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“Oil companies have been careless and reckless with their operations in our communities, and we need to take strong, decisive action now to hold them accountable when their spills damage our natural resources and put the people who live and work in these communities at serious risk,” said Gieleghem. “Big oil needs to make our communities whole again when they cause problems and they, not the taxpayers, need to pay for the cleanup of their pollution.”

Gieleghem’s plan to protect our land and water would:

• Guarantee polluters – not taxpayers – are required to pay for cleanup and damages when their negligence is responsible for oil spills and other pollution
• Permanently ban oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes
• Allow Michigan citizens to hold corporate polluters accountable when their actions result in damage
• Require oil companies to immediately notify the state and area residents, businesses and all other affected property owners of an oil spill

“The communities and the people of Michigan should not be at the bottom of the list of things to take care of when corporations cause problems and then move slowly to clean up after themselves,” said Sierra Club PAC Board member Hal Newnan. “What happened along the banks of the Kalamazoo River was devastating and those communities will be feeling its impacts for years to come. Paul Gieleghem’s plan will make sure that these corporations will have to act more quickly and there will be no question that the polluters, and not the taxpayers, will pay for the clean up.”

In July 2010, an estimated 1 million gallons of oil gushed into the Kalamazoo River, resulting in the Midwest’s largest oil spill ever. The federal government has repeatedly warned Enbridge, the company that owns the pipeline, about the quality of its pipelines. Enbridge pipelines have sprung at least a dozen leaks since 2003, and the company has been cited for other safety and environmental violations in Michigan. However, Enbridge is taking two-and-a-half years to “consider” making necessary repairs or replacing the pipe that spewed oil into the Kalamazoo River and threatened to reach Lake Michigan.

“As a small business owner I have to pay to make things right if something at my business goes wrong, and these big corporations should have to do the same,” said Marco Lavinio, co-owner of the family business, Mario’s Body Shop, Inc. in Clinton Township. “Our lakes, rivers and the people who live here and enjoy our natural resources have to come first and need to be taken care of by these corporations when they cause problems. Paul Gieleghem’s plan will make sure that the polluters take care of and pay for the problems they cause.”

Paul Gieleghem is a lifelong resident of Clinton Township. He has served as a State Representative for the 31st House District, and currently serves as the chair of the Macomb County Board of Commissioners. As a county commissioner, Paul has balanced the budget so that the county lives within its means and makes wise use of taxpayers’ dollars. Paul will fight to make state government more efficient, make Michigan and Macomb County more attractive to new businesses and jobs, and protect the middle class so that hardworking families can enjoy a good quality of life. He and his wife, Sara, are the parents of two daughters.