Southwestern Michigan 4-H Youth Present Senate Testimony on Wastewater Improvements
4/29/09
Contact: Michelle Lavra
517-432-1555, ext. 151
LANSING, Mich. -- More than 20 teens from the Michigan 4-H Youth Conservation Council (M4-HYCC) testified April 22 before the Michigan Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs. The council proposed a statewide wastewater code and improved water quality monitoring for Michigan’s inland lakes and rivers as a part of the Michigan Great Lakes Restoration Plan.
4-H members Enoch Castonguay, Dakota Hewlett and Jennifer Curtis, from Barry County; Kara Hodges, from Cass County; Duncan MacLeod, from Kent County; and Brooke Karasch, from Van Buren County, form the Southwest M4-HYCC group.
The presentation was created following five months of research and included recommendations to require five-year septic inspections, a review of Wisconsin’s wastewater code, funding for wastewater education, and support for senate bill 0045 (wastewater inspections). Council activities this year were funded by a two-year grant from the DTE Energy Foundation and a state funding allocation through the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
The M4-HYCC is a statewide 4-H group established in 1998 to engage young people ages 13 to 19, in active stewardship and citizenship work related to emerging and ongoing community-based environmental issues. In past years, M4-HYCC testimony helped create the Michigan Heritage Water Trail program and led to the introduction of a bill that would improve marine fueling techniques and reduce environmental problems associated with marine fuel spills.
Michigan 4-H Youth Development, the state’s largest youth development program, is part of Michigan State University Extension, which applies the research and knowledge of the state’s land-grant university to help Michigan citizens manage life issues.
For more information on the Michigan State University Extension Michigan 4-H Youth Conservation Council, visit http://web1.msue.msu.edu/cyf/youth/m4hycc.html.
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Photo: Jennifer Derby, Kent County 4-H adult volunteer; Enoch Castonguay, Barry County; Kara Hodges, Cass County; Duncan MacLeod, Kent County; Brooke Karasch, Van Buren County; Dakota Hewlett, Barry County; and Bob Wilson, senate policy advisor. Not pictured: Jennifer Curtis, Barry County.
