Wednesday, June 16, 2004
By Edward HoogterpLansing Bureau
LANSING -- Republican lawmakers have backed away -- at least temporarily-- from a proposal to loosen state standards for cleanup of dioxin residues around Dow Chemical's plant in Midland.
A House bill containing an eleven-fold increase in allowable dioxin levels was pulled from committee consideration on Tuesday, after its sponsor, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, said he is discussing compromises with the Granholm administration and the Department of Environmental Quality.
"I didn't want to have the bill divert from that discussion," Moolenaar said. "I'm hopeful we can reach (agreement) without the legislation."
State rules call for full or partial cleanup of soil with dioxin contamination of 90 parts per trillion or more. Moolenaar's bill would require cleanup only for soils with contamination levels of at least 1,000 ppt.
He indicated any resolution may wait for results of new studies of the human health risk posed by dioxin-laced soils along the Tittabawassee River in Midland and Saginaw counties.
Dioxin, a highly toxic industrial byproduct, is known to cause cancer and other ailments in people and animals. But there is dispute about the level of risk the chemical poses when it's bound up at low concentrations in soil.
Some states have established limits as low as 5 ppt. The federal government generally requires cleanup of levels above 1,000 ppt, but has called for action at some sites with concentrations as low as 50 ppt, depending on how the property is used.
Dow and the state DEQ are involved in lengthy negotiations to decide what the company must do to clean up contamination that resulted from decades of chemical production at the Midland plant.
Those negotiations produced a firestorm of protest this spring when local residents were told that the DEQ was preparing to do extensive soil testing of residential areas and that homes with dioxin levels above 90 parts per trillion would be branded as "hazardous waste facilities."
Such a designation could have ruined property values. The reports led both the city of Midland and Midland County to adopt resolutions asking the state to set the cleanup level at 1,000 ppt.
But DEQ press secretary Patricia Spitzley said the protests were based on a misunderstanding. Any soil testing would be done by Dow, she said, and the "facility" designation meant only that residences with contaminated soil would be included in Dow's facility cleanup plan.
"They've been hearing that the DEQ is going to come in and rip up their yard. That's not true," Spitzley said.
"The DEQ does not go out and designate homes as facilities. We're not going to go out and put X's on homes. For purposes of cleanup, if your soil is above 90 parts per trillion ... you become part of Dow's responsibility."
Moolenaar and other supporters of a looser dioxin standard met in early June with Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Lt. Gov. John Cherry and DEQ Director Steven Chester. Cherry has continued to lead those negotiations, Moolenaar said.
Cherry's spokeswoman, Mary Detloff, confirmed that talks continue with the DEQ, legislators and the communities.
"We hope to work with the city and with Dow to address the dioxin situation in Midland in a way that immediately protects the public health, the environment and the community's economic vitality," Detloff said.
Moolenaar wants to wait for the results of two studies that seek to determine the level of human health risk caused by dioxin in the soil.
A "bio-availability" study would look at the affects of the chemical on animals fed various levels of dioxin-laced soil. And an exposure study, conducted by a University of Michigan research scientist, will involve blood tests of Midland area residents to determine whether they have elevated levels of dioxin.
"These are pieces of the puzzle that we don't have," Moolenaar said.
But James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, said Dioxin's risks are already well-known.
"It is a known human carcinogen," Clift said in testimony prepared for the House committee. "Tests on animals have resulted in the growth of tumors in all species tested."
Contact reporter Edward Hoogterp at (517) 487-8888 x234 or e-mail him at ehoogterp@boothnewspapers.com.
© 2004 Booth Newspapers.
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.