Flood of '86 shut down Midland plant
Midland Daily News Kathie Marchlewski
09/11/2006


It was during the morning hours 20 years ago today that the torrential rains beating down on Midland reached their peak of nastiness. Flooding of homes had not yet begun.

 But at Dow’s Michigan Operations, the rain gauge at the plant showed a full 12 inches had fallen over the last 32 hours, and at around 4:40 a.m., Kurt Detrich, then-production supervisor at the wastewater treatment plant at Michigan Operations, announced the plant shut down.

 "It was shut down for a week," Detrich said. "I don’t think that’s ever happened," he said. Not before, and not since.

 The problem that week wasn’t just the rain wreaking havoc on the manufacturing site – the Tittabawassee River was rising at a rate of more than a foot per hour. It wasn’t long before it reached the primary electrical transformer at the waste treatment plant, abruptly putting an end to the all-important task of cleaning water.

 "We essentially has to shut down all production that would use wastewater," Detrich said. That was 90 percent of the plant.

 Compounding the trouble was the fact that waste storage tanks were full. Between 5 and 9 a.m., Dow began discharging untreated waste water – 70 million gallons of it – causing the Department of Natural Resources to issue a health advisory telling people to stay away from the river.

By 9 a.m. on the 12th the river had risen to 30.9 feet, breaking the 1916 record of 29.7 feet. Dow reported $11 million in losses and damage by Sept. 15.

And its employees by then were struggling with their own water issues. Dow and Dow Corning Corp. both offered employees and retirees whose homes and properties were damaged in the flood no-interest loans of up to 1.5 months pay or retirement benefits up to $10,000 per household. Repayment would be through payroll deduction or as a lump sum, no later than 12 months.

Dow also provided limited housing for employees forced from their homes.

And as soon as the disaster was over, Dow went into overdrive, expanding storage capabilities to alleviate a similar problem in the future.

 "Some of the work was actually in progress in 1986," Detrich said. "We had been planning on constructing the tanks before the flood happened."

The plan was to expand storage capacity to 45 million gallons from the 30 million that existed back then, and that’s what’s there today, in addition to a 25 million-gallon emergency tank. That emergency backup has not been used to date.

 "The 45 million-gallon tanks have been sufficient since 1986," Detrich said. The electrical transformer that faulted when it became waterlogged 20 years ago also has been modified as part of the preventative effort – it’s been raised about three feet.

 Detrich said the company is much better prepared for an event like the flood of 1986, but, he adds: "I’d be happy if we never got 10 inches of rain again."

©Midland Daily News 2006
 

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