03/28/2006

Senator requests DEQ give $50K to church(*)

LANSING (AP) — A state senator has asked that $50,000 be put into a state spending bill so the church he attends can build a septic system.

Republican Sen. Alan Cropsey of DeWitt said the rural church wanted to install a septic system about 30 years ago, but the state said it had to use a lagoon system.

Now the Department of Environmental Quality wants Grove Bible Church in Clinton County to build a septic field, even though the lagoon isn't near capacity, he said. An amount up to $50,000 that the church might need to build the septic field was added last week to the DEQ budget at Cropsey's request.

"If they are jerking people around like this, then the department ought to be paying for it," Cropsey said Monday. "This department is just plain out of control."

The DEQ contends that the church needs a septic system to replace its leaky lagoon system. DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said it would be very unusual to require the state to reimburse the church and denied allegations that the department is reckless.

"All of our decisions are based in full accordance with what the Legislature has passed," McCann said.

Questions have arisen over whether Cropsey has a conflict of interest in the dispute between his church and the state.

"It does strike me as too close a relationship," said John Chamberlin, chair of the political watchdog group, Common Cause of Michigan.

Chamberlin said it's important to weigh the motivations of legislators who are inspired to get involved in situations about which they have personal knowledge or involvement.

"If he doesn't want to fix the system but wants to carve out an exception, then he's not representing his constituents, but instead members of his church," Chamberlin said.

Cropsey, who sits on the church's board, said there's nothing improper about his involvement in the matter and argued that he wouldn't profit personally under the bill. He added that he receives no compensation for serving on the church board.

The church's pastor and a consultant testified about the DEQ dispute at a committee hearing.

"It's not like this was done in a corner," Cropsey said.

The DEQ is wasting people's money by requiring actions that don't help the environment, Cropsey said, arguing that the church's lagoon isn't leaking.

He added: "Somebody needs to send the DEQ a message."

Chamberlin said the controversy seems better suited for settlement by the courts, not lawmakers, and predicted there would be a long line of people outside the Capitol looking for help if they could get reimbursed for adhering to what they see as unnecessary state regulations.

Cropsey responded that filing a lawsuit would be more expensive for the church and said it's his job to watch over government bureaucracy.

Sen. Michelle McManus, who heads the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the DEQ budget, said she thinks the dispute will be resolved without up to $50,000 going to Cropsey's church.

She hopes the situation can be worked out so "we won't have to go in that direction," the Lake Leelanau Republican said.