Tittabawassee River Watch Editorial
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Gary Henry 04/09/05 reader opinion to MDN 04/09/05 article
What's the point?
Mr. Moolenar has stated sellers are required to disclose contamination as part
of real estate law .
The Sellers Disclosure Statement (565.957 paragraph 10) requires the seller to
disclose ANY environmental problems if they are aware of any substance that MAY
be on their property, including contaminated soil. The dioxin contamination in
the City of Midland and the Tittabawassee watershed has been public knowledge
for years.
A ‘Facility" is a regulatory term defined under Michigan Law 451, part 201
applied to ANY properties which are contaminated by a release of a hazardous
substance above defined levels.
Dow is required by Michigan law to take corrective action on any property that
is part of their facility. The action must be taken whether the property is
owned by Dow or someone else 40 miles down river.
So why are the Dow Representatives so keen on removing the Facility label? The
only benefactor of such a move is Dow Chemical, not the citizens they supposedly
represent.
If they are successful with this bill, Dow will no longer be required to clean
up our property and we will still be required to disclose the contamination to
potential buyers. The only ethical way out of this mess is to keep the current
law and make Dow clean it up. Our property will no longer be a facility once the
hazardous substance is removed.