Dioxin argument leads to DEQ cuts

Some say state regulations harm economy

By BRIAN McGILLIVARY
Traverse City Record-Eagle staff writer

June 13, 2004


TRAVERSE CITY - Northern Michigan legislators voted to cut funding for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in what environmentalists say was a retaliatory move against the agency.
Major funding cuts were proposed by Midland-area Republicans angry over the DEQ's strict adherence to a cleanup standard for decades of dioxin contamination attributed to Dow Chemical Co. in the Tittabawassee River basin. Dioxin is one of the most toxic substances known to man.
The cuts since have been restored, but Rep. Howard Walker, R-Traverse City, voted to cut DEQ funding and said the House just meant to get the DEQ's attention.
"The DEQ has shown quite a lot of reluctance to be accountable to the proper legislative oversight," he said.
Walker said his northern Michigan office hasn't had problems with the DEQ, but said his committee did.
Sen. Michelle McManus, R-Lake Leelanau, offered no complaints about DEQ Director Steve Chester and his staff, saying the agency has been responsive to her questions and to those of other state senators.
"Sometimes it's better to get people's attention with honey, rather than vinegar," McManus said.
McManus said on first glance she won't support House cuts that all of northern Michigan's Republican representatives supported.
They voted a 15 percent cut in Chester's salary, an overall 15 percent reduction in general fund dollars for DEQ and an 8 percent cut in funding for the DEQ's work force, which would affect 117 employees. The two measures represent a $14.2 million cut.
Keith Ledbetter, spokesman for House speaker Rick Johnson, said the House was sending the DEQ a message about how the department carries out its mission.
Tanya Cabala of the Lake Michigan Federation, an environmental protection group, agreed - to a point.
"Funding cuts will send the message to DEQ employees that if they do their job, they could subject their entire division, the director, and other staff to retaliation," she said.
The House Appropriations Committee, of which Walker is a member, voted this past week to eliminate funding for the DEQ's hazardous waste program because of the dioxin squabble.
The House reinstated $5.6 million for the program after Republican lawmakers from Midland reached an agreement with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. They will wait on an $800,000 study of dioxin before determining a clean-up standard.
Michigan regulations trigger action where concentrations of dioxin reach 90 parts per trillion. The federal standard is 1,000 parts per trillion.
Walker said state dioxin contamination standards could mean that 11,000 places could be considered hazardous waste sites, hurting the local economy.
"Maybe the DEQ is right, but there was no evidence presented (in committee)," Walker said.
Former DEQ Director Russell Harding, an appointee of former Republican Gov. John Engler, in late 2002 attempted to reach an 11th-hour deal with Dow to significantly increase allowable dioxin standards.
Harding's proposed deal, which he tried to broker just before the Engler administration left office, would have been a windfall for Dow, and would have absolved the company of responsibility for cleaning large areas around Midland that are contaminated by dioxin.
The Harding-Dow deal fell apart, however, and the company and Midland Republicans have chafed over the Chester-led DEQ's scrutiny of the dioxin problem.
The budget bill now returns to the Senate, which will likely refer it to a House-Senate conference committee to hammer out differences between the two chambers and Granholm's administration.
- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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.