ARSENIC IS COOL

The Creston Neighborhood Association announced last week that the DeVries Companies, the new owner of the Monroe Avenue Water Filtration Plant of toxic waste dumping fame, are applying to Guv Jen for one of her Cool Cities grants.  The DeVrieses want to gussy up the renovated lobby of the filtration plant (a.k.a. "Clearwater Plaza") on the taxpayers' dime with pictures and other doo-dads recalling the plant's history in providing safe drinking water to the residents of Grand Rapids.  Well, I suppose they need to do something to get us to forget about the twenty thousand tons of arsenic- and lead-laced dirt that the Boardwalk developers dumped at the plant a few years ago.  (You know the Boardwalk gang:  Thomas Beckering, Fifth Third Bank, Dykema Excavators, etc.)  Then again, maybe there'll be nothing to forget.  The DeVrieses have done a good job of pushing all that new dirty dirt out of the filtration plant and onto Monroe Avenue and elsewhere.  So maybe by the time they're done renovating the plant, all that arsenic and lead will be someone's else worry.

Comments

[Batman]

Do you know why the DEQ is not stopping the new owners from spreading the contamination onto Monroe avenue?

[The Executive Director]

Unfortunately, Batman, the DEQ's official position is that nothing happened at the Filtration Plant. So the state won't step in to clean up the mess on Monroe Avenue, although City street sweepers have been there. Read "River of Corruption: The MDEQ" for details.

Regards,
Bill Tingley