Environmentalists, activists, citizens and a growing number of Michigan policymakers worry that if Pipeline 5 under the Mackinac Straits were to rupture and spill oil directly into the world’s largest freshwater resource, the damage could decimate aquatic ecosystems, local economies and the tourism industry. One in five Michigan jobs are tied, directly or indirectly, to safe and clean water.
Photos of Lake Huron, taken during a family vacation, caused portrait painter Charles Pompilius to consider a new direction for his work. The Ferndale resident talks about how he explored this mid-career transition during his Glen Arbor Art Association (GAAA) artist-residency on Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Glen Arbor Art Association, 6031 S. Lake St. in Glen Arbor.
Three years after the July 25, 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill, this tragedy holds important warning signs for communities and municipal and state governments. Oil pipelines now crisscross the entire country, running through Midwestern states that are not oil producers but have become oil transit zones. Many of them already carry Canadian Tar Sands oil.
The wreck of the 283-foot Steamer New York, built in 1879, has been discovered in Lake Huron. David Trotter and the Undersea Research Associates (URA) team made the discovery after an extensive search effort that spanned several years.