The first Monday of April 2018, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved a permit for Nestle Waters North America, which produces Pure Life, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, and Perrier, to increase the amount of water they are allowed to withdraw from the state’s groundwater table. This increase allows for a whopping 400 gallons per minute from the previously established 250 gallons per minute. That’s an increase of 150 gallons per minute, or a 60% increase. All this for nothing more than $200 per year. MDEQ director, Heidi Grether, claims that the permit meets the requirement of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act.
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Hurricane Maria Updates
The headline of a NY Times article reads, “In the Virgin Islands, Hurricane Maria drowned what Irma didn’t destroy” and the story continues on to note that between the debt, the lack of funding, the unemployment rate being at twice the national average, what was once considered one of the Caribbean’s most ideal landscapes is now ravaged by two Hurricanes of immense force and an appetite for destruction only 14 days apart. The title of the article is very fitting and even more tragic.
The governor expects that the two hospitals on the most popular islands, St. Thomas and St. Croix, will have to be torn down and rebuilt. In St. Croix, one of the few working cell towers went down due to the fact that someone had stolen its generator. On the smallest and most remote island of St. John, beachfront hotels were reduced to rubble thanks to the wind and rain while a landslide blocked a segment of road in such a way that only cars could pass, but not a vehicle the size of an ambulance. Students cannot attend classes and Virgin Islanders wait for doctors, medicine, fuel, and manpower to help rebuild their power and communications grid.
The Washington Post remarks that Hurricane Maria is President Donald Trump’s Hurricane Katrina- costly, devastating, and long-term repairs required.
As of September 25th, Hurricane Maria has caused 27 deaths in Dominica, 5 deaths in the Dominican Republic, 2 deaths in Guadeloupe, 3 in Haiti, 24 in Puerto Rico and 1 in the Virgin Islands. Insured losses from the hurricane are estimated between $40 – 85 billion, mostly in Puerto Rico, making Maria’s cost comparable to that of previous Hurricanes Irma and Harvey due to the widespread flooding, damaged homes and buildings, as well as uprooted trees. Maria has been marked as the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, the worst that’s struck Dominica in history and the worst in Puerto Rico since 1928.
Updates on Hurricane Jose and Katia
Hurricane Jose became a very noteworthy hurricane in September 2017, as noted on wikipedia.com and other news – providing websites, as it is “the first and so far only time in Atlantic history that two active hurricanes simultaneously had recorded wind speeds of at least 150 miles per hour”.
Jose reached a peak on September 8th as a category 4 hurricane but is now downgraded to tropical storm status where winds reach speeds of 39 mph – 73 mph, in accordance with the Saffir – Simpson scale. As it heads northward, a tropical storm warning was posted for coastal areas in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and tropical storm watches were up for parts of New York’s Long Island and Connecticut, according to Fox News, who also reports that sandbags are lining the sidewalks on Nantucket where flooding has become a concern in Massachusetts.
Massive Construction Revamp planned for I-75
For almost 20 years, plans have been in the works for modernizing I-75 in Michigan, a well-travelled freeway built in the 60’s, encompassing approximately 18 miles of the freeway. Beginning at M-102 to south of M-59, the road experiences traffic volumes of 103 to 174 thousand daily. It is projected to allow for decreased congestion during travel time as much as improving the infrastructure of the existing road.
The fact that it’s considered such a critical structure and route is boasted by its number of commuters. It’s uses vary from local travel, commercial and freight use, and a local business route. The proposed improvements will ease congestion and positively modify safety, reliability and efficiency overall.
Many commuters have long-noted the deteriorating condition of the existing road, the gridlock experienced specifically around rush hour, and the need for improvement and are hopeful that these modifications will amend these key issues.
According to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), improvements are to include the following: “reconstructing the freeway, adding a lane to increase capacity with a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane that would operate as such, only in the peak hours of travel, bridge replacement, upgraded road design, interchange improvements at 12 Mile Road, 14 Mile Road and the Square Lake Road Business Loop, ramp enhancements at M-102 and I-696 and a new drainage system for the corridor.”
They will be including a High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane to the far left to the three existing lanes that requires a minimum of two or more passengers during peak travel time (weekdays 7 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 6 pm). New carpool lots will be developed while existing carpool lots will be enhanced. All road and pedestrian bridges will be replaced while new drainage systems will be constructed. Asked in a forum was a question regarding the drainage system issue at Squirrel Road and if MDOT planned on addressing it and how, to which it was made known that they intended to construct a whole new system to handle was and drainage more efficiently.
Update on Hurricane Irma
Hurricane Irma has yet to dissipate and is now in Florida, but has been weakened to a tropical depression with sustained winds of 35 mph, thankfully, after it bounced between categories 2-5 for days. The highest wind reached was a minute long sustained 185 mph. The fatalities as of September 12 are marked at 49, but the $190 billion expected damage cost is, thus far, around $30 billion making it the 4th or 5th costliest hurricane on record versus the #1 place. Again, this is just an update, not a final report.
According to Wikipedia, the storm has caused catastrophic damage to Barbuda (3 reported fatalities), Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla (1 reported fatality), and the Virgin Islands (4 reported fatalities) as a Category 5 hurricane. Additional fatalities reported are 1 death in Barbados, 10 deaths in Cuba, 11 deaths in the French West Indies, 1 death in Haiti, 3 deaths in Puerto Rico, 4 deaths on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, and 11 deaths in the United States.
The New York Times reports Florida Governor Rick Scott as saying that over all, Irma’s damage to his state was not as bad as the direst forecasts had predicted, but that some areas were thoroughly brutalized. About 62% of residents remained without power. And northern Florida, including Jacksonville, was flooding. Many areas have suffered fuel shortages, downed power lines, and standing water.
The National Weather Service declared a flood emergencies and coastal flood warnings are in effect, some lasting until Thursday. They advise residents take appropriate actions to protect life and property. Areas impacted by this destruction are experiencing high levels of rampant looting, warning that the property they protect isn’t just due to forces of nature, but also by those who would take advantage of the situation. Police advise people to “choose wisely and stay home” and to “stay home and look after loved ones and be thankful they are all safe” instead of looting.
Bear in mind, the floods aren’t just affecting residential homes and their inhabitants, but also retail establishments and their owners. Property damages to local storefronts, due to flooding and wind demolition, also impacts the merchandise.