Michigan's Dem Governor Approved EXPANSION of Paper Mill Releasing 30+ TOXIC Gases Into Kalamazoo's Poor Black Neighborhood
"I lost my 17-year-old daughter to an asthma attack...my 32-year-old son is on life support," Kalamazoo resident Deann Winfield told Jordan Chariton next to Graphic Packaging's Kalamazoo plant
Hey folks, it’s Jordan. Yesterday, I reported live outside the Graphic Packaging paper mill plant in Kalamazoo. When Colin and I drove into the parking lot, the smell was instantly OVERWHELMING. I felt it up my nostrils and into my throat. The best I can describe it: super sharp, and odorous, egg mixed with sewer. Both Colin and I experienced headaches and sore throat during, and after, our livestream next to the paper mill. Above is a shorter compilation of the over 1-hour livestream.
"I lost my 17-year-old daughter to an asthma attack; my 32-year-old son is on life support,” Kalamazoo resident Deann Winfield told me. Her kids’ asthma and respiratory issues were minor BEFORE she moved the family to Kalamazoo. But, after living around the corner from the plant for a few years, her 17-year-old daughter had a severe asthma attack and died.
It gets worse:
Since 2015, 1,950 Black babies under 1-year’s old have died in Kalamazoo. 90 percent of the Black population in Kalamazoo lives in the Northside neighborhood next to the Graphic Packaging paper mill emitting these toxic gases into the community.
In 2021, despite her administration having received TONS of complaints from Kalamazoo residents about their illnesses as a result of the toxic gas being emitted from the plant, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration approved $125 million bond deal that allowed Graphic Packaging to EXPAND.
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT ON-THE-GROUND reporting by becoming a Status Coup member today for just $5-10 bucks a month. We are currently in the middle of a 2-week reporting trip. We started in Flint, are now reporting in Kalamazoo, and my colleague Louis DeAngelis will be returning to East Palestine next week. This type of ON-THE-GROUND reporting is expensive, costing between $5,000 and $10,000 depending on how long we are on the road (flights, hotels, rent-a-car, food, paying freelancers, etc).
We’ll be LIVE AGAIN tonight around 6:30pm eastern. Hope to see you then!