Tuesday, May 25, 2004
JEREMIAH STETTLER THE SAGINAW NEWS
MIDLAND -- Dow Chemical Co.'s hometown may face the same toxin travails as its neighbors downstream.
The state Department of Environmental Quality is requiring soil sampling in Midland -- a move that could expose 8,800 households and 21,300 residents to the same "facility" designation slapped on Tittabawassee River properties, city officials say.
The label, attached to properties with dioxin levels above the state action level of 90 parts per trillion, would require residents to reveal the contamination when selling their property.
Midland officials have scheduled a community meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday to discuss soil sampling. The meeting is at the Midland Center for the Arts, 1801 W. St. Andrews.
Despite previous opposition to the sampling, Manager Karl Tomion said the city will not object to the state requirement.
State regulators have answered questions sufficiently about the validity of the 90 parts per trillion standard, which officials argued was too low earlier this year, Tomion said.
"In the past, the city had resisted moving ahead with additional soil testing because the DEQ hadn't set criteria by which soil result would be evaluated," Tomion said. "We now know what the criteria is and we are not opposing testing."
Even if the city won't object to sampling, a coalition of Midland residents will.
A committee calling itself "Midland Matters -- Mobilize Midland!" was to conduct a news conference this morning, urging the state to interject more science into the dioxin debate before labeling parts of the community a "facility."
The panel pointed to the discrepancy between the federal action level of 1,000 parts per trillion and the more stringent state standard. It also cited the ongoing scientific debate over dioxin, saying research on the human health effects of the toxin remains incomplete.
"(We) demand that our state officials -- including Gov. Granholm and DEQ Director Steve Chester -- use wisdom and caution when determining what really is necessary and appropriate for Midland citizens," committee members wrote in a Monday press release.
The committee comprises residents such as Warren Crummett, a former Dow scientist and author of the book "Decades of Dioxin."
The state Department of Environmental Quality stands behind the 90 parts per trillion standard as scientifically sound.
In a letter to Midland attorneys, DEQ Deputy Director Jim Sygo said there is no "uncertainty" as to the appropriate clean-up standard for dioxin. Despite claims to the contrary, he said updated information used in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's dioxin reassessment likely would tighten the standard further.
Though worries about the impact of soil sampling have mounted among Midland residents, DEQ spokeswoman Patricia Spitzley said testing is needed to determine the scope of contamination and to develop a plan for cleaning it up.
"Our charge is the protection of human health," she said. "Dow created this problem. They have the responsibility under the law to address this problem and to address it properly."
The clean-up plan, stipulated under Dow's operating permit, would require soil sampling in four areas northeast of its Michigan Operations, where regulators suspect that dioxin was deposited via air emissions. In previous samples taken near the Corning Lane neighborhood, the state found dioxin concentrations between 73 and 923 parts per trillion.
Dow officials will use the samples to determine the extent of contamination.
Midland officials published a letter to residents last week suggesting that properties within two miles of the plant could have dioxin levels above the state standard. They said soil sampling potentially could affect an estimated 21,300 residents within that perimeter.
Spitzley dismissed the number as speculation. She said the scope of contamination is unknown.
The DEQ has not yet approved Dow's clean-up plan. Spitzley could provide an estimate on when soil sampling will begin in Midland. t
Jeremiah Stettler is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9685.
© 2004 Saginaw News.
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