Great Lakes Law

Ohio court rules that the public cannot walk on Ohio’s Great Lakes beaches

Earlier this week, the Ohio Court of Appeals drastically limited the public’s right to use Ohio’s Great Lakes beaches. In it decision in State ex rel. Merrill v. Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 2009-Ohio-4256, the court held that public rights to Ohio’s portion of the Great Lakes extend only up to the water’s edge. As a practical matter, this means you have to keep your feet in the water or you’ll be trespassing. As a... Read more →

Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, joined by local businesses, brings lawsuit against the City of Ann Arbor over greenhouse gas pollution and violations of state Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act

Last week, the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center joined with several local businesses in a lawsuit against the City of Ann Arbor over greenhouse gas pollution and other environmental impacts that will result from a massive new underground parking structure. The complaint also includes claims against the City for violating the Michigan Open Meetings Act with secret email deliberations and communications regarding the proposed $50 million parking structure. Further, because the City refused to disclose... Read more →

Michigan Supreme Court preserves the use of class actions for pollution victims

The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Henry v. Dow allows a class action of pollution victims against Dow to move forward if the trial court finds that the proper class action standards have been met. The case involves a plume of dioxin contamination from Dow’s Midland facility that has polluted property throughout the Tittabawassee River watershed into Lake Huron. (For more on the case, see this article by Eartha Jane Melzer of the Michigan... Read more →