City, EPA strike deal
09/15/2007
By Tony Lascari, Midland Daily News
Specific sites involved in dioxin sampling in Midland will not be revealed – for
now. City of Midland officials traveled to Chicago Thursday to meet with U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 officials to sort out how to keep the
EPA abreast of sampling without going against a pledge to respect the privacy of
property owners who volunteered for the sampling program under the assumption of
anonymity. In a news release Friday, the EPA stated that it now will require
specific relevant information about sampling protocol and spatial distribution
of data points. It won’t, however, require the identification of specific
property locations or property owners. "Ultimately, EPA’s interest in this
sampling information is to assure that the health of Midland’s residents is
protected," EPA Superfund Division Associate Director Ralph Dollhopf said in a
news release. "At the same time, EPA respects that the city must balance its
concern regarding the health of its citizens with its commitment to protect
their privacy. Having sampling details that we think the city can provide
without revealing property owner identity will help EPA confidently evaluate the
results of recent soil studies." Midland City Manager Jon Lynch said it was
clear the EPA is interested in making sure the analysis of samples was properly
done. He said EPA officials recognize the value of protecting property owners,
and that’s a positive point. But the agency wants to reserve its right to
acquire any information it deems necessary in the future. Lynch said the EPA
requested a list of information it wants from the city. The city will discuss –
with The Dow Chemical Co. and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality,
which have partnered in the sampling process – what information is available and
should be released. "I think that we currently characterize it as positive, but
we still need to dig into this list and see if ultimately what they’re asking
for would violate the anonymity of the property owners in the city of Midland,"
Lynch said of the process so far. According to the EPA, the sampling analysis
information is necessary so it has a complete and current picture of dioxin in
the city. The data is needed to assess any potential current risk posed by
dioxin in the city, EPA says. The agency’s information request is part of a
larger investigation of dioxin contamination in the Midland area. The EPA issued
two requests in mid-August to Dow seeking information about its dioxin sampling
at its facility and elsewhere. The agency also is seeking data on numerous other
hazardous waste materials produced at Dow’s Michigan Operations plant in
Midland. A deadline for the City of Midland to respond to the new request for
information, developed in Thursday’s meeting, has been set for Sept. 21. If the
information is to be released, the EPA would like the requested sampling station
map by Sept. 25 and all other information within 30 days of the deadline.
Dollhopf of the EPA said the meeting with city officials was productive. "I
think that our meeting Thursday resulted in both parties’ recognition and
acknowledgement that our objectives are compatible," he said. "We are on the
road to working this out." Dow began cleaning up three dioxin hot spots in the
Tittabawasee River this summer. Dow and the EPA expect the work to be completed
by the end of the year. The Dow facility is a 1,900-acre chemical manufacturing
plant in Midland. Dioxins and furans were byproducts from the manufacture of
chlorine-based products. Past waste disposal practices, fugitive emissions and
incineration at Dow have resulted in on- and off-site dioxin and furan
contamination.
©Midland Daily News 2007
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