Dioxin story enters a new phase
 By Terry Camp SAGINAW  (WJRT)
-- (02/25/08)--

The Dow Chemical Company is taking the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to court as the dioxin story enters a new phase.

Dow has filed a lawsuit against the MDEQ, saying the governmental agency has added part of Lake Huron to Dow's cleanup responsibility.

Dow Chemical's John Musser says the company believes the MDEQ changed Dow's operating license when the DEQ modified Dow's scope of work for the company's investigation of contamination of the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay.

Musser says the latest plan puts Dow responsibilities past Saginaw Bay.

"And the requirements that they have put in this scope of work puts us into several hundred square miles of Lake Huron," he said.

That's the main reason Dow Chemical has filed a lawsuit against the DEQ.

"To suggest this goes out into Lake Huron is not true," said Bob McCann of the DEQ.

McCann says the agency's maps indicate this will not take testing into Lake Huron waters, and he denies the DEQ changed the company's operating license.

"This is in no way inconsistent with their operating license," he said. "In fact, it's specifically addressed in the operating license, which is leaving us puzzled by their recent action."

The lawsuit will not slow down the progress of investigating contamination in the Tittabawassee River, where two cleanup projects have been completed.

But the legal action could slow down further investigation of contamination of the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay.

"We are still hopeful that we can reach some resolution with the DEQ to get the right scope of work in place so we can move forward," Musser said.

The DEQ was notified of the legal action last week and is looking at its options.

 

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.