December 20, 2002

In the dusty yard outside their home on the banks of the Tittabawassee River, Mitch Larson's four daughters took care of six chickens.

"We raised them and they started laying eggs," said Larson, who lives in a rural Saginaw neighborhood about 21 miles downstream from the Dow Chemical Co. headquarters in Midland.

But when the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality tested the Larsons' soil in May, the agency found highly toxic dioxinat levels higher than what the state allowed. Tests showed dioxin was even in the eggs the Larsons had been eating for more than a year. The DEQ and the Michigan Department of Community Health notified the Larsons to avoid the eggs.

The dioxin found in the soil and eggs is a legacy of old contamination from Dow, the state and company agree. Less clear, however, is what to do about it.

Because the contamination is so pervasive -- stretching from parts of Midland downstream to the floodplains of the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers many miles away -- thousands of people are affected and the cleanup, by some accounts, could become one of the nation's costliest.

Today, Michigan's top environmental officials are to meet with their attorneys to discuss a proposed deal with Dow to clean up dioxin in Midland. The plan has set off a firestorm of criticism from environmentalists, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and, according to internal memos, the state's own lawyers in the Attorney General's Office. The Associated Press, citing documents it obtained, reported Thursday night that the opposition also extends through much of the ranks of the DEQ and other state agencies but has been hushed at higher levels.

"As proposed, I don't believe this is a process I can embrace," said Jim Sygo, DEQ chief of the remediation and redevelopment division. "There's no need for this order."

The controversy is tinged with politics, too, as charges fly that Dow is seeking a better deal before Republican Gov. John Engler leaves office Dec. 31.

Under the draft, the state would drop its standard, which requires cleanup of soils with greater than 90 parts per trillion of dioxin, in favor of a standard more than nine times higher -- 831 parts per trillion.

The EPA cleanup standard is 1,000 parts per trillion, though the agency is reviewing it in light of new studies raising health concerns about dioxin.

The dioxin is a byproduct of incineration on Dow property dating to the early 1900s and pesticide manufacturing between the 1950s and the early 1970s.

When airborne particles contaminated with dioxin are breathed or dioxin in soil is ingested, the chemical can cause cancer and disrupt immune and reproductive systems. In addition, new research suggests that dioxin interferes with the body's ability to produce hormones.

Dave Dempsey, a policy adviser for the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of 65 state environmental groups, said he fears Dow is trying to make a case in Michigan to avoid a tougher national standard.

DEQ and Dow officials disagree.

A cleanup plan has languished for more than 20 years, said company spokesman Neil Hawkins, who adds that the company is anxious to get on with the dioxin removal and health assessments that are a part of the deal. He said the cleanup threshold is still more stringent than EPA's.

"The sooner it's approved, the sooner we can get started on the exposure and health study," he said.

DEQ officials say the law allows a polluter to make a scientific case why a standard other than the state's make sense. That number, which is still a proposal, said Patricia Spitzley, a DEQ spokeswoman, could change as a result of public comment. It also could change if Gov.-elect Jennifer Granholm orders a reconsideration of the matter, she said.

Officials do weigh the health threat against the cost, a number that Hawkins said the company has not yet calculated.

DEQ Director Russ Harding said that cleanup down to 90 parts per trillion "would be a huge expense for Dow for what they think is not money well-spent," the publication Chemical Policy Alert reported in late October.

The Larson home is on the Tittabawassee floodplain, where nine of 11 soil samples taken in May exceeded 90 parts per trillion of dioxin and three exceeded 831.

Under the proposed deal, some properties in Midland, including those in residential areas, would not be cleaned up, even though some have contamination on a par with that found around the Larson home.

The Larson property itself is not included in the proposed cleanup but may be in the future.

If the deal goes through, Dow would pay for a comprehensive study of the health effects of dioxin, including chemical levels in the blood and illness rates of residents in Midland and the Tittabawassee and Saginaw river floodplains.

Among 41 written objections to the proposed DEQ-Dow deal, the EPA cited concerns about weakening existing law and the failure to address contamination on the floodplains.

Although the Attorney General's Office has declined to publicly comment, citing client-attorney privilege, its concerns are clear in communications with the DEQ.

In an Oct. 11 e-mail to DEQ Deputy Director Art Nash, Assistant Attorney General Robert Reichel wrote: "Simply put, the very essence of the proposed order is illegal."

Later, Reichel added, "You should be aware that Dow's own counsel has told us that, depending upon the results of the November gubernatorial election, future DEQ management may not be as receptive as the present administration to Dow's scientific and regulatory arguments. Obviously, such political considerations and speculation have no place in our legal analysis . . ."

Reichel's boss, Attorney General Granholm, is a critic of Engler environmental policies.

Chris Bzdok, an attorney representing a coalition of environmental groups, has sued to stop the plan. The case is expected to go before a judge early next year in Ingham County Circuit Court.

In Midland, where Dow's influence is enormous, some people aren't concerned.

"I think the 831 parts per trillion is a fair number," said Duane Marsh, president of the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce. "I have faith in the DEQ."

Others aren't so confident.

"I'm disillusioned with this whole thing and not because of my own yard," said Melissa Whitney, who is married to a Dow chemist.

When looking for a house, Whitney specifically sought a neighborhood with low levels of contamination. She lives in a part of Midland where soil sampling shows contamination of about 10 parts per trillion.

In some areas with high dioxin levels in soil, including parks in the floodplain, warning signs are posted. The state also has told residents to be careful with gardening, lawn care other other activity in which dirt might be ingested. Children playing in dirt or sand tend to put their fingers in their mouths and are the most vulnerable.