H2O Catalyst: From Michigan to the Nation
A Groundwater Emergency
Furious and fearful, residents are asking a simple but urgent question: what’s in my water?
But PFAS are the tip of the spear for threats to groundwater in Michigan and nationally. Nitrates, industrial chemicals, and pathogens have been swept underground for decades — aquifers used as garbage cans. What else is in the groundwater? And what are the risks?
Speakers
Gary Peters
Elected in 2014, Senator Gary Peters represents the State of Michigan in the U.S. Senate. Senator Peters serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a physician, scientist, and activist who has been called to testify twice before the United States Congress, awarded the Freedom of Expression Courage Award by PEN America, and named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
She’s also the founder and director of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative, a model program to mitigate the impact of the Flint water crisis.
Dr. Christopher Higgins
Christopher P. Higgins is an environmental chemist examining the fate of environmental contaminants in aquatic and terrestrial systems. His research focuses on the movement of contaminants in the environment. In particular, he studies chemical fate and transport in natural and engineered systems as well as bioaccumulation in plants and animals. Contaminants under study in his laboratory include poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances used in stain-repellent fabrics and fire-fighting foams, nanoparticles, wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals and personal care products, trace organic chemicals in urban stormwater, and trace metals.
Dave Dempsey
Dave Dempsey has 35 years experience in environmental policy. He served as environmental advisor to former Michigan Governor James Blanchard and as policy advisor on the staff of the International Joint Commission. He has also provided policy support to the Michigan Environmental Council and Clean Water Action. He has authored several books on the Great Lakes and water protection.
Lisa Widawsky Hallowell
Lisa has worked to reduce pollution from coal ash disposal sites in Pennsylvania and nationally since she joined The Environmental Integrity Project in January 2009. She graduated cum laude with a Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Garret Ellison
Michigan environment and Great Lakes reporter with the Grand Rapids Press since 2008. Ellison was announced as the 2017 Richard Milliman Michigan Journalist of the Year in recognition of his work on environmental issues ranging from a bottled water company’s plan to increase its withdrawal of groundwater to the hazards posed by an aging underwater oil pipeline.
Mary Ellen Geist
Mary Ellen Geist is an award-winning broadcast journalist and author who was born and raised in the Detroit area. She began her career as a broadcast journalist in Northern Michigan where one of her first investigative reports involved the discovery of trichloroethylene in the ground water of a small town. She later won several awards for her investigative reporting on the spraying of the pesticide Malathion in Los Angeles.
Jim Malewitz
Jim Malewitz reports on the environment for Bridge. Based in Lansing, but with plans to scour both peninsulas, he is looking for stories about how public policy, climate change and other phenomena affect the state’s trove of natural resources – all while leaders tout the “Pure Michigan” brand.
Brett Walton
Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States for Circle of Blue. Brett also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States (2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014).
Host
J. Carl Ganter
J. Carl Ganter is co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, the internationally recognized center for original frontline reporting, research, and analysis on resource issues with a focus on the intersection between water, food, and energy. Carl — an award-winning photojournalist, reporter, and broadcaster — is recognized for developing the keen skills that helped to shape the multimedia journalism era. He received the Rockefeller Foundation’s Centennial Innovation Award (2012).
