Obama urged to make EPA act on dioxin
http://michiganmessenger.com/12300/obama-urged-to-make-epa-act-on-dioxin

By Eartha Jane Melzer 1/28/09 8:07 AM

A coalition of over 100 environmental and social justice groups is urging the Obama administration to release the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decades-long study of the toxicity of dioxin and cancel a dioxin reassessment ordered in the last days of the Bush administration.

EPA has been studying dioxin since the 1980’s but under industry pressure has failed to release an assessment of the toxin.

Environmentalists and state regulators say that the EPA’s failure to issue an official assessment of dioxin has slowed regulation and cleanup of the chemical which is a potent carcinogen and endocrine system disruptor.

In the letter to the President the coalition wrote:

While panels are convened, people in communities across the country are continuing to be exposed to this highly toxic chemical. Many state regulating agencies have ignored dioxin contamination and risks because of the lack of a final health assessment from the EPA. Dioxin contamination is particularly high in areas with dioxin sources like incinerators, smelters, pulp and paper mills, chemical factories or other industries that use chlorine. These dioxin sources are predominantly located in low-income communities of color, making this a major issue of environmental justice and racism.

A history of the delays in regulation of dioxin is available from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice here.

In Michigan dioxin from chemical manufacturing at Dow Chemical Co.’s Midland plant has spread downstream through the Tittabawasee River, the Saginaw River and into the Saginaw Bay.
 

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.