News Room


PRESS RELEASE

(Auburn Hills, MI)—In the county that boasts more inland lakes than any other in Michigan, residents packed a standing-room-only Town Hall meeting on the Great Lakes Monday evening to demand better protections for the state’s water resources.

More than 100 people, most of them Oakland County residents and many of them from Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop’s district, attended the meeting in Auburn Hills. It was sponsored by the Great Lakes, Great Michigan Coalition; a gathering of nearly 50 community groups representing more than 350,000 Michigan residents.

“With important water protection legislation due to be debated in state legislative committees on Wednesday, it was an opportune time to show how much people care about the issue,” said James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council. “To get that many people on a dark, cold, rainy evening is testament to how passionate people are about their lakes and rivers.”

Citizen questions were fielded on topics including wetlands protection, environmental law enforcement problems, differences between House and Senate water legislation, and theories on declining Great Lakes water levels.

Passage of the critical eight-state Great Lakes Compact and Michigan-specific rules are essential to protect the state’s streams, lakes and groundwater from poorly planned or careless extraction, environmental experts said Monday night.

All Oakland County state-level elected officials were invited by the organizers of the event. Several, most notably Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, passed on attending the event or sending a representative from their office.  The forum was held in Bishop’s district. Elected officials at the Town Hall included State Sen. Gilda Jacobs, State Rep. Marie Donigan, and Oakland County Commissioners Jim Nash, Tim Greimel and Dave Woodward.  Commissioners Nash and Woodward highlighted a bi-partisan resolution that has been introduced supporting the House and Senate legislation backed by the Great Lakes, Great Michigan Coalition.

“We were disappointed to see neither a representative from Senate Majority Leader Bishop’s office, nor State Senator John Pappageorge, because we truly believe lakes protection is an issue that transcends traditional political divisions,” said Patrick Schuh, Deputy Policy Director for Clean Water Action. “But we will relay to them the high expectations many of their constituents have for a strong, bipartisan water protection plan before the end of the year.”