Thursday, November 6, 2003

JEREMIAH STETTLER
THE SAGINAW NEWS

Dow Chemical Co. wants visitation rights to residents along the Tittabawassee River.

Dow attorneys filed written arguments Wednesday urging Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Leopold P. Borrello to let them interview property owners along the dioxin-laden floodplain.

The move would allow Dow attorneys to conduct sit-down chats with residents who are eligible to join a class-action lawsuit against the chemical giant.

Attorneys would not interview residents already named in the lawsuit.

Bruce F. Trogan, a lawyer for residents suing Dow, said the company is trying to slip into property owners' homes before they have legal representation.

"This is an attempt to get to them before they become our clients," Trogan said. "We don't think that is fair."

He said Dow attorneys could pry into residents' medical and employment histories or try to dissuade them from joining the lawsuit.

He also feared that Dow, which has stated publicly that dioxin poses "no significant health risk" to residents along the Tittabawassee River, could distort the facts about the toxin.

"The risk of misinformation is very real," he said.

Scot Wheeler, a spokesman for Dow, said the interviews are nothing more than an "information-gathering exercise." He said the company wants to determine whether the residents have enough similarities for the court to consider them a "class."

"You have to have information to base your decision on," Wheeler said. "It is vital for making a good ruling."

He criticized residents' attorneys for trying to block access to that information.

Wheeler said the company would not try to dissuade residents from joining the lawsuit.

Dow's request comes less than three months before Judge Borrello will decide whether to certify a class-action lawsuit involving nearly 300 residents along the Tittabawassee River. The hearing is Tuesday, Jan. 27. t

© 2003 Saginaw News.