Welcome to the first issue of Capital Area Friends of the Environment (CAFE)’s new monthly newsletter. We have had a discussion listserv since our founding, which you can subscribe to here, but we have heard from supporters that a newsletter format would be more convenient. Our discussion list is not going away, rather the newsletter will give you a monthly overview of our activities, past and future, provide information about action that is needed, and lead you to other information resources. If you have suggestions for directions or stories that you would like to see, please drop us a line at info@517cafe.org.

 

December marks the end of our first full calendar year of operation. As many of you know, we incorporated in June 2023 and received our nonprofit 501c3 exemption from the IRS the following July. After the filings were complete, we began planning how to proceed with organizing and what actions were best to create a more just and sustainable Mid-Michigan. CAFE board members bring with them a history of activism on a variety of fronts, from water safety, to greenhouse gas mitigation, to energy policy and organizing locally, in groups such as the Lansing Environmental Action Team and Capital Area Sustainability Partnership. This led us to focus on two priorities in late 2023 and early 2024: groundwater contamination from leaking coal ash impoundments at the former Erickson Station power plant site and pushing back on the plans by the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) to build a new fossil-fuel power plant in Delta Township.​





 

 

 

 

 

 

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While the outcomes of our work have been mixed, we believe we have had some positive impact. 

• In November 2023, we helped convene a meeting of residents of the Millet neighborhood to help them understand what we know about the high levels of chemicals in their drinking water wells. Almost 60 residents turned out to hear from a number of experts. The event was well publicized in the media.

• From March through May we organized opposition to the air permit that BWL had submitted to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE). EGLE received dozens of comments from individuals objecting to the plant on health and environmental grounds. At our behest, EGLE held a virtual public hearing attended by more than 50 individuals. Almost 25 of the attendees made a public comment. None of them supported the issuance of the air permit. 

• In July, BWL announced their intention to raise dramatically rates for water and electricity for each of the next two years. They announced that there would be a public hearing on the proposal at the end of August. CAFE worked hard to get word out about the hearing and encouraged as many as possible to attend. We had over 50 residents come to the meeting and 23 of them stood at the podium to give their comments. 

 

Ultimately, EGLE granted BWL’s request for the air permit, and the BWL Board of Commissioners meekly acquiesced to management’s request for the large rate increase. We did not win the battles, but we did succeed in stirring awareness about these issues. (For a sampling of the media reports, check out our website here.) Without CAFE, it is likely that the air permit public comment period would not have generated so many letters or that a public hearing would have been held. 

 

Two years ago when BWL last increased their rates, almost no one attended the rate increase hearing. This year, we came close to standing-room only. 

 

While we may not have succeeded in stopping the gas plant or reducing the rate increases, we got our foot in the door. Next time, we expect to do better.