the Sierra Club, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and residents who live near U.S. Ecology North in Detroit, which has been repeatedly cited for pollution. The complaint took aim at EGLE’s decision to renew the facility's license and permit to increase its storage capacity.

The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which represented the group, argued that it was unfair to permit more hazardous waste storage in a neighborhood that is predominantly composed of lower-income residents and people of color.

The agreement provides stronger protections for residents near hazardous waste facilities. The state is now required to prevent facilities from disproportionately polluting lower-income communities or communities of color and to avoid adding emissions in areas already burdened with heavy pollution.

“For decades, Michigan’s communities of color have been the dumping ground for hazardous waste from across the country,” Nick Leonard, executive director of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, said. “This settlement agreement commits Michigan to putting an end to this legacy of environmental racism by centering the community in the hazardous waste licensing process through the use of Michigan’s environmental justice screening tool to conduct environmental justice and cumulative impact analyses. We look forward to working with Michigan and communities across the state to ensure these new commitments are diligently implemented and work effectively to create the environmentally just future we all deserve.”

Along with requiring environmental justice assessments, the agreement also requires EGLE to offer comprehensive translation and interpretation services for communities with limited English proficiency. The agency will also collaborate with communities to identify the most effective methods for gathering public input on hazardous waste licensing decisions and will install three low-cost air monitors around U.S. Ecology North, with the data made publicly accessible.

Local resident Pamela McWilliams applauded the agreement, saying it’s going to make communities like hers safer.

“Our community has been fighting for a long time to get equal environmental justice in our eastside neighborhood,” McWilliams said. “We understand that there is a lot of work to do to make our community safe and healthy, but we put a dent in the problem. Looking toward a better future with even more improvement.”

The state will also partner with nearby residents to design and implement a community health assessment around the facility.

“For too long the cumulative health impacts associated with pollution have been manifest in our bodies,” local resident Rev. Sharon Buttry said. “Just today my husband was scheduled for four more months of chemotherapy. We have literally sacrificed our lives for the privilege of industry to pollute. Michigan’s most vulnerable residents living near hazardous waste facilities are disproportionately people of color and low wealth. With this Civil Rights complaint case we have proven that we won't be silenced and our lives matter.”

In Michigan and other states, pollution-spewing factories have been disproportionately located in lower-income areas that are predominantly Black and brown. One of those areas is in Southwest Detroit, where neighborhoods are inundated with a toxic stew of chemicals wafting from steel mills, coal-fired power plants, gas flares, billowing smokestacks, towering piles of coal and petroleum coke, salt mines, a wastewater treatment plant, and one of the nation’s largest oil refineries — all looming over schools, neighborhoods, parks, senior centers, and a recreation center.

Enough is enough, activists and residents say.

“Every Michigan community should be able to live free of environmental pollutants that cause them and their children harm,” Alice Jennings, an attorney with Edwards & Jennings, PC, said. “A person’s physical and mental health consequences should not depend on their race. The well being of a neighborhood should not depend on their economic or financial condition.”