From an intern project on the bottle bill to the effects of the Gelman Plume in Ann Arbor, we've done a lot of environmental reporting this year. As it's the end of the year, let's take a look at some of the best environment stories of the year!
Should Michigan’s “bottle bill” be updated?
When Jen Conine was packing her car after a weekend camping trip in the Upper Peninsula, she wasn’t expecting to bring home a bag full of her used pop cans.
At the end of her trip, she went to throw away her trash, but was met with an overflowing trash can. She said it was full of recyclable material.
“Why was there no other way to sort recycling, especially in Michigan, when we could get ten cents?” she asked. “So I drove them all the way back, nine and a half hours, to my house to deal with.”
Conine made her way to Meijer on Ann Arbor-Saline Road, where she earned around $25 simply by returning the used cans.
Ten years ago, Conine was among the vast majority of Michiganders who saw the benefit of returning used cans. In the past five years, the percentage of bottles and cans redeemed has been declining.
At the end of her trip, she went to throw away her trash, but was met with an overflowing trash can. She said it was full of recyclable material.
“Why was there no other way to sort recycling, especially in Michigan, when we could get ten cents?” she asked. “So I drove them all the way back, nine and a half hours, to my house to deal with.”
Conine made her way to Meijer on Ann Arbor-Saline Road, where she earned around $25 simply by returning the used cans.
Ten years ago, Conine was among the vast majority of Michiganders who saw the benefit of returning used cans. In the past five years, the percentage of bottles and cans redeemed has been declining.
Cougar sightings in Michigan have already broken records, with a month still left in the year
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has reported record-high cougar sightings already in 2025, with a month still left in the year.
Brian Roell is a large carnivore specialist for the DNR. He said the department has confirmed 161 sightings since 2008. Of those, 26 are from 2025, and all have been in the Upper Peninsula.
Roell said they’ve had more sightings because there are more cougars in the area and more trail cameras being used that pick up on the wildlife.
He said the cameras are often used by hunters. “Some of these guys have 30 or 40 cameras, and it’s their hobby to see what they can get a picture of,” Roell said. The DNR has even been sent sightings from Ring home security cameras.
Brian Roell is a large carnivore specialist for the DNR. He said the department has confirmed 161 sightings since 2008. Of those, 26 are from 2025, and all have been in the Upper Peninsula.
Roell said they’ve had more sightings because there are more cougars in the area and more trail cameras being used that pick up on the wildlife.
He said the cameras are often used by hunters. “Some of these guys have 30 or 40 cameras, and it’s their hobby to see what they can get a picture of,” Roell said. The DNR has even been sent sightings from Ring home security cameras.
Illinois wants Trump assurances of invasive carp barrier funding before giving needed land
Instead of presiding over a groundbreaking ceremony for an invasive carp barrier near Joliet this week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker canceled the event and is delaying the transfer of land for the project.
Pritzker wants assurances that federal money approved for the carp barrier is going to be released by the Trump administration.
The $1.1 billion project to keep four invasive carp from getting into the Great Lakes needs the land to build parts of the barrier.
In a statement, Governor Pritzker said, “I have a responsibility to protect Illinois taxpayers.” Adding, “If the federal government does not live up to its obligations, Illinois could suffer the burden of hundreds of millions of dollars of liability.”
Scientists warn that if the invasive carp get into the Great Lakes, the $5.1 billion a year fishery could be severely harmed.
Pritzker wants assurances that federal money approved for the carp barrier is going to be released by the Trump administration.
The $1.1 billion project to keep four invasive carp from getting into the Great Lakes needs the land to build parts of the barrier.
In a statement, Governor Pritzker said, “I have a responsibility to protect Illinois taxpayers.” Adding, “If the federal government does not live up to its obligations, Illinois could suffer the burden of hundreds of millions of dollars of liability.”
Scientists warn that if the invasive carp get into the Great Lakes, the $5.1 billion a year fishery could be severely harmed.
Regulators express concerns over "very, very demanding" timeline for Palisades approval
Federal nuclear regulators expressed concerns Tuesday on what they called a “very, very demanding” timeline by Holtec International to reopen the Palisades nuclear plant in southwest Michigan by this fall.
The comments from staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came during a meeting in Maryland that was broadcast online.
Holtec representatives were there to explain two amendments they want to make to a license that they hope to use to reopen the nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Palisades plant stopped operating in 2022. If it reopens, it would be the first shuttered nuclear plant to ever reopen in the U.S.
Holtec has said it wants to restart operations by the fourth quarter of this year, and they’ve asked the NRC to approve the license amendments by August 15.
“This is a very aggressive schedule,” said NRC branch chief Stephen Bloom at Tuesday’s meeting.
The comments from staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came during a meeting in Maryland that was broadcast online.
Holtec representatives were there to explain two amendments they want to make to a license that they hope to use to reopen the nuclear plant on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Palisades plant stopped operating in 2022. If it reopens, it would be the first shuttered nuclear plant to ever reopen in the U.S.
Holtec has said it wants to restart operations by the fourth quarter of this year, and they’ve asked the NRC to approve the license amendments by August 15.
“This is a very aggressive schedule,” said NRC branch chief Stephen Bloom at Tuesday’s meeting.
Great Lakes temperature extremes intensifying due to climate change
Peer-reviewed research out of the University of Michigan indicates that Great Lakes temperature extremes have changed across all five Great Lakes over the last 80 years.
Borrowing computer modeling concepts that have been used to study the oceans, the researchers refined them to work with the Great Lakes.
Drew Gronewold is an associate professor at UM's School of Environment and Sustainability. He said when we talk about heat waves on land, people understand.
“So this paper is taking that idea that we’re very familiar with on land and applying it to temperatures in the lakes.”
The problem to overcome was that we don’t have all the data needed across eight decades to look at water temperatures during the most extreme heat waves or cold periods.
Borrowing computer modeling concepts that have been used to study the oceans, the researchers refined them to work with the Great Lakes.
Drew Gronewold is an associate professor at UM's School of Environment and Sustainability. He said when we talk about heat waves on land, people understand.
“So this paper is taking that idea that we’re very familiar with on land and applying it to temperatures in the lakes.”
The problem to overcome was that we don’t have all the data needed across eight decades to look at water temperatures during the most extreme heat waves or cold periods.
Community solar gets bipartisan, bi-peninsular support. Big utilities say it’s a bad idea.
Solar projects that are smaller and locally owned get support from all kinds of Michiganders … from cities, the countryside, liberals and conservatives. So, why aren’t there more community solar projects here?Detroit officials unveiled in December designs for three new DTE solar arrays. The city’s mayor said the farms would make Detroit a “national leader” in the fight against climate change.
Support for renewable energy is high among Detroit’s citizens and elected leaders. But as city council debated the project last summer it became clear not everyone loves this particular approach, which requires 100 acres of “vacant, blighted” land.
Council president Mary Sheffield initially voted against the project — partly because of her interest in “community solar.”
“It was very unfortunate to hear that DTE has lobbied against Senate bills that would allow community solar to be legal,” Sheffield said before casting her vote in the July meeting. “One can only surmise that DTE did so because community solar would decrease their profit and benefit residents.”
Support for renewable energy is high among Detroit’s citizens and elected leaders. But as city council debated the project last summer it became clear not everyone loves this particular approach, which requires 100 acres of “vacant, blighted” land.
Council president Mary Sheffield initially voted against the project — partly because of her interest in “community solar.”
“It was very unfortunate to hear that DTE has lobbied against Senate bills that would allow community solar to be legal,” Sheffield said before casting her vote in the July meeting. “One can only surmise that DTE did so because community solar would decrease their profit and benefit residents.”
The Trump administration has rescinded or frozen previously approved funds amounting to nearly $21 billion for Michigan clean energy projects.
The federal government is rescinding some grant funds and freezing other grants, loans, and loan guarantees.
Nearly $400 million for consumer energy rebates and weatherization assistance for Michigan homes is on hold.
Money to make the electric grid more resilient to intense storms, amounting to $102 million is frozen.
The federal government is rescinding some grant funds and freezing other grants, loans, and loan guarantees.
Nearly $400 million for consumer energy rebates and weatherization assistance for Michigan homes is on hold.
Money to make the electric grid more resilient to intense storms, amounting to $102 million is frozen.
Keeping the $5.5 billion Great Lakes fishery afloat as Trump administration considers cuts
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station is based in a building that was constructed in 1917, originally as a federal fish hatchery. It wasn’t the first on this site. An earlier hatchery was built in 1894.
The U.S. government was trying to replenish the fish population. Lake trout, whitefish, and walleye were not reproducing at rates fast enough to keep up with the demand of commercial fishing.
There were no limits on the number of commercial fishers and no limits on how much they could catch. State licenses were issued, but that was simply to make sure the states got some tax revenue from the fishing industry.
Federal fish stocking only slowed the decline. Then new technology opened up the markets for Great Lakes fish far and wide.
The U.S. government was trying to replenish the fish population. Lake trout, whitefish, and walleye were not reproducing at rates fast enough to keep up with the demand of commercial fishing.
There were no limits on the number of commercial fishers and no limits on how much they could catch. State licenses were issued, but that was simply to make sure the states got some tax revenue from the fishing industry.
Federal fish stocking only slowed the decline. Then new technology opened up the markets for Great Lakes fish far and wide.
"It cost us dearly." The legacy of Ann Arbor's Gelman plume
Marianne Martin has lived in the same house since 1972. She bought a home in Westover Hills, a small neighborhood in Scio Township just west of Ann Arbor, as a “challenge” for her and her newly retired father to work on.
“It was just perfect, and it was a fix-me-up house,” she said. “It was something I could afford to do little by little.”
But that neighborhood was irrevocably changed in 1986 when the county notified residents that their drinking well water was contaminated with a chemical known to cause liver issues from a plant across the road.
Gelman Sciences LLC, a medical filter manufacturer, had slowly dumped wastewater laced with 1,4-dioxane into the ground around its facility for almost 20 years before it was discovered.
The contaminant had traveled through groundwater underneath nearby homes and businesses. Over 120 drinking water wells in Scio Township had to be plugged or paved over. Martin’s was one of them.
“It was just perfect, and it was a fix-me-up house,” she said. “It was something I could afford to do little by little.”
But that neighborhood was irrevocably changed in 1986 when the county notified residents that their drinking well water was contaminated with a chemical known to cause liver issues from a plant across the road.
Gelman Sciences LLC, a medical filter manufacturer, had slowly dumped wastewater laced with 1,4-dioxane into the ground around its facility for almost 20 years before it was discovered.
The contaminant had traveled through groundwater underneath nearby homes and businesses. Over 120 drinking water wells in Scio Township had to be plugged or paved over. Martin’s was one of them.
