National Public Health, Environmental Groups, Criticize Dow Dioxin Deal
Letter to Engler, Granholm Warns Deal is Dangerous National Precedent

National environmental and public health leaders sent a letter to Governor John Engler and Governor-Elect Jennifer Granholm today calling a proposed deal to create a special cleanup standard for Dow Chemical almost ten times less protective than the state standard a "dangerous national precedent." Although the deal had earlier been criticized by environmental agency staff, and called illegal by state attorneys, recent press reports suggest the deal could still be signed in the remaining hours of the Engler Administration.

The negotiated order between high level Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) staff and Dow Chemical could relieve Dow of substantial liability for the contamination of the city of Midland and the downriver Tittabawassee River floodplain. Signatories to the letter, which urges the Governor and Governor-elect to quash the deal, charges that the "order does not protect public health." It further notes the order "does not protect the environment." The letter charges the order could "set a precedent that will allow polluters to propose ad hoc approaches to remediation that will tax agency staff time and taxpayer money, while not assuring protection of the public's health."

The proposed deal has drawn fire from nearly all quarters, including extensive condemnation from technical staff in the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the DEQ and the Michigan Department of Community Health. Yet recent reports from a DEQ spokesperson suggest the deal is still on the table and could be signed as one of the final acts of the Engler Administration.

The letter was signed by more than a dozen environmental and health organizations including: National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Environmental Working Group, Center for Health Environmental and Justice, Environmental Health Fund, Science and Environmental Health Network,

For more information, and a copy of the letter and signatories, see http:www.ecocenter.org.

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