A complete list of all programs within the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
Community involvement and public participation are an essential part of EGLE’s mission, vision, and values.
Resources and information on utilizing RRD's data exchange and the Inventory of Facilities.
An interactive map displaying contaminated sites throughout Michigan regulated under Parts 213, 201, and 211.
EGLE's interactive calendar is designed to provide timely information on decisions before the Director, proposed settlements of contested cases, administrative rules promulgation, public hearings, meetings and comment deadlines, and environmental conferences, workshops and training programs.
The Michigan Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides all persons (except persons incarcerated in correctional facilities) with access to public records of public bodies. Requests to inspect or receive public records from EGLE must be in writing and describe the requested records with enough detail to enable the department to identify and locate the requested records. Some records are exempt from disclosure under the FOIA or another statute and thus will not be provided. A fee may be charged to process your request. Please note that many records are available that do not require a formal FOIA request.
Search is currently unavailable. Please try again later.
The web Browser you are currently using is unsupported, and some features of this site may not work as intended. Please update to a modern browser such as Chrome, Firefox or Edge to experience all features Michigan.gov has to offer.
February 22, 2024
There are currently more than 18,000 underground storage tanks (UST) in use in Michigan, many of which will be forgotten and left in the ground long after they’re taken out of service. Removing them is one of the big steps towards redeveloping a brownfield property -- not just the tanks themselves, but the contamination many of them leave behind. EGLE works with communities to help them triage properties with known or suspected USTs and prepare to market them for redevelopment. EGLE’s partnership with the Genesee County Land Bank Authority is a great example.
An excavator prepares to flatten a storage tank after it was removed from the ground in Flint.
EGLE’s Remediation and Redevelopment Division has worked with the county since 2018 to triage former businesses owned by the Land Bank and believed to have USTs. The program has remediated 46 properties in that time, spending more than $576,000 to help prepare them for redevelopment. Many of them are former gas and service stations, which often have soil contaminated with petroleum compounds, but the list also includes everything from a dry cleaner and a funeral home to a grocery store and a baking company.
The job of removing a UST is pretty straightforward and can be illustrated by the work done at three properties in Flint in October. Crews used an excavator to remove a 700-gallon tank from a former store at 2401 Avenue A.
An excavator sits at the end of a hold where contaminated soil and an underground storage tank were removed in Flint.
Older tanks with nothing inside are often flattened on-site.
Crews will then remove any contaminated soil around the tank, digging well beyond the spot the tank occupied. The darker soil in this picture from 2401 Avenue A is contaminated with petroleum compounds. The soil is put into dump trucks with covered beds and hauled to a landfill that handles contaminated material. The hole is then filled in with clean backfill to make the site look more presentable. Further investigations will be done to see what other remediation work is needed before redevelopment can begin.
The excavation site after the hold was backfilled.
Similar work was done at 2025 Avenue A, where a 550-gallon UST and a hydraulic hoist tank were removed.
A hydraulic fuel tank sits next to an excavator and the hold it was removed from.
This project ran into a common issue: the UST was damaged and started leaking fluid as soon as the soil around it was removed. A contractor was brought in with a vacuum truck to remove 300 gallons of fluid.
An excavator removes contaminated soil from a former gas station site.
The third site was a former gas station at 4142 North Saginaw. There weren’t any USTs in the ground, but crews did remove the former dispenser island along with piping from the tank system.
Piping from an underground storage tank system after being removed from the ground.
The work has made all three properties, hopefully, more attractive to potential developers. EGLE offers grants and loans as well as Tax Increment Financing to help offset the cost of additional environmental remediation needed for redevelopment. Lucille James with the Genesee County Land Bank Authority says the partnership with EGLE is key for site assessment and cleanup. “We are grateful for their assistance in addressing environmental hazards on abandoned properties,” a spokesperson told MI Environment. Just another example of state and local government working to improve Michigan.
BY THE NUMBERS
2401 Avenue A, Flint
2025 Avenue A, Flint
4142 N Saginaw Street, Flint
Learn more about septic systems at an EGLE webinar on Monday, Sept. 16.
Lakefront property owners, lake scientists, industry professionals, policy makers, conservationists and anyone with a passion for Michigan's inland lakes are encouraged to attend the Michigan Inland Lakes Convention.
EGLE surveyed initial grant recipients for feedback to find out where the clean energy transition succeeded or needed a boost.
Proposals are being accepted through Nov. 1.
The “Transforming EGLE’s Contaminated Site Program” video highlights how the department has significantly increased the number of contaminated sites addressed.
EGLE is hitting the road to participate in many career fairs at Michigan colleges, universities, and conferences.
EGLE has developed a cybersecurity preparedness strategy for drinking water and wastewater treatment plant operators in Michigan.
Mark your calendars for upcoming events and deadlines for the Michigan Green Schools 2024-2025 program.
An agreement has been reached in a civil rights complaint filed by community members and Environmental Justice advocates against the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) regarding the January 2020 renewal of a U.S. Ecology North hazardous waste facility license.
This webinar series explores how agencies, universities, and locally led organizations are working together to protect Michigan’s natural resources through the Michigan Invasive Species Program.
