|
 |
The Board of Commissioners, led by members Mary Powers and Tom Miller,
created an Environmental Concerns Committee to create a groundwater strategy.
The committee recommended a groundwater regulation including a hazardous materials
inspection program, funded by fees on industry much like a comparable program in
Washtenaw County. But the business community objected strongly to the proposed
groundwater pollution prevention regulation.
As an alternative, the county looked to establishing an educational program about
pollution prevention. The County approached the Kellogg Foundation and secured funding
to establish such a program, known as the Business Environmental Assistance Program.
At around the same time, the county began to pursue a wellhead protection program to
protect large municipal supplies.
|
 |
The program includes three principal activities, including creation of a
pollution prevention library for the business community; educational outreach programs
for businesses, including workshops; and an Environmental Audit Program which provides
a participating facility with a free and confidential evaluation of their impact on the
environment.
Lack of trust between business and government is a central issue in
Kalamazoo County. Suspicious that even educational efforts can lead to regulation,
the business community was slow to respond to the program. But Krause reports that
the program is slowly overcoming that barrier. County Commissioners are also supportive
to the extent that they have supplemented the grant funds with approximately $45,000
annually in county general fund monies.
Significant groundwater contamination problems identified in the 1980s prompted the
Kalamazoo County Commission and its Human Services Department to explore groundwater
protection options. At the same time, the County's groundwater compliance inspection
program, funded by state grants, identified and helped correct a number of potential
pollution sources. Pat Krause, director of environmental health for the Department,
said, "We needed to do something to look at the many facilities that the [then] DNR
would never get to."
|
|
