Ann Arbor
Homeless find new place to live after eviction
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — About a dozen people who lived in campsites along railroad tracks in an Ann Arbor park were forced to relocate after authorities used bulldozers to clear the sites, destroying some tents in the removal process.
The Ann Arbor News reported that between 10 and 15 people were kicked out of Broadway Park on Thursday morning by Michigan’s transportation department and local police.
By Thursday afternoon, most of those displaced had found new areas to stay with help from Timothy Green, an organizer for a homeless advocacy group. Green didn’t specify where the campers moved to. He found replacements for the destroyed tents.
Ann Arbor city officials served the campers with notices prior to the eviction. While the removal on state-owned land could have been handled better, state transportation department official Timothy Hoeffner said had to happen for safety reasons.
“We should have been more sympathetic,” said Hoeffner, the office of rail’s director. “We should have worked closer with the individuals. ... We could have done a better job communicating with the people.”
Hoeffner blamed trespassing on railroad tracks for multiple deaths in Michigan every year. Transportation department spokesman Jeff Cranson said those who had lived at the Broadway Park campsites were walking around or over the railroad tracks.
Ann Arbor’s police department referred questions about the eviction to Michigan’s transportation department.
“We cannot allow people to trespass on the railroad,” Hoeffner said. “We had to take action ... it just is not safe.”
Battle Creek
Researchers study African dogs at Binder Park Zoo
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Researchers from Australia are spending time at Battle Creek’s Binder Park Zoo this summer observing its three African wild dogs as they seek ways to save the species from extinction.
Femke Van den Berghe and Alex Vergara-Lansdell are conducting studies this month and will return for 10 days in August, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer. They are from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia.
They are working with the Institute for Breeding Rare and Endangered African Mammals and the African Predator Conservation Research Organization to observe the dogs in U.S. zoos, collect biological samples and prepare a breeding program.
“We’re taking the opportunity of working with several zoos to look at different aspects that we can do to help African wild dogs,” Van den Berghe told the newspaper.
“As these guys are a very important, very endangered species, we really want to contribute in any way we can,” zoo veterinarian Dr. Judilee Marrow said. “This is a great opportunity to really support research projects, support education, and also really get some information about these animals and have those animals really make a contribution to the rest of the population.”
Africa’s wild dog population has gone from about 500,000 a century ago to just 6,000 now, Van den Berghe said. She said the U.S. has about 150, including those at 40 zoos. Europe has about 300.
The World Wildlife Fund lists African wild dogs as endangered.
Van den Berghe said habitat loss and farmers protecting livestock have led to their decline.
Rabies and other diseases also have contributed, Marrow said.
“It’s not a species that’s well known to most people. If they think about endangered African mammals, they mostly think about giraffes, rhinos, elephants,” Van den Berghe said. “So yeah, it’s something that we have to make people aware of that they’re endangered and a species that we have to help.”
Comstock Twp.
Enbridge nearly finished with oil spill cleanup task
COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Cleanup efforts following the leak of about 800,000 gallons of crude from an underground pipeline in western Michigan are nearly complete, according to the Canadian oil company that owns the pipeline.
Contaminated soil is expected to be removed from the Morrow Lake delta near Comstock Township in Kalamazoo County by mid- to late summer, Enbridge Inc. spokesman Jason Manshum told the Kalamazoo Gazette for a story Friday.
Crews will keep restoring riverbanks this fall.
Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered Enbridge to dredge sections of the Kalamazoo River to remove sediments tainted by oil from the massive spill.
The leak was discovered in the Kalamazoo River and Talmadge Creek near Marshall in July 2010. Oil flowed about 35 miles before it was contained. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board determined the rupture was caused by cracks and corrosion, and the agency faulted Enbridge for failing to take steps that might have prevented it.
The state said last month in a public health assessment that there’s no long-term harm to people’s health from coming into contact with chemicals in the river’s surface water during wading, swimming or canoeing. But contact with the oil sheen in the river may cause temporary effects such as skin irritation.
The state also said oil-related chemicals levels in fish are very low.
Enbridge is replacing and enlarging the line, part of a $2.6 billion project to boost the flow of oil to refineries in the eastern U.S. and Canada.
“We’re bringing in soils and native plants and trees to make a nice green space like it would look if there had never had been a spill there,” Manshum said.
The company will conduct periodic environmental monitoring, he added.
The state is overseeing restoration efforts closer to the site of the rupture. That work involves tapering the riverbank, creating habitats for fish and installing brush.
Marquette
Michigan lake destination hit hard by erosion
MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) — Marquette officials are looking for ways to limit erosion around Presque Isle Park, a popular recreational area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Mining Journal reports park committee members are concerned about decreasing vegetation and soil cover around the popular Lake Superior destination. The committee is especially worried about the Black Rocks section of the park, where frequent foot traffic contributes to erosion. Visitors often jump into the lake after climbing a small cliff at Black Rocks.
“This has been kind of a longstanding issue here,” said Bob Chapman, chairman of the Presque Isle Park Advisory Committee. “You know, erosion rarely goes away. It just gets worse.”
He said he believes the eroded area at Black Rocks, which is now just dirt, used to be covered with vegetation.
Jon Swenson, assistant director of community services for the city of Marquette and staff liaison of the park committee, said the city might add large rocks to the eroded area. The new rocks would deter visitors from using a damaging path up the cliff. A sign would point out a more environmentally friendly route.
Swenson said Marquette’s Department of Public Works would add the signage and rock barrier either at the end of the summer or after the next snowmelt.
“It’s an amazing, wonderful place,” he said. “We want to keep it that way.”
