Saginaw River dioxin hot spot discovered
 By Tony Lascari, Midland Daily News
11/14/2007
Preliminary test results show a previously unknown dioxin hot spot in the Saginaw River contains contamination levels 18 times higher than any location in the Tittabawassee River.

Testing by The Dow Chemical Co. found a sample of river sediment that contained more than 1.6 million parts per trillion of dioxin.

The company learned of the sample Thursday and began discussions on cleanup options with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Friday, Dow spokesman John Musser said.

The hot spot is located about a half mile below the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee Rivers, roughly adjacent to Wickes Park in Saginaw.

The concentration is 50 times higher than the previous highest level found in the Saginaw River, which was 32,000 parts per trillion, according to the EPA. It also is 18 times higher than any dioxin levels found at hot spots in the Tittabawassee River.

Musser said the material is consistent with dioxin and dioxin-like materials created by historic chemical processes at the company's Midland Operations site in Midland.

"The makeup of this particular sample is pretty typical of what we would have seen in the Tittabawassee River," he said.

The EPA stated emergency cleanup work would need to take place at the site.

"EPA has determined that this emergency work should be performed under an EPA Superfund order," EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary A. Gade said. "EPA and MDEQ are working closely together on a thorough and appropriate plan to remove this hot spot."

Gade said the parties involved must be cautious to make sure, through laboratory tests, that they determine the extent of the high level of contamination.

"It may be only one additional hot spot or it could cover a larger area," she said.

The sample was found in the first six inches of a sample taken 12 feet under water, Musser said. He said samples from deeper sediment at the location found much lower results, and samples nearby did not show high levels.

"There's nothing in any of those that suggest we have a larger deposit than that one nugget," Musser said.

This is the first site in the Saginaw River that will involve cleanup action, with the immediacy of the work driven by the unusually high finding.

"This is certainly an interesting finding and it does represent the highest level," Musser said. "But let's try to keep it in perspective. It is a single sample at this site, we can't duplicate it. We do not feel there are any imminent human health or environmental effects from what we've seen here."

Dow discovered the latest hot spot during sampling done according to its own Sept. 14, 2007 work plan, which has not been approved by either the EPA or MDEQ, according to the EPA.

Dow began cleanup of three dioxin hot spots in the Tittabawassee River this summer, and those projects should be done by the end of the year. Those locations along the first six miles of the Tittabawassee River were contaminated at levels up to 87,000 parts per trillion.

For more information about the health impacts of dioxin and eating fish from the Saginaw River system, call the Michigan Department of Community Health at (800) 648-6942 or the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at (312) 886-0840.
 

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