The Environment Report

An administrative law judge has sided with a company called Harrietta Hills Trout Farm that's operating in Grayling. It produced nearly 69,000 pounds of rainbow trout last year. The state granted a permit to the company in 2014. But some groups challenged that permit, and it ended up in court. Last week, the judge issued a proposal for decision that the business should keep the permit that’s allowing it to expand. Opponents of the fish farm are vowing to keep fighting the permit.

A new study found fluorinated chemicals in one third of the fast food packages researchers tested. The chemicals keep oil and grease from leaking through. The researchers found that out of 407 food packages tested, 46% of food contact papers and 20% of paperboard contained fluorinated chemicals. Scientists have found this class of chemicals doesn't break down in the environment, and some kinds of fluorinated chemicals are linked to health problems.

There are grass carp in three of the Great Lakes, but it’s not too late to do something about it. That’s one of the conclusions of a new risk assessment on this type of Asian carp by the United States and Canada .

There are a lot of former industrial sites in Michigan that need to be cleaned up. The pollution left behind in one town in the middle of Michigan is particularly bad. The Velsicol Chemical Company (known as Michigan Chemical up until 1976) produced a lot of toxic chemicals in St. Louis, Michigan. It operated from the 1930s up until the late 1970s, and it was responsible for the notorious PBB incident that contaminated people throughout the state. The amount of pollution left behind in this town

2016 was the hottest year on record . When we talk about climate change, we usually talk about extreme weather events: extreme heat, drought, flooding. But scientists have also studied what’s likely to happen with the best weather days. Days that are not too hot, not too cold, or humid or rainy. Just right.

Researchers have found a chemical that’s widely used on crops such as almonds, wine grapes and tree fruits can be bad for bees. They’ve found it makes honey bee larvae more susceptible to deadly viruses.

Earlier this month, Republicans in the U.S. House made it easier for the federal government to give up control of public lands to states. Many of the most avid users of these lands, especially hunters and anglers, are on edge about the idea. (Support trusted journalism like this in Michigan. Give what you can here .)

For the first time in the U.S., a bumble bee has been listed as an endangered species. It’s called the rusty patched bumble bee . The species is no longer found in Michigan, but small populations still exist elsewhere in the Great Lakes region.

State officials want you to check your trees for a tiny insect. It’s called the hemlock woolly adelgid, and it survives by sucking sap from hemlock trees. This insect was first detected in Michigan in 2006.

The U.S. EPA estimates that companies in Michigan waste up to a third of the energy they buy because of inefficient buildings and equipment. But most of the companies just keep paying those high energy bills, month after month, because they can't make a business case for a big energy efficiency project. The payback for the upgrades takes too long – often ten or more years. Andy Levin is the CEO of Lean and Green Michigan. “There just are very few businesses, and certainly non-profits," says