KALAMAZOO, MI -- On June 19, 2020 a coalition of environmental and public interest groups warned Gov. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Gilchrist about its concerns regarding increased risks at Michigan's nuclear power plants, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was cc'd to numerous additional MI state, county, and local officials, as well as to MI's U.S. congressional delegation, given their overlapping responsibilities to protect public health, safety, security, and the environment from nuclear risks. In addition, the letter was cc'd to leaders of MI's dozen federally recognized Native American tribes. The letter was signed by a Native American sovereign authority, the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), based in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. (CORA is composed of five Native American tribes that have treaty rights in Michigan: 1836cora.org.)

 

Organizational signatories on the letter include the following Michigan groups, listed in alphabetical order: Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 in Livonia; Ban Michigan Fracking, Charlevoix ; Belle Isle Concern, Detroit; Black Autonomy Network Community Organization, Benton Harbor; Citizens for Peace, Livonia; Citizens' Resistance at Fermi 2, Redford; Coalition to Oppose the Expansion of US Ecology, Detroit; Detroit Independent Freedom Schools Movement; Don't Waste Michigan, Monroe and Sherwood; FLOW (For Love of Water), Traverse City; Freshwater Future, Petoskey; Green Living Science, Detroit; Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW); League of Women Voters of Michigan, Lansing; Lone Tree Council, Bay City; Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Mecosta; MI Organic Food and Farm Alliance, Lansing; MI Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo and Shoreline (Benton Harbor) Chapters; MI Stop the Nuclear Bombs Campaign, St. Clair Shores; MI Wildlife Conservancy, Bath; Palestine Cultural Office-MI, Detroit; Palisades Park Community, Covert; Peace Action of MI, Ferndale; S.E. MI/Michael Gramlich Chapter, Veterans for Peace, Brownstown; Washtenaw350, Ypsilanti. Also, the 62 individuals who signed the letter include residents of dozens of MI communities, in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. In addition, national groups Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), with large numbers of members and supporters in MI, as well as a number of groups in states and provinces downwind and downstream, also signed the letter.

 

The letter, including all signatories, is posted online here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2020/6/20/nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-amidst-the-covid-1.html>. Also pasted online is the briefing paper, "Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," linked here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/safety/2020/6/22/briefing-paper-nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-ami.html>. It includes sections about Fermi nuclear power plant (Monroe County) in southeast MI on the Lake Erie shore, as well as Cook (Berrien County), Palisades (Van Buren County), and Big Rock Point (Charlevoix County) nuclear power plants in west Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shore.