It's politics now, lawmakers say

Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News 12/28/2005

In State Rep. John Moolenaar's mind, Gov. Jennifer Granholm's veto of the homeowner fairness act shot dead the possibility that homeowners' property rights will be protected from arbitrarily assigned contamination designations -- until there is a new head of state.

"We need a new governor," Moolenaar said. "This governor is held hostage by her special interest group: the environmental extremists."

While Granholm suggested in her veto explanation that lawmakers work with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on a solution that will accommodate all interests -- homeowners' concerns, environmental concerns and economic ones, Moolenaar said attempts to date have been unsuccessful, and he doesn't think another try will work either.

"The governor instructed the DEQ to help solve this problem two years ago. To go back and state the same thing that happened two years ago is empty rhetoric," he said. "The DEQ has enflamed the issue and confused the facility designation process to the point where people are concerned about their livelihoods," Moolenaar said, calling the department the single strongest economic barrier to growth in Michigan.

Sen. Mike Goschka, R-Brant, agrees there is no hope for homeowner protection legislation as long as the DEQ is a function of the Granholm administration. "I would expect that anything she would sign would be a watered-down version that would still give the DEQ the right to come along and declare an area a facility," Goschka said.

The DEQ has argued that as written, the so-called homeowner protection act actually puts homeowners at risk -- it could keep them from getting crucial information about contamination, slow clean-up and limit their ability to recover clean-up expenses from polluters. The department argues that it is not the facility designation that is damaging to property values, it is the presence of contamination.

Some residents and environmental groups agree with Moolenaar that the issue has become a political one -- they have called it "designer" legislation written for The Dow Chemical Co., which is grappling with local dioxin contamination. They also agree with the DEQ on how the state should handle the contamination -- by following existing state clean-up laws.

"We're thrilled (about the veto)," said Kathy Henry, who lives in Freeland along the Tittabawassee River and is heading a class-action suit against Dow over dioxin contamination. "It's really nice to know that there are some elected officials that have some integrity."

Goschka said the governor's veto marked a "sad day for homeowners" and for the state's economy. "The governor is not at all friendly to job providers. What is this ultimately going to mean for jobs at Dow Chemical?" he asks.

While the bill passed though the House and Senate with bipartisan support, Moolenaar said there won't be enough supporters to override the veto "because we are entering a political year."
 

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.