ELR Citation: 41 ELR 20056
No(s). s. 138863 et al (Mich. Dec 29, 2010)

The Michigan Supreme Court held that a company's plan to discharge contaminated water from an environmental cleanup site in the Manistee River watershed into a previously unpolluted site in the AuSable River watershed was manifestly unreasonable and that the state agency should be held accountable under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA) for permitting the discharge. Below, the appellate court correctly held that the plan was unreasonable, but it dismissed the agency as a defendant under a prior Michigan Supreme Court decision in Preserve the Dunes, Inc. v Dep’t of Environmental Quality, 471 Mich. 508 (2004). The majority in Preserve the Dunes held that reviewing the agency's permit decisions was outside the judicial authority under MEPA. But the decision to insulate agency permit decisions from MEPA violates the legislative intent behind MEPA, conflicts with previous case law regarding MEPA, and subverts the will of the people contained in article 4 of Michigan’s constitution. The court, therefore, overruled Preserve the Dunes. On remand, the trial court’s decision holding the agency accountable for violating MEPA should be reinstated.