AMY PAYNE/THE SAGINAW NEWS December 04, 2007 07:45AM

DAVID A. SOMMERS/The Saginaw News A sign posted on the Saginaw River north of the old Wickes Park boat launch in Saginaw warns boaters not to anchor.

The dredging equipment hauling up sediment from the Saginaw River near Wickes Park isn't that different from a household vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, Dow Chemical Co. officials say.

Six members of a Dow dive team are strapping on drysuits and taking a dip in near-freezing water this week to suck up contaminated soil with a hydraulic dredger, "a vacuum cleaner sort of thing, if you will," Dow spokesman John C. Musser said.

The dredger can vacuum 80 to 120 cubic yards of sediment every day, Musser said.

A diver will spend an hour or two at a time vacuuming the riverbed as the other five members on a barge monitor the air feeding down the diver's umbilical cable and other equipment, project leader Todd Konechne said.

"One of the divers on the barge will be suited, ready to go, at all times," Konechne said.

The crew is racing the winter frost to dredge up 800 cubic yards of material, he said.

"The river was essentially frozen completely over Saturday morning," Konechne said.

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.