A new study published this week found people with asthma have an especially hard time breathing properly in Detroit.

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America rated the Motor City the third worst municipality in the nation for those who routinely need to use an inhaler or nebulizer.

The foundations’ president, Kenneth Mendez, says the group weighed how many people in a city have asthma, how frequently people die from it and the number of times the condition drives residents to visit an emergency room.

“Detroit ranks high in those three areas and that’s one of the reasons why it’s No. 3 on the list.”

– Kenneth Mendez, president of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

Listen: New report ranks Detroit as third worst city in U.S. for those with asthma

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Kenneth Mendez: Detroit ranks high in those three areas and that’s one of the reasons why it’s No. 3 on the list. There’s social determinants of health, there’s family origins related to it, but certainly it really hits communities of color. Black Americans are three times more likely to be diagnosed with asthma, five times more likely to be treated in an emergency room. And Black women have the highest mortality rate of any gender or ethnic group. So those factors really are emblematic of things that we need to do in order to better control our asthma and work with our doctors.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: Are those demographic groups especially at risk because they have less access to good health care? Or because the factories or whatever might produce pollution that could exacerbate asthma happen to be based in communities of color or poorer areas?

KM: There are a number of factors that go into it. Clearly, your zip code, where you live, has an impact. You can tell how long someone’s gonna live from that. But access to care, additional pollution in certain areas is a trigger for asthma. People in some communities can’t afford to live in areas that do not have high levels of pollution. Those are the kinds of things that go into asthma exacerbation and triggers if you have asthma.

QK: Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Talib, for one, has long pushed to get the Environmental Protection Agency to take into account the cumulative impact of pollution in a given area if they’re going to issue a permit through the Clean Air or Clean Water Acts. If that kind of legislation was passed, do you think it would really make a difference?

KM: Let me break that into two pieces. One is, I think the laws and policies will help. The EPA has come out with a “tailpipe rule” to reduce emissions from light trucks and cars, which are significant contributors to bad air and carbon dioxide. So I think having pieces of legislation passed, whether they’re at the federal or at the state level, can be very helpful to those with asthma. For example, in local communities, you can have an idling rule on school grounds basically saying when people are picking up their children, they shouldn’t have their cars idling. Reducing those kind of tailpipe emissions can go a long way towards helping people with asthma and allergies, in particular in some of those communities that are disproportionately impacted.

In the big picture, the longer growing seasons, the additional carbon dioxide, all those things have an impact on allergies. And allergies are a trigger for asthma. Those are the things that through federal policies and legislation we can try and eliminate. The Inflation Reduction Act clearly had some incentives to reduce pollution and try and amplify clean energy alternatives. So those kinds of things can make a difference. Climate change, with the longer growing seasons, more intense releases of pollen because of carbon dioxide, are all triggers for allergies and asthma. A lot of people say, ‘I’ve never had allergies before. They’re getting a lot worse.’ And that’s because of the additional load on your system from those triggers. We need to reduce our carbon footprint. That will go a long way towards reducing asthma and allergies.

Outlier Media has a new and improved text service aiming to help residents get answers to essential questions. 

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Outlier Media Sarah Alvarez joined The Metro on Wednesday to discuss how the TXT Outlier service is helping address information gaps about housing, utilities, and other critical community issues. 

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Alvarez says while traditional news outlets across various mediums provide an essential service to the community, “radio segments and news articles are not always the most useful way to get information to people.”

“…and they’re certainly not personalized enough for people who are in some kind of information crisis,” she said. “So what would it look like, I thought, for a news service to really try to fill information and accountability gaps, and what would it take to do that well?”

The service — first launched in 2016 — allows residents to text Outlier keywords for additional information on related topics; or to talk directly with a reporter about a specific issue they might be facing.

Detroiters can take advantage of the service by texting “Detroit” to 67485. For more information, visit outliermedia.org/txt-outlier.

Use the audio player above to hear the full interview with Sarah Alvarez, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Outlier Media, at the 25:23 mark.

More headlines from The Metro on Sept. 11, 2024: 

• About a week ago, Gen Z Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost toured Detroit and the state of Michigan to stump for Vice President Kamala Harris. During that time, Producer Sam Corey spoke with the Florida representative about the biggest concerns facing young people, and what will turn them out to vote in November.
• Pollution from trucks and factories — coupled with poverty — led the city to be named the third-worst place to live for people with asthma in a new report from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Allergy expert and native Detroiter Dr. Garen Wolff joined the show to talk about the report’s findings and what Detroiters can do to improve their air quality.
• The Funky Ferndale Art Fair is taking place Sept. 20-22. Director of the fair Mark Loeb joined the show to talk about what makes it unique.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge is expected to be complete in 2025.

The bridge is being built in Detroit’s Delray neighborhood in Southwest Detroit — a place where, for years, residents have faced issues associated with heavy industry. Now, residents are dealing with the challenges that come with the construction of a roughly $4.2 billion international bridge. 

Simone Sagovac, director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition, joined The Metro on Tuesday to help us understand the impact the bridge has had and will have on residents.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In 2017, the group helped secure an almost $50 million benefits package for people living in the area. One of the overall issues people in the community face has to do with truck traffic, Sagovac says. During the coalition’s data gathering efforts, they counted 1,200 trucks driving on Livernois Street in one day.

“Something that wasn’t really anticipated was, you know, the scale of a development like this. It is the largest infrastructure project that both countries have had in 100 years and it’s 165-plus acres,” Sagovac said. “And when they’re in the thick of construction, and there’s no grass, and no trees covering that dirt – the dust has been a huge problem for the community. People have chronic sinus conditions. Asthma accelerated in the area. And the project is trying to do things with street sweeping but the dirt gets carried on the trucks and these trucks are allowed to drive on residential streets.” 

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Simone Sagovac, director of the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition.

More headlines from The Metro on Sept. 10, 2024: 

• The Detroit area is home to one of the largest groups of people with sickle cell disease in the country. The painful disease is caused by an inherited genetic mutation and most of the people who have it are Black. For decades, there weren’t many treatment options for the disease outside of pain medication. But in recent years, new medical technologies have helped alleviate and even cure sickle cell disease. Larenz Caldwell, a sickle cell patient who underwent a stem cell transplant six years ago; and Outlier Media Science Reporter Koby Levin joined the show to discuss. 
• The Detroit Fiber Club is hosting an immersive exhibit showcasing environmental- and fiber-based art at the Boyer Campbell Building in Milwaukee Junction through Sept. 28, as part of the Detroit Month of Design. To discuss the exhibit, we were joined by Co-Curators Sarah Rose and Lisa Waud, and Detroit Fiber Club Managing Director Meg Morley.
• Detroit Artist LeKela Brown is kicking off the College for Creative Studies’ Woodward Lecture Series. The CCS graduated joined The Metro to talk about her work and her first solo-presentation, “From Scratch: Seeding Adornment,” currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 11 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

One of the worst parts of World War II is coming to metro Detroit this month. And it’s scheduled to keep coming into January.

Each week about 25 semi-trucks will haul low-level radioactive waste from New York to a disposal site in Wayne County’s Van Buren township.

It’s by-products from the Manhattan Project, which created the atomic bombs dropped in Japan that ended World War II.

It’s also the latest in a series of toxic material shipments sent to Michigan raising concerns among some members of Congress and other officials.

That includes Wayne County Executive Warren Evans. He says there’s a disconnect between federal agencies that regulate hazardous waste, the company that owns the Van Buren disposal site and Michigan’s government.

“It doesn’t make sense to me that we would be the location of choice so often for this toxic material.”

-Wayne County Executive Warren Evans

Listen: Warren Evans on toxic atomic waste coming to Wayne County

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Warren Evans: I don’t believe that they level with us about what they’re doing. My trust level for them is almost zero. And it doesn’t lead to good results or good communications back and forth. The only time we hear about these waste issues is when a reporter writes a story and we read about it and they become automatically defensive. I’m concerned about the lack of notice (that shipments are coming to Michigan.) That leads me to be concerned about the level of hazardous waste in the material and the amount that’s coming and how it’s being transported.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: The Army Corps of Engineers has said they’re not required to notify anybody if they’re sending waste to a facility that’s allowed to take those kinds of shipments, which the one in Van Buren is. So when you say you don’t think that they’re leveling with you, what do you think needs to be changed?

WE: They said they’re not “required” to. What the heck does that mean? Does it mean there’s a prohibition about doing it? They’re hiding behind a rule that doesn’t require them to do it. But good public policy does require them to do it, them or somebody, I think. Hiding behind a rule that doesn’t make you do it just tells me the rule doesn’t make any sense and you’re not concerned about the reaction of the public’s health concerns about this. If that’s the way you feel, then I’m troubled by the whole thing.

QK: You’ve had a couple of town hall meetings about this and other toxic waste that came from the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment. What are you hearing from residents about the situations?

WE: It’s real clear that residents don’t want it here. And what we hear from the federal agencies is how safe they claim to be and what the rules and federal regulations are. That’s not what people are asking for. They are asking for clear answers about why so much of it is coming here and just how safe is it? It’s troubling to me, because the agencies are answering questions in a very bureaucratic way. “This is regulation 207 and we’re required to do that.” It’s double-speak to me. People are asking about the health concerns that they have, the health concerns that they’re afraid of in the future. They are asking for solid, honest answers. Part of that would be alleviated if there was more discussion about the actual hazardous waste, the toxicity of it, how it’s being transported and how it is being kept in the landfill. That would help people determine whether the safety valves are there or not there. When you hear the agencies talk about it, they say they have a stellar track record for keeping us safe. And every year you hear about catastrophes that occur and violations that occur at these different waste treatment places. Those two notions don’t square in my mind or the minds of anybody else that has any sense.

QK: So you still have some concerns when state environmental officials say that they’ve tested this latest waste coming from the Manhattan Project, that it’s within the limits that the site is permitted to take? And there’s only seven similar sites in the country, so you just gotta grit your teeth and bear with it?

WE: Yeah but that doesn’t really make sense. There’s a significant amount of it that’s coming and there’s certainly no legal prohibition against dividing it into some different landfills. Why does it all have to come here? Particularly since the waste is rated at a level that would allow it to go to many other landfills — and many other landfills that are closer to New York than here. They can talk all day about how this landfill provides added security. But if the waste is rated low enough that it can go just about anywhere, then why don’t you send it just about anywhere?

QK: I have heard that it was somewhat cheaper to dispose of it in landfills here as opposed to other places. Have you heard that same reasoning?

WE: Absolutely. And I think that that, in and of itself, calls for a state solution. It appears to me that there are two solutions that we ought to be working on as a community. One is, we ought to act legislatively, get our legislature to refuse to take it. In other words, change the rules about Michigan being able to take the hazardous waste. That’s why it’s coming out of New York, New York won’t take it. That’s one option. That’s a pretty drastic one, but a significant one. The other one is to raise the tipping fees such that it is not so profitable for those who want to deliver the waste here. I think both of those are solutions that bear some close scrutiny and, I think, support.

There are many states that are less populated than Michigan. Wayne County is the largest by population county in the state of Michigan. It doesn’t make sense to me that we would be the location of choice so often for this toxic material. Nobody wants it. There’s no financial advantage to the county for accepting it. The disadvantages are creating a further health care risk. And we’re already rated poorly in the state of Michigan in terms of health indicators.

Judgmental looks and invasive questions at the grocery store checkout are common experiences for some people in Michigan who receive food assistance benefits. That’s according to a new report from the University of Michigan, which found that the stigma associated with receiving government assistance can lead some individuals to forgo purchasing groceries or seeking help.

“Discrimination and stigma related to the use of food assistance programs was incredibly pervasive,” said Feeding MI Families report lead Kate Bauer. “And one of the primary barriers to people fully using the food assistance that’s available to them.”

Drawing from the experiences of 1,300 people across the state, the study found that many people do not want to be seen using an electronic benefit transfer card (EBT).

“The EBT card that holds food stamps in Michigan, the bridge card, is bright orange and over and over, parents are like, ‘Oh my god, I pull out this bright orange card, and I’m so embarrassed,’” explained Bauer.

Even though recipients can use their EBT card to purchase food from online retailers, Bauer says study participants preferred to go to the grocery store because they have the option to select items they want.

“They would say: ‘I love grocery shopping. I want to do it with my children. I want to go in and see the produce and be able to pick the freshest items,’” said Bauer.

Some participants recounted experiencing discrimination during their interactions with caseworkers at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

“I’ve lost jobs because I’ve needed to take time off to take a child to the hospital for a procedure, and then my caseworker tells me, ‘You didn’t try hard enough.’ It hurts,” stated participant Deanna Riggs in the report.

Despite the presence of Double Up Food Bucks , a state program that offers $2 for every $1 spent on fresh fruits and vegetables, the study reveals many struggle to find stores that accept the benefits.

Bauer says she heard from a mother who would drive around to multiple stores looking for fresh food at an affordable price.

“She doesn’t want to spend the only time she has with her kids, driving store to store, an hour in each direction,” she said. “She wants to be able to go to her local store. She wants to be able to buy local produce.”

Even though food assistance benefits can be used to purchase any type of edible items, the study found that food benefits don’t necessarily increase for individuals with specific dietary needs.

“Specifically, many parents talked about the food allergies, intolerances and dietary needs of their family members,” the Feeding MI Families report stated. “They described how these specific dietary requirements were expensive, rarely accommodated for by the charitable food system and sometimes not covered by food benefits program.”

With food prices and housing costs rising over the past year and pandemic relief benefits ending, the study found that the proportion of Michiganders experiencing food insecurity is now higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Michigan, more than 1.3 million people rely on government benefits to afford groceries.

On the latest episode of the Detroit Evening Report, we cover this week’s extreme heat and severe storms that have enveloped southeast Michigan; Labor Day festivities to look forward to this weekend and more.

Subscribe to the Detroit Evening Report on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hydrate, keep cool in extreme heat

Fall is right around the corner, but summer isn’t in the rear-view quite yet. Temperatures reached the mid-90s earlier this week and there may be more days like that ahead, as Detroit has recorded 90-plus degree temperatures in September before.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends staying hydrated and limiting time spent outdoors during extreme heat events to prevent the risk of heat-related illnesses like heat exhaustion, heat rash and heat stroke. Health officials in Detroit are also reminding residents to check on their family, friends and neighbors during extreme heat events — especially the elderly, those with medical problems or those who live alone — and be on the lookout for signs of heat-related illness such as nausea, confusion and rapid or slow heart rate.

The CDC offers a “HeatRisk” calculator on its website to help individuals determine their risk of extreme heat exposure. Visit cdc.gov for more information about heat-related illness.

Read more: ‘Heat island effect’ contributing to warmer temperatures in Detroit, research shows

More severe storms ahead

Strong storms are expected to return this afternoon and evening, with clear skies returning on Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures and humidity will remain high this weekend, with highs in the mid- to low-80s expected.

Approximately 10,000 metro Detroit households were still without power as of 4 p.m. on Friday, according to outage maps from DTE Energy and Consumers Energy. Customers who experienced extended outages this week may be entitled to credits from their utility provider.

Hamtramck Labor Day Festival kicks off

The 44th annual Hamtramck Labor Day Festival is taking place from noon to 10 p.m. all weekend, Aug. 31 through Sept. 2, featuring live music, carnival rides, food vendors and more. The festival will close out on Monday with a performance by Jack White accompanied by Detroit garage rockers The Hentchmen — featuring WDET’s own Mike Latulippe, host of The Detroit Move.

For a full schedule of events, visit hamtownfest.com/schedule.

Celebrate the new Lunar New Year at metro Detroit’s Water Lantern Festival

Metro Detroit’s annual Water Lantern Festival is taking place next Saturday, Sept. 7, at Lake St. Clair Metro Park in Harrison Township. The family-friendly event, inspired by Chinese tradition, marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the end of the Chinese New Year.

Tickets, starting at $28 for adults, will get you a wristband for entry, a floating lantern kit, lantern retrieval, water cleanup and more. Those who purchase tickets over Labor Day weekend can get 15% off using the code LABORDAY15. For more information about the festival, visit waterlanternfestival.com.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

Wayne County officials met this week to discuss the lack of transparency from the federal government following a unilateral decision to haul radioactive waste from a site in New York where the Manhattan Project was developed, to a metro Detroit landfill.

Officials were not aware of the shipment until the Detroit Free Press reported last week that the waste was being moved to be stored at a landfill in Van Buren Township by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Republic Services’ Wayne Disposal is one of five landfills identified by the corp that can handle the waste.

“When permits and sites are expanded we need to know what can we do as a county commission to have a say in these decisions?” said Wayne County Commission Chair Alisha Bell at Tuesday’s meeting.

Officials voiced similar concerns last year, when a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials derailed in the city of East Palestine, Ohio, releasing toxic chemicals like the known carcinogen vinyl chloride into the environment.

Nearly 15% of the solid waste and about 7% of the liquid waste removed from that derailment were eventually disposed of in metro Detroit, yet local officials weren’t notified of their transport until the chemicals were already here, The Detroit News reported.

Just a few weeks after the East Palestine derailment, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Van Buren Township. While there was no evidence of that derailment resulting in the exposure of hazardous materials, it only added to intensifying concerns in Michigan about the transportation of hazardous waste to disposal sites in the state.

Those concerns where echoed on Tuesday by both residents and local officials in attendance. However, Patrick Cullen of Wayne County’s environmental services department said the decision was made by the federal government — not the county — and cannot be blocked.

U.S. Reps. Rashida Talib and Debbie Dingell were both present at the meeting and expressed concerns about the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) not having higher restrictions on what materials can be transported in.

“When’s the last time they denied a permit? I want to know that.” Talib said. “Because every permit I’ve seen come forward to the state seems to get approved or delayed because they need more information.”

Bell suggested the commission could take action to help make the county more unattractive for companies looking to store waste by establishing protocols and enforcing them with fines, increasing tipping fees, and tracking permits of these companies.

In a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Republic Services, Dingell reiterated that the lack of notice to local officials and the public about the hazardous waste shipment only heightened anxiety about the potential risks associated with transporting those materials through local communities.

“While I understand this facility is licensed at both the federal- and state-level and must adhere to strict regulations that ensure the community is protected, my constituents remain concerned about the impact on their health and environment,” the letter read. “Given the recent history of hazardous waste disposal incidents in Michigan, it is imperative that we take every precaution to protect our community.”

A representative from EGLE was present at the meeting via Zoom, but technical difficulties prevented them from providing a clear response.

A town hall is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, Sept. 4 with the county and local officials to further discuss the transport.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

The popular deli meat company Boar’s Head is recalling an additional 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products made at a Virginia plant as an investigation into a deadly outbreak of listeria food poisoning continues, U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Tuesday.

The new recall includes 71 products made between May 10 and July 29 under the Boar’s Head and Old Country brand names. It follows an earlier recall of more than 200,000 pounds of sliced deli poultry and meat. The new items include meat intended to be sliced at delis as well as some packaged meat and poultry products sold in stores.

They include liverwurst, ham, beef salami, bologna and other products made at the firm’s Jarratt, Virginia, plant.

The recalls are tied to an ongoing outbreak of listeria poisoning that has killed two people and sickened nearly three dozen in 13 states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all of those who fell ill have been hospitalized. Illnesses were reported between late May and mid-July.

The problem was discovered when a liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria. Further testing showed that the type of bacteria was the same strain causing illnesses in people.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to immediately and voluntarily expand our recall to include all items produced at the Jarratt facility,” the company said on its website. It has also halted production of ready-to-eat foods at the plant.

The meat was distributed to stores nationwide, as well as to the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama, Agriculture Department officials said.

Consumers who have the recalled products in their homes should not eat them and should discard them or return them to stores for a refund, company officials said. Health officials said refrigerators should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized to prevent contamination of other foods.

An estimated 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year and about 260 die, according to the CDC.

Listeria infections typically cause fever, muscle aches and tiredness and may cause stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions. Symptoms can occur quickly or to up to 10 weeks after eating contaminated food. The infections are especially dangerous for people older than 65, those with weakened immune systems and during pregnancy.

Story by Jonel Aleccia, Associated Press