Contact: Margot Haynes 231-894-0651 or margot.haynes@gmail.com DATE: Feb. 28, 2019
A community forum to discuss the health of Flower Creek–which flows directly into Lake Michigan in Muskegon County–will feature a presentation by Dr. Richard Rediske, Ph.D., GVSU Professor of Water Resources at the Annis Water Resources Institute. The forum will be held in Montague City Council Chambers at 8778 Ferry Street on Tuesday March 12 at 7:00 pm.
Flower Creek drains over 20,000 acres in Muskegon and Oceana counties, most of it farmland. Recently the Lake Michigan coastline south of its mouth has become a land preserve under the sponsorship of the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, an organization which helped to underwrite a water quality research project. Other funders include the Big Flower Creek Association and ROAD (Reviving Our American Democracy). ROAD is the sponsor of this forum.
For this 2018 water study on Flower Creek, Dr. Rediske was the lead scientist. The design was approved by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Dr. Rediske’s Ph.D. was earned in 1986 from the University of Michigan in Environmental Health Sciences. He has served at Grand Valley State University’s AWRI in Muskegon for 25 years. In addition, he volunteered on the Allendale Township Planning Commission for 15 years and on the White Lake Public Advisory Board almost 20 years. His wide-ranging expertise includes environmental toxicology and harmful algae. Projects for which he has received grants include Lake Michigan and inland lake beach monitoring through the Muskegon County Department of Public Health. His work has included examining the health of fish populations in various waterways as well as the protection of human health.
This presentation comes at a key moment for our local environment. The land surrounding Flower Creek’s watershed is expected to be where most of the waste from a controversial pig CAFO is to be spread. This 1.5 million gallon slurry of manure, chemicals, and antibiotics will come from Flower Creek Swine’s Concentrated Animal Feed Operation of over 8,000 sows per year. Although the DEQ approved its permit last May, the facility has been under construction, so is not yet producing any manure. Its Individual Permit from the DEQ specifies it cannot spread manure on frozen or snow-covered land belonging to the family. For any DEQ permit, farmers who spread CAFO waste are required to monitor their land to ensure that the amount used is appropriate to the crop grown on it and the soil content, as well as to avoid spreading it when heavy rains are predicted or taking place.
Among the 200-plus attendees at the DEQ hearing about this CAFO last year, none spoke in favor of permitting it. Many objected to its proximity to Flower Creek and Lake Michigan. A number of speakers called for a water quality study of Flower Creek to be conducted before issuing a permit. Now, the scientific results of this water quality study are available to share with the White Lake Community.
You may find more information on this topic by visiting our website RoadAactivist.org select topics, CAFO Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.
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Click the following link to print a brochure to share about this meeting. Printable copy of brochure