In February 2024, the ECOS Environmental Justice (EJ) Workgroup welcomed Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) to discuss the agency’s recent EJ programs, including a project to build community capacity in the city of Benton Harbor, MI. The meeting recording is available below:
Michigan’s EO 2019-06 created the Office of the Environmental Justice Public Advocate and the Interagency Environmental Justice Response Team, which has been meeting since July 2019, as well as the Michigan Advisory Council for EJ (MAC EJ), which has been meeting since 2020. The groups bring together staff from across state government agencies and aim to meaningfully involve local communities in their work.
Benton Harbor is a disadvantaged community which found elevated lead levels in its drinking water. Since the local government lacked resources and trust in state government was low, EGLE conducted a capacity-building campaign to move towards solutions, engaging with local businesses, religious institutions, and other partners to build support and educate community members. A joint state-local Drinking Water Task Force was formed to lead the effort, building further support by leveraging local partnerships.
Thank you to Regina Strong of EGLE for sharing her experiences and lessons learned with the ECOS EJ Workgroup.
