Contaminated sediment won't be removed yet
Kathie Marchlewski , Midland Daily News
08/10/2006

Environmental group members who attended the last community meeting hosted by The Dow Chemical Co. and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said they left feeling encouraged. That wasn't necessarily the case after last night's quarterly meeting held at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw.

Last time, attendees were told that as Dow and its contractors study the Tittabawassee River, taking up sediment samples and analyzing dioxin and furan levels, that they might go ahead and clean up any "hotspots." Levels as high as 24,000 parts per trillion -- the state's residential contact criteria is set at 90 parts per trillion -- have been found on the river flood plain.

Last night, they learned that action won't be taken until next spring at the earliest.

That's frustrating for some.

"It's been five years now," said Lone Tree Council spokesman Terry Miller, referring to the time since elevated dioxin levels were discovered in the Tittabawassee River.

"Come on folks," he said. "What is the hold up?"

Dow originally proposed a five-year plan for the Tittabawassee River with completion set for 2012, a time frame that was criticized by state and federal agencies and local environmental groups. Its new proposal, which includes study of the river that has already begun, includes a shorter timeline, with a first report due in February and more work to come.

In the meantime, Dow and the DEQ are negotiating what compounds besides dioxins and furans might be addressed, and what levels would be slated for potential clean-up.

"We've got to determine what the level is," said DEQ Deputy Director Jim Sygo. "We don't have a lot of information at all. We're in the process of working on that. We've got some numbers in mind."

He added that corrective action in any case is traditionally a long process. He points to the Kalamazoo River, which has been on the project list since 1988, though work is just beginning.

"I think we're much further ahead in this area of the state," he said.

He said the Tittabawassee River, its 22 miles, plus the Saginaw River and its bay, are big areas.

"We're not looking at a small plant area," he said, adding that Dow is a 100-year-old plant that has produced a wide variety of products and byproducts.

While some have suggested the Tittabawassee River be dredged and the problem taken care of once and for all, Dow and DEQ agree that dredging, at least now, might not be the answer.

"If we start dredging the river and we haven't dealt with the flood plain erosional zones, you're just going to have more material coming back into the river. You're going to recontaminate the river," Sygo said.

The studies under way are expected to identify points of erosion that can later be addressed.

"There are other remedial options besides dredging," said Dow spokesman John Musser. "That may be a viable option; it may not be."

Information about the dioxin contamination problem, transcripts from Wednesday's community meeting held at Horizons Conference Center and information on Dow's Corrective Action and work plans is available at www.michigan.gov/deqdioxin.

©Midland Daily News 2006
 

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.