Dow to clean up park

    The Dow Chemical Co. will clean a dioxin-contaminated park in Saginaw Township as part of its first Superfund removal action of the year.

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 announced the plans Tuesday, stating Dow agreed to cleanup actions in the 5-acre West Michigan Park and nearby residential properties. Work is expected to begin next month and be finished by early June.

 

    West Michigan Park is three miles upstream from the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee Rivers. Historically, the park and nearby neighborhood have flooded a number of times, resulting in dioxin-contaminated river sediment being deposited in the area, the EPA reported.

    The EPA found that of nearly 300 analyzed samples, 27 percent exceeded its residential threshold of 1,000 parts per trillion, some measuring as high as 5,900 ppt.

    Dow spokeswoman Mary Draves said the company will submit a detailed work plan to the EPA by March 13.

    "We are going to submit a work plan for the work we believe needs to be done to fulfill the requirements of the order," Draves said.

    If approved, the EPA would oversee Dow's cleanup. The agency expects the work to include excavating soil and backfilling with clean soil, paving the park's driveway and parking lot, and elevating playground equipment to avoid recontamination if the area floods again. The work will address contamination hot spots at a condominium complex to the west and in several residential lots east of the park.

    "The West Michigan Park cleanup marks the sixth Superfund removal of dioxin contamination EPA has supervised in the Tri-Cities area since July 2007," said Acting Regional Administrator Bharat Mathur. "We'll be devoting extra attention to the areas of the park where children play."

    In the past, Dow has removed contamination from a residential neighborhood on Riverside Boulevard in Saginaw, a short stretch of the Saginaw River roughly adjacent to Wickes Park in Saginaw and three sites along the Tittabawassee River. Dow also has cleaned an area planned for a park adjacent to Dow Diamond on the Tittabawassee River that had contaminated river banks.

    "Thanks to our combined efforts we continue to see progress made in moving the overall cleanup efforts forward," Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester said. "The cleanup at West Michigan Park is an important step in this process, and we are looking forward to its reopening this summer once the work is complete."

    Dioxins and furans are byproducts created from manufacturing chlorine-based products. The contaminants were released from Dow's Michigan Operations facility in Midland through past waste disposal practices, emissions and incineration.

    Dow and the EPA had been in talks to use a Superfund Alternative Approach to create an overall system for addressing dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay. Dow submitted its most recent plan to the EPA on Feb. 13, Draves said.

    EPA Region 5 spokesman Mick Hans said those negotiations are not proceeding at this point so that newly-appointed EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and her team can gather information. He said that doesn't mean negotiations are over, but they are essentially on a "time-out" while more perspectives are gained.

    "EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has tasked a team from headquarters and Region 5 to meet with the various stakeholders and report back to her," he said. "She will then review the situation. In the meantime, the work at West Michigan Park will proceed."

    Draves said Dow will work with the EPA to develop plans as discussions move forward.

    Former EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary Gade has called the process into question, even traveling from Chicago to a meeting in Saginaw to voice her concern that the Superfund Alternative Approach was unnecessary because work was already taking place at contaminated sites in the region. Local environmental groups also questioned its necessity.