Governor vetoes controversial bill

Environmentalists, some homeowners, claim victory in dioxin case

By Joel Doepker

Saginaw County - (12/27/05)--Environmentalists and some Tittabawassee River homeowners were claiming victory Tuesday night after Gov. Granholm vetoed a controversial bill.

If passed, the bill will change the way dioxin cleanup efforts are done along parts of the Tittabawassee River.

The bill in question centers around the dioxin contamination found along the Tittabawassee River. Much of the land along the river has dioxins it it, flushed downstream by Dow Chemical decades ago.

Some property owners say Dow should clean up the contamination, while others say just leave it alone.

Environmentalists say the vetoed bill would have taken away the state's ability to designate a property as contaminated, and they feel the burden of cleanup would have fallen to the property owners.

"It would have also shifted the cost of cleanup to the Michigan taxpayers, and would have relieved Dow Chemical for cleaning up dioxin in their yards," said Gary Henry.

The property owners in favor of the bill say it would have protected their property rights by saving their land from being labeled a contaminated site, and hurt their property values and damage the image of the area.

"If you've got your money tied up in your property, I would want a state agency to come and test my property before they go ahead and more or less take and declare a facility," said Leonard Heinzman.

Environmentalists and some Tittabawassee River property owners say the DEQ's power could've been compromised, but can still monitor businesses for pollution.

"This isn't just a dioxin issue anymore," Henry said.

"This is an issue for anybody who's concerned about lead, mercury or gasoline or any other contaminate around the house or property.

"This bill would have gutted our ability to deal with that and give polluters around the state a free ride."

On the other side of the issue, those in favor of the bill are not giving up and may fight the DEQ in court.

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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.