Our view: Residents get chance to be heard on dioxin contamination issue

Residents who would like to be heard on a recent proposal by Rep. John Moolenaar to keep dioxin-contaminated properties from being stuck with a "facility" designation are encouraged to attend the House Government Operations Committee public hearing Tuesday.

The committee has scheduled a 10:30 a.m. meeting to hear support and opposition to the proposed legislation that would require on-site testing to show dioxin levels in excess of the state’s residential contact criteria of 90 parts per trilllion before a "facility" designation is applied.

Just about everything surrounding the dioxin issue in the Saginaw Valley is contentious – testing techniques, contamination levels, the harm caused by low levels of dioxin and whether state law requires a "facilities" label if contamination levels are above a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality selected number.

Early on in the debate, soon after MDEQ contamination test levels were forced to be released by local environmental groups, those groups, The Dow Chemical Co. and the MDEQ controlled the work being done on the issue.
Now, however, property owners affected by the designation have begun to organize and offer yet another voice.
That voice could become stronger Tuesday, if residents take the time to travel to Lansing to participate. The committee meeting is in the Anderson House Office Building, room number 326, 124 North Capitol Ave., Lansing.

©Midland Daily News 2005

For additional articles like this one, go to the Tittabawassee 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.