Changing dioxin standard an option for state

THE SAGINAW NEWS

State lawmakers have approved a bill that allows -- but does not require -- the state Department of Environmental Quality to recalculate the cleanup standard for dioxin contamination along the Tittabawassee River floodplain.

The move doesn't necessarily mean the state will change its standard, said Robert A. McCann, a spokesman for the DEQ, which is in talks with Dow Chemical Co. about cleaning up dioxin pollution in area waterways.

"We consider the formula that we're using a good formula," he said.

State Rep. John Moolenaar, a Midland Republican and chief sponsor of the legislation, pressed the bill through the House in June, urging the agency to use a National Academy of Sciences report on dioxin "and other appropriate information" to determine cleanup standards.

But when the legislation cleared the Senate this week, lawmakers amended the original version. Instead of requiring the department to recalculate cleanup standards, it made it an option. It also put a one-year sunset clause on the law. The House approved the amended bill Thursday.

Moolenaar indicated he's still hopeful change will occur.

"I don't think the status quo is acceptable," the lawmaker said. "It has led to confusion, people uncertain about the future of their home values and without a road map for a successful remediation. I'm hoping that can be accomplished over the next year."

Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, said the governor's office must review the final version of the bill before commenting on whether the Democrat will sign it.

Scientists have linked dioxin, a group of contaminants present downstream and downwind of Dow's Midland complex, to some forms of cancer, reproductive problems and weakened immune systems in laboratory animals.

The DEQ has indicated that long-term human exposure to dioxin above 90 parts per trillion may lead to health problems, and that's the soil cleanup standard it uses, McCann said.

"It's not an arbitrary number," he said. "It's a number set on a risk assessment formula."

But some critics have argued the state should use the U.S Environmental Protection Agency standard of 1,000 parts per trillion as a guideline.

McCann said the National Academy of Sciences study that Moolenaar favors never was intended to set a cleanup number, although he said it may provide useful insights about dioxin.

Dow spokesman John C. Musser said the company hopes any revised number that might arise is derived from the "best science available."

"We've always argued and lobbied for the use of the most current and credible science to be used in whatever decisions are to be made on the issue of the Saginaw and Tittabawassee rivers," he said.

Michelle Hurd Riddick, a spokeswoman for the environmental group Lone Tree Council and a critic of changing the cleanup level, said she has confidence in the state agency's judgment.

"I'm not quite sure what Mr. Moolenaar is up to other than he wants to create scientific filibuster on dioxin," she said. "Mr. Moolenaar is very focused on dioxin and, in my mind, that speaks volumes."

She said the lawmaker and other critics have never demonstrated that the state isn't using sound science today. "They just leveled the accusation and are never called out on it," she said. v

Barrie Barber covers politics and government for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9725.