A little bit of wilderness preserved in Huron County
Jim DuFresne
Lansing Buried halfway down on the homepage of the Huron County Nature Center website is a line that best sums up this unusual preserve at the tip of Michigan’s Thumb: “A short drive to wilderness.”
Located only two hours from the northern part of Metro Detroit and an even shorter drive from Flint and Saginaw, the nature center is a 280-acre oasis of woods and wetlands in an area of the state known mostly for sugar beets, navy beans and the sandy beaches of Saginaw Bay.
The county has owned a portion of the land since 1941, and from the beginning was jealously guarded by the local chapter of the Federation of Women’s Clubs. During a half century of stewardship, the federation called the original 120 acres a “wilderness arboretum” – a place where the natural environment is preserved and unaltered – and thus the organization vigorously opposed all attempts to develop the area.
100-year-old business builds new headquarters in Rochester on former brownfield site
100-year-old business builds new headquarters in Rochester on former brownfield site
Date: December 28, 2020
Frank Rewold & Sons construction company had a goal: construct a new headquarters on a piece of property contaminated from previous users in time to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Located in Rochester since 1918, the company has deep roots in the community. In a matter of 10 months, it constructed its new 50,000 square-foot headquarters along the Paint Creek.
Prior to the property s redevelopment, the contaminated brownfield had lain dormant for over 20 years. The City of Rochester contacted the then Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in 2017 about loans and grants from the State of Michigan. It received a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment grant and a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment loan for the project.
Water analysis test kits are seen at a fire station in Flint, Mich., in 2016. (Ryan Garza/Detroit Free Press via AP, File)
FLINT, Mich. (CN) The Flint City Council voted early Tuesday to approve the city’s $20 million share of a massive $641 million settlement for injury claims stemming from the contaminated water crisis that first poisoned citizens in 2014.
The council members voted last week to hire their own attorney to advise them on the settlement and handle any of their objections with the court. They had also postponed the vote to allow the use of $20 million from an insurance carrier to pay Flint’s portion of the deal, as some members expressed apprehension about leaving some victims behind.
A water tower is seen in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
DETROIT (CN) Attorneys urged a federal judge Monday to grant preliminary approval of a massive settlement benefitting Flint residents poisoned by contaminated water, as local government officials wrestle with accepting their part of the deal.
More than 100 attorneys were present at the hearing but only a handful spoke and debated the merits of the agreement that would compensate thousands of victims for the injuries caused by the presence of lead in the city’s drinking water supply.
U.S. District Judge Judith Levy, a Barack Obama appointee, said the $641 million agreement is the “most complex settlement I’ve ever seen.”
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