Real estate agents say home sales not affected by dioxin dilemma

Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News 12/04/2004

It's been more than six months since the City of Midland warned
residents their properties may be subject to testing for dioxin levels, and
that as many as 8,800 yards could exceed state guidelines for contamination.
Local real estate agents say that while there has been some concern from
families shopping for homes in the most likely affected areas -- those
within a northeasterly, two-mile radius of The Dow Chemical Co., Michigan
Operations site -- they classify it as minimal. Sales show no drop in value
or increase in days on the market.

Tom Darger, an independent real estate broker in Midland, has been
keeping an eye on sales. "I didn't see anything unusual when compared to
areas not in the radius," Darger said.

Last May, more than 1,700 Midlanders attended a meeting on the topic of
dioxin, and learned the Department of Environmental Quality was planning to
update its testing of the area. They also learned the DEQ could require
clean-up in the form of soil removal and replacement for properties with
more than 90 parts per trillion of the contaminant in soils.

Dow, DEQ and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests from 1983, 1984,
1996 and 1998 show the manufacturing byproduct, deposited via airborne
emissions from past incineration at Dow, is likely to exceed the state
standard as far as two miles from the Dow plant. Further testing scheduled
to begin in summer months was delayed while Dow and the DEQ negotiate terms
of the company's operating permit, the document that imposes the remediation
requirement. Part of that ongoing discussion may include a re-evaluation of
the 90 ppt criteria and further study to determine if the level is overly
stringent.

Meanwhile, Dave Miller, of Midland's RE/MAX, said that while some
clients ask about dioxin, he doesn't think sales in the potentially affected
areas have suffered. "People just want more information," he said.

Along with the possibility of future remediation action, properties
found to have levels could be considered "facilities" by the state. That
label, already imposed on properties within the boundaries of the
Tittabawassee River's 100-year flood plain, would mean that homeowners would
have to disclose information about the contamination to potential buyers. It
also could affect people's ability to care for yards, or prohibit future
development because of soil movement advisories.

Linda Barth at the Coldwell Banker Alliance office in Midland said she
knows of one home sale that fell through when the buyer learned about the
dioxin situation. Still, she said the contamination has had minimal effect
on sales. "They weren't people from around here," Barth said of the people
who withdrew their offer. "I think people who have lived in Midland don't
have a problem with it."

Barth said she refers buyers and sellers with questions to the City of
Midland website for more information on the problem and for a map of
possible affected areas. "There's so much that's unknown right now," she
said.

Darger said he looked at six months of sales in response to clients'
questions about the effects of the dioxin controversy on the local housing
market. While he acknowledged the results aren't a scientific analysis, he
reviewed homes comparable in size, condition and quality of neighborhood.

"What I tried to do was compare oranges and oranges," he said. "It
didn't show any difference at all."

His findings are similar to those reported by Dow last year, when it
contracted with a Chicago-based analyst to perform a study of residential
home sales in Saginaw County since February 2002, when the DEQ cautioned
residents about toxic deposits. That analysis, used in defense of the
lawsuit brought against Dow by 300 flood plain residents, showed most homes
selling at or above asking price in listing times ranging from 21 to 334
days. It surveyed sales of 53 homes near Shields Elementary School, near the
flood plain, and showed nine homes selling at 83 to 90 percent of the
property owner's asking price, 29 at 90 to 99 percent of the asking price
and 15 at or above the asking price.

©Midland Daily News 2004

For additional articles like this one, go to the Tittabawasse River Watch web site www.trwnews.net for complete coverage of the Tittabawassee River Dow Chemical dioxin contamination saga. . The Newspaper / Media page of our site contains an extensive archive of media articles dating back to January 2002. The source organization's web site link is listed to the right of the article, visit often for other news in our area. The Newspaper / Media page may be accessed by scrolling down to the bottom of the CONTENTS section and clicking on the Newspaper/Media link.