Michael F. Gorman, University of Dayton Less than two weeks after train cars filled with hazardous chemicals derailed in Ohio and caught fire, a truck carrying nitric acid crashed on a major highway outside Tucson, Arizona, killing the driver and releasing toxic chemicals into the air. The Arizona hazmat disaster shut down Interstate 10, a […]

From sunshine and 55-plus degree weather to snow and freezing temperatures just a few days later, climate change affects winter in the Motor City.  This winter is one of the top 10 warmest on record for Detroit. The city has received a foot less snow than the average for this time of year, according to […]

Among the environmental legislation recently introduced by Michigan Democrats is a repeal of the state’s “no stricter than federal” law, passed at the end of Gov. Rick Snyder’s tenure during 2018’s lame-duck session.  The law prohibits state agencies from making rules stricter than federal standards unless they establish “that there was a clear and convincing […]

Residents of Detroit’s Hubbard Richard neighborhood are asking Detroit City Council not to approve a land transfer that would give the Moroun-owned Detroit International Bridge Company 3.8 acres at 3085 W. Jefferson.  They fear that approving the deal could take away their leverage to block an expansion of the Ambassador Bridge’s customs plaza and prevent […]

On Monday, Feb. 3, a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, a town of about 5,000 northwest of Pittsburgh. On Feb. 6, authorities decided to release the contents of several cars, including those containing highly toxic vinyl chloride, to avoid “the risk of uncontrollable shrapnel from an explosion.” The release […]

A new study is looking for ways to promote regional stormwater cooperation in southeast Michigan, where floods in 2014 and 2021 caused more than a billion dollars in damage in each instance. There’s a “clear consensus the stormwater issue is getting worse,” said Carol Miller, director of Wayne State’s Healthy Urban Waters program. According to […]