Environmentalists try to stop deal with Dow
Tuesday, December 3, 2002
SCOTT DAVIS
State environmentalists are moving to block a deal that would dramatically ease dioxin cleanup standards for Dow Chemical Co.
The Lone Tree Council, a Saginaw Valley environmental group, joined other groups Monday in filing a petition with the state Department of Environmental Quality to delay approval of a consent order between the agency and the Midland-based company.
Last month, the two reached an agreement, called a consent order, requiring the company to clean up dioxin contamination in Midland and nearby areas only at sites where dioxins are nearly 10 times higher than the current state standard.
Critics say the state is trying to push through a sweetheart deal for the company in the final days of the Gov. John Engler administration before Governor-elect Jennifer Granholm takes office Wednesday, Jan. 1.
Public comment on the agreement ends Monday, and state officials say they will not extend the deadline. The state agency has not yet approved the deal.
"Political expediency should not exceed science," said Michelle Hurd Riddick, a member of the Lone Tree Council. "The DEQ solicited comment from the EPA but didn't give them time for their people to take a look at this."
The consent order also formalizes plans for a multimillion-dollar health study that Dow would finance. Dioxin is a toxic byproduct of chlorine manufacturing that scientists have linked to a variety of illnesses.
At a recent public hearing on the issue, some Saginaw County residents expressed concern that the DEQ also will apply the Midland standards to a potential cleanup along a 22-mile stretch of the Tittabawassee River downstream from Dow's complex.
Earlier this year, state officials conducted tests showing very high levels of dioxin along the river, reaching into Saginaw County.
Riddick said she is concerned that the consent order's dioxin standard eventually will become the new state standard.
But state officials say the proposed standard likely will change several times after DEQ officials adjust a mathematical formula related to the health risks associated with dioxin.
Other environmental groups that signed the petition with the Lone Tree Council are the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Environmental Health Watch of Midland, the Lansing-based Michigan Environmental Council and Tittabawassee River Watch of Freeland.
Riddick said the Lone Tree Council has not ruled out seeking court action to block the consent order. t
Scott Davis is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9665.