Detroit, MI
EPA wrongly found Detroit area safe for smog, judge rules in split decision
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was wrong to determine Michigan met federal health and environmental standards for ozone pollution or smog in the Detroit area in 2023, a federal appeals court judge has ruled.
U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Helene White on Dec. 5 issued a split decision in a case about how environmental regulators measured Detroit air quality in 2022, when wildfire smoke drifted over Detroit and affected the air quality monitor readings for a few days in June.
Michigan considered those days “exceptional events” because of the wildfire smoke and didn’t include the high ozone pollution readings in its calculation to the EPA.
With those days tossed, the state was able to argue in 2023 that Michigan met federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone pollution. The seven-county Metro Detroit region had previously been out of compliance with the ozone standards.
The Sierra Club sued, arguing the wildfire smoke did not meaningfully change ozone readings and that the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy failed to analyze how local pollution sources contributed to the ozone levels on those days. The environmental advocacy group also challenged the EPA’s finding that the region met federal standards for ozone pollution.
White determined the exceptional events designation was appropriate, siding against the Sierra Club in deciding the EPA and EGLE correctly analyzed the smoke’s impact on ozone readings in June 2022.
She sided against EPA in deciding the EPA was wrong to put Michigan back into attainment for ground-level ozone without Michigan adopting control measures that would cut volatile organic compounds, which contribute to ozone pollution.
EPA determined the Detroit area was out of attainment for ground-level ozone on April 13, 2022. Michigan regulators did not impose control technologies for ozone-causing pollutants by the deadline in early 2023. Instead, they asked EPA to redesignate the area as in attainment with the air quality rules.
Michigan was obligated to implement control technologies even though it had submitted a redesignation request, White said in her order. Control technologies include efforts to reduce volatile organic compounds from being released from manufacturing plants and industrial sources, according to EPA documents.
Sierra Club member and Detroit environmental justice activist Dolores Leonard cheered the outcome of the case.
“Without this victory, EPA’s decisions would have let Michigan avoid the rules needed to reduce pollution and keep the air we breathe safe,” Leonard said. “At a time when asthma rates are rising in Detroit, especially in Black communities, that’s unacceptable. With the backing of this federal court decision, our community will continue to push the state of Michigan to take much-needed action to relieve ozone pollution in this area.”
The Clean Air Act requires those pollution control measures to be implemented even after the EPA puts an area back into attainment to ensure the air quality remains healthy, said Nick Leonard, executive director of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which argued the Sierra Club’s case.
White’s order means the EGLE will have to reapply for the attainment of the ozone standard, Leonard said.
“At the very least, I would say they have to correct the legal deficiency, which was that they didn’t enact the pollution control rules that are typically required for areas that are in non-attainment for this long,” he said.
The EPA is reviewing the decision, its press office said. The office did not respond to a question about whether it would ask Michigan to adopt volatile organic compound control measures as a result of White’s decision.
The EGLE also is reviewing the ruling, spokesman Dale George said.
“While EGLE was not a party to the case and is not able to speak in detail about the legal outcome, we were encouraged that the court supported the use of exceptional events demonstrations and acknowledged the sound science behind EGLE’s determination that the Detroit area met the health-based ozone standard,” George said.
Leonard said he was disappointed but not surprised that White ruled against the Sierra Club’s arguments that EGLE and the EPA did not correctly account for wildfire smoke’s impact on ozone readings in 2022.
That issue is going to plague communities as climate change causes northern wildfires to become more common and kick smoke into Michigan, he predicted.
“If we start to essentially cut out bad air quality days because of the claim they were partially influenced by wildfire smoke … , you create this disconnect between the regulatory systems that are meant to protect people and the actual air pollution that people are breathing,” Leonard said.
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
Federal regulators say the autonomous vehicle company Waymo must stop its cars from blocking first responders. Waymo has been testing its vehicles in Detroit. The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the agency found several cases of Waymo driver-less vehicles traveling into emergency scenes, blocking firefighters or failing to stop for flashing lights and flares. Federal regulators say they will meet with autonomous vehicle developers to devise ways to address the problem. A Waymo vehicle will stop, however, if it notices nefarious activity from kids riding in it. A Waymo car in California recently stopped in a parking lot and called police after two teens in its back seat allegedly began drinking alcohol and shooting water beads from a toy gun.
Additional headlines for Friday, July 10, 2026
Bar IX location coming soon?
Detroit’s first women’s sports bar is crowdfunding to open a permanent space. Bar IX hosts pop-up watch parties for women’s sports. The bar has raised 65 percent of if its 125-thousand-dollar goal since the campaign kicked off on June 30. Organizers are giving away merchandise such as stickers, keychains, and t-shirts with donations.
African World Festival
The African World Festival is this weekend at Hart Plaza. The festival celebrates culture and history with music, spoken word, food and a retail marketplace. The festival starts today and runs through Sunday. Visit Charles H Wright museum website at for more info and to buy tickets.
Lake St. Clair Metropark to receive updates
Lake St. Clair Metropark is getting 15 million dollars in improvements. The improvements include reopening the North Marina, expanding accessibility across the park, adding new trail connections and modernizing infrastructure. It’s the biggest investment in the park in decades. Renovations at the marina will fully reopen the marina with 78 boat slips for transient docking and bring accessible floating finger docks back to the North Marina basin. All renovations are expected to be completed by the end of summer 2027.
Detroit Riverfront tour
The Detroit Parks Coalition is hosting a free walking tour about the Detroit Riverfront tomorrow, July 11 from 10 a.m. to 11a.m. The tour will give an overview of the history of the riverfront as a well as more info on the newest Ralph C Wilson Centennial Park. Meet at the Dock, located near the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Water Garden across from the Plaza. Parking is available along Jefferson Ave, Rosa Parks, and in the nearby Bagley Mobility Hub and Assembly garages.
DETROIT (FOX 2) – Some Detroit officials are shining a light on ICE chases calling for change, saying they are too fast, too risky, and a danger to the community and everyone involved.
The backstory:
On Wednesday council members Denzel Anton McCampbell, Gabriela Santiago-Romero and Detroit Police Commissioner Victoria Camille, sent a letter addressing it to the head of the Department of Homeland Security – Markwayne Mullin.
In the letter they are demanding that ICE ends “dangerous pursuits through residential neighborhoods.”
They cited two pursuits — in May and June — where ICE sped through areas where children played, and both ended in injury.
Both individuals who were being pursued, they say, had no criminal activity – so they’re calling for an end to these chases.
McCampbell spoke about the letter and what they hope to accomplish.
“Talk about immigration law, this is not criminal law. So these chases are happening based on civil issues and endangering our community,” he said. “So we wanted to ensure that we sent a letter for accountability to Homeland Security to demand that they stop this and follow their own rules to keep our neighborhoods safe.”
In the letter, McCampbell, Santiago-Romero, and Camille call on DHS to:
- Cease vehicular pursuits
- Publicly release its most current vehicular pursuit policy
- Confirm key details regarding the May and June incidents
- Share findings from the resulting investigations
- Hold accountable any agents who break the rules.
They say that the majority of individuals targeted in the Detroit operations do not have criminal records, and that no civil immigration objective justifies high-speed chases that endanger the people being pursued, the agents involved, and innocent bystanders, homeowners, and children.
The other side:
FOX 2 reached out to the Detroit Department of Homeland Security Office requesting an interview and we are waiting to hear back.
Read the full letter below:
Dear Secretary Mullin:
We write on behalf of the residents of Detroit’s Districts 6 and 7 to demand that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) immediately stop conducting high-speed vehicular pursuits through our neighborhoods, and that the Department of Homeland Security enforce its own pursuit standards with the seriousness that human life demands. In the span of three weeks, two such pursuits in Detroit have left two people critically injured, damaged residents’ homes and property, and placed children and bystanders in mortal danger. These are not unfounded notions; they happened on our streets in front of families.
On May 19, 2026, a vehicular pursuit and crash involving ICE left Yerlys Moreno López, a Detroit asylum seeker, with a broken knee and other injuries requiring emergency surgery. On June 5, 2026, ICE confirmed its officers pursued a driver on Detroit’s west side near Whitlock Avenue and Warwick Street. The driver, Mohamd Salim Abdessamed, lost control, crashed through a residential fence and garage, was impaled by a fence post, and landed atop two parked vehicles. He was hospitalized in critical condition. The homeowner reported that her garage was knocked off its foundation, and a vehicle on her property was destroyed. According to neighbors who witnessed the event, agents operated unmarked vehicles, with only one having its emergency lights activated. At this time, it is unclear if sirens were activated.
That last detail is not a minor one. Federal regulation at 8 C.F.R. § 287.8(e) defines a lawful immigration pursuit as one carried out in a “designated pursuit vehicle.” A pursuit conducted in an unmarked vehicle without activated lights and sirens does not appear to satisfy the Department’s own regulatory definition. ICE’s own 2012 Emergency Driving Handbook further directs agents to “consider and evaluate critical safety issues posed by emergency driving, including the potential risk of death or serious physical injury to themselves, the general public, and the suspect, and should engage in emergency driving only when they determine that the seriousness of the emergency or the severity of the suspected criminal offense outweighs the risk of death or serious physical injury associated with such driving.” We have seen little evidence that such a weighing occurred in either of the Detroit incidents.
The U.S. Department of Justice discourages the use of unmarked vehicles in pursuits, precisely because of the catastrophic risk to uninvolved bystanders. Most American police departments, including Detroit, prohibit chases for non-violent offenses and permit them only to prevent an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm. It is indefensible that federal agents operating on the same residential streets should hold themselves to a lower standard of public safety than the local police who patrol those blocks every day. The overwhelming majority of individuals targeted in these Detroit operations have no criminal record. No civil immigration objective justifies driving a vehicle at high speed past a park where children are playing.
Accordingly, we demand that the Department take the following actions:
1. Immediately direct ICE and HSI personnel operating in Detroit and across the nation to cease vehicular pursuits in residential and populated areas except where there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to a person, consistent with best practices.
2. Confirm in writing whether the agents involved in the May 19 and June 5, 2026, Detroit pursuits complied with 8 C.F.R. § 287.8(e), including the requirement that pursuits be conducted in designated vehicles with activated emergency lights and sirens, and whether unmarked vehicles were used in either pursuit.
3. Publicly release the current ICE and HSI vehicular pursuit policy, as the most recent publicly available guidance dates to 2012.
4. Provide the complete findings of the Department’s investigations into both Detroit incidents, including any after-action review, supervisory authorization records, and any disciplinary or corrective measures taken.
5. Commit to a binding pursuit and use-of-force standard that requires supervisory authorization, prohibits pursuits for non-violent civil immigration matters, and holds agents accountable when they violate it.
Detroit is a community that looks out for its neighbors, and we will not accept a regime in which federal agents treat our streets as a place where bystanders, homeowners, and children are acceptable collateral. The next pursuit may not end with injuries but with a funeral. I urge you to act before it does, and I request a written response within fourteen (14) days of receipt of this letter.
Respectfully,
Denzel Anton McCampbell
Council Member, District 7
Detroit City Council Gabriela Santiago-Romero
Council Member, District 6
Detroit City Council
Victoria Camille
Police Commissioner, District 7
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Cc:
The Honorable Rashida Tlaib, U.S. House of Representatives (MI-12)
The Honorable Shri Thanedar, U.S. House of Representatives (MI-13)
The Honorable Gary Peters, United States Senate (MI)
The Honorable Elissa Slotkin, United States Senate (MI)
Watch FOX 2 Detroit Live:
The Source: Information for this report is from an interview with Denzel Anton McCampbell and the letter sent to DHS.
Every seat in the Michigan Senate is up for election this year, and eight of those districts are in Wayne County.
In the 4th, 5th and 8th Districts, only one Republican and one Democrat filed for election, meaning those candidates will automatically be nominated and move on to the November ballot. Here are The Detroit News endorsements in the five contested Senate primaries in Wayne County:
1st District (Southwest Detroit and parts of Downriver, including Taylor, Melvindale and Lincoln Park): Two Detroit Democrats are competing for this seat: Abraham Aiyash and Justin Onwenu.
Aiyash is a former state representative who is hoping to return to the Legislature after a two-year absence. He is a progressive whose policy positions align with Democratic socialists.
Onwenu is an attorney who served the Mike Duggan administration as Detroit’s first Director of Entrepreneurship and Economic Opportunity, helping small businesses get a start in the city. Before attending Columbia Law School, where he was president of the student body from 2023 to 2024, Onwenu worked to combat air and water pollution in Detroit, Ecorse and River Rouge.
In the Senate, he promises to be a supporter of legislation to strengthen neighborhoods by lowering property taxes and investing in infrastructure.
He also supports stronger transparency and ethics rules for lawmakers. Justin Onwenu gets our endorsement in the 1st District Democratic primary.
Patrick O’Connell of Ecorse is unopposed in the Republican primary.
2nd District (Northwest Detroit, Dearborn Heights and part of Dearborn): The district is currently represented by Sylvia Santana, who made an unsuccessful bid to be nominated for the Michigan State University board.
The Democratic primary features two Dearborn residents who are hoping to replace Santana: Erin Byrnes and Abbas Alawieh.
Alawieh describes himself as a political strategist, community organizer and pro-peace advocate. He is supported by the Michigan Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus and aligns with many of its anti-growth positions.
Byrnes is currently a state representative in her second term. Like her opponent, she is well to the left of center on the political spectrum. In the Legislature, she has pushed for utility rate controls.
The two Democrats are similarly positioned. Our choice in the 2nd District is Erin Byrnes, based on her legislative experience.
Harry Sawicki of Dearborn Heights is unopposed in the Republican primary.
3rd District (Detroit, Warren and Madison Heights): The contest to replace incumbent Stephanie Chang has drawn a long list of candidates. The 3rd District starts near Downtown Detroit and stretches north through the center of the city into southern Oakland and Macomb counties.
Eleven Democrats, all from Detroit, are competing in the primary. They are: Mohammad Alam, a Bangladeshi immigrant and Army veteran; LeJuan Council, a property manager and small business owner; John Conyers III, son of the late congressman; LaTanya Garrett, a former state representative; Korey Hall, a former director of community affairs in the Whitmer administration; Adam Hollier, a former state senator; Gary Hunter, a former candidate for Detroit City Council; Kimberly Hill-Knott, former head of the Detroit Climate Action Collaborative; Toinu Reeves, an economist, Abraham Shaw, who owns an auto repair shop, and Eboni Taylor, a community advocate.
There are several interesting and impressive candidates in this race, including Conyers, who just wrote about his father. Garrett has legislative experience, as does Hollier, whom we’ve endorsed in his previous runs for public office.
But we are most impressed with Reeves, a newcomer to politics who brings top-notch credentials to the race. Reeves grew up on Detroit’s east side and is an economist who attended Wayne State University and Dartmouth College.
He serves as chair of the Economic Development Workgroup for Detroit’s District 4 Community Advisory Committee and on the Jefferson-Chalmers Community District Council. He is a former school teacher and autoworker.
Toinu Reeves offers fresh ideas and much-needed skills, and gets our endorsement in the 3rd District Democratic Primary.
Mark Ashley Price is unopposed in the Republican primary.
6th District (Redford Township, Farmington and Farmington Hills): Incumbent Mary Cavanaugh is defending her seat from a challenge from fellow Democrat Stephen Jensen, who shows no signs of a campaign. Both are from Redford.
Mary Cavanaugh, granddaughter of the late Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanaugh, has served her district well and should be renominated for a second term.
Joi Pokerwinski of Redford Township is unopposed in the Republican Party.
12th District (Parts of Wayne, Macomb and St. Clair counties, including Algonac, the Grosse Pointes, St. Clair Shores, Harper Woods, Mount Clemens and New Baltimore): Incumbent Sen. Kevin Hertel of St. Clair Shores is unopposed in the Democratic primary. Five Republicans are competing in their primary to face him in November.
They are: Joseph Backus of St. Clair Shores, a prolific community volunteer who has run unsuccessfully for other offices; Patrick Biange of St. Clair Shores; John Goldwater of New Baltimore, an oil and gas entrepreneur; Eileen Tesch, the former mayor of Algonac who faced recall efforts, and Shelley Wright, a former general contractor and owner of a process serving company who says Donald Trump inspired her to politics.
John Goldwater has experience growing a business and creating jobs. He would also prioritize improving skilled trades training. The father of six is a conservative who describes himself as pro-life and a defender of the Second Amendment.
Our endorsement in the 12th District Republican primary goes to John Goldwater.
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