Dioxin bill passes
By Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News
12/15/2006

Legislation that suggests the state use the newest and best dioxin information is on the governor's desk.

The Senate unanimously approved House Bill 5872, which allows the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to use a National Academy of Sciences review of the Environmental Protection Agency's "reassessment" of dioxin when considering the state cleanup standard. An earlier version of the bill passed unanimously in the House.

Originally proposed by Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, the bill was tweaked by the DEQ before being passed. In its original form, it required the NAS review to be used, but may have limited the ability to use other peer-reviewed, new information. In its current state, it allows the DEQ to use the NAS report in addition to other science to review its 90 parts per trillion direct contact criteria.

That's something DEQ officials say the department does anyway. Earlier this year, for example, the department rolled back toxicity calculations for Tittabawassee River flood plain dioxins after the World Health Organization determined that one of the types in the sediment there was less toxic than previously thought.

"That's something we do and it's something we need to do to ensure that we continue to make progress on our cleanup efforts," said spokesman Bob McCann.

Moolenaar, who prefers his original bill, said that as passed, the legislation still will require the use of "sound science" and will make the process of reviewing the state's cleanup criteria less complicated. "The review process is in place to protect our health and our valuable natural resources from additional risk of contamination," he said. "It only makes sense to use the best available science when making decisions with such significant implications," he said.

DEQ Deputy Director Jim Sygo said he isn't sure the NAS information will have much impact on the current cleanup standard. "Frankly, we don't see (the NAS report) as a directive to do something right now," he said.

While the NAS review suggested that the EPA, and perhaps subsequently the state, consider broader scopes of methodology for calculating dioxin risk, it didn't give definitive instructions or include any specific calculations.

"There's nothing in it indicating 'the EPA shall do this,'" Sygo said, adding that's not to say it or other new information won't be used in the future.

Moolenaar acknowledges that the NAS review released in July offered no specific directions for the development of cleanup criteria. "It's not prescriptive to state law, that's true," he said.

Nonetheless, he is hopeful that incorporating the information will move the process along. "It can be a conduit toward building on common ground," Moolenaar said.

He stressed the importance of quick action on the matter and supports case-by-case resolution for environmental matters, including the possibility of site specific criteria that would allow different cleanup standards for different properties based on land use.

He said in the case of dioxin, he believes that work could already be happening to remove hot spots of contamination. "That has been slowed down because of this rigid adherence to the 90 ppt," he said. "To ensure successful remediation and to protect the health of our residents, site specific criteria needs to be employed in a common sense and even-handed approach. The DEQ must ensure that we're doing the best for our region in a prompt and thorough manner," Moolenaar said.

Moolenaar said the bill "confirms the value the legislature places on the DEQ using the best available science."

©Midland Daily News 2006

Reader Comments
Friday December 15, 2006 at 01:23 PM EST
 Blah If nothing is going to change, then why even go through the expense, time and energy to pass this bill?

Frederick Stoll, III, Midland, Michigan

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.