Dioxin Update
Lone Tree Council and TRW
November 18th 2007 #107
www.trwnews.net
Front Page Headline Detroit Free Press
Sky-high dioxin level taints river
November 15, 200BY TINA LAM
The discovery of the highest level of the feared chemical compound dioxin ever in the Great Lakes region has prompted the EPA to order an emergency cleanup in the Saginaw River in Saginaw and the state to issue new warnings about eating fish from the river.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071115/NEWS05/711150353#article_commentsGo ahead read the Free Press story and then click on the comments.........People really do get it! As stated in the previous Dioxin Update the good news is dioxin levels are decreasing in Lake Huron. The bad news is they are increasing in Saginaw Bay...But here is hope. In August EPA requested that DEQ require Dow Chemical to implement sediment traps as part of an Interim Response Activity to stop the migration of contamination to our Saginaw Bay. Joint discussions are taking place between DEQ, EPA, USACOE and Dow. Not sure if the IRAs will be completed by December 31st as EPA requested. That Michigan's largest watershed is home to the highest levels of dioxin in the Great Lakes is a distinction we need to shed ASAP.
Dow Chemical in Violation of License Again !
Like being in violation of their license could still shock anyone However, after a review by MDEQ and MDCH it was determined the Direct Contact Criteria (DCC) Report is incomplete, has major deficiencies and substantial inaccuracies and is in violation of Dow's license.
By law Dow is allowed to propose a site specific number supported by studies which then are submitted to an independent scientific body to evaluate. In 2002 Dow proposed a site specific number of 831 ppt. However the protocol used to obtain the number was blow out of the water by sounder scientific minds. This most recent deficient DCC report was supposed give the new number, scientific bases for the number and be complete so as to submit it to the independent scientific body for review. Didn't happen, Dow omitted information, asked for more meetings and submitted not a site specific number but a range! The range 890 ppt to 200,000,000 ppt ----------Mind boggling given the overwhelming consensus on the toxicity of dioxins. You can view the range proposed by Dow on page 9 at this link:
The next link will take you to the letter from MDEQ to Dow listing ---once again ---all of Dow's pathetic delay tactics and deficient work:
Site specific criteria will be applied to the Tittabawassee and Saginaw River so how this plays out is significant. And it's not as if Dow didn't know the expectation. Meeting notes show DEQ and EPA clearly articulating expectations which adhere to scientific guidelines and the company's obligations under RCRA.
Additional Fish Advisories on the Saginaw River
The Department of Community Health says the fish may have unsafe levels of dioxin in their bodies. Dioxin exposure has been linked to cancers, birth defects and harm to the immune system.
The department says nobody should eat carp, catfish or white bass taken from anywhere in the Saginaw River. Women of childbearing age and kids under age 15 shouldn't eat smallmouth bass.
Women of childbearing age and kids under 15 should eat walleye less than 22 inches long no more than once a month, and six meals of larger walleye per year. For all other species of fish caught in the Saginaw River, women of childbearing age and kids under 15 are being advised to eat no more than one meal per month.
Freeland Festival Park and dioxin on the move-- Where did that hot spot go?
Studies are in and data confirmed on the turf pad sediment sampling done in Freeland Festival Park. This data is now available via the Freedom of Information Act and will be up on the TRW web site soon. The contamination on the banks of the T-river upstream is being eroded and re suspended and sent down river with high water events. One of the turf pads in the park recorded 5,000 ppt after a high water event. In addition an EPA Briefing Document from December 2006 states: On December 11, 2006, Dow provided the sampling results from the confirmation and step-out samples that they collected in the area of the previously reported 87,000 ppt TEQ dioxin sample in the Tittabawassee River. The new samples failed to identify elevated dioxin levels at the same sampling location............ This dioxin hot spot just picked up and moved down river onto someone else's property or perhaps further down river. Either way this mobile chemical compound is made accessible to fish, wildlife, people and Lake Huron.
CLASS ACTION REMAINS IN LIMBO
It's been two years this past month since the class action, Henry et al v Dow Chemical, was certified by Judge Borello and appealed by Dow Chemical. The case has been heard by the Michigan Court of Appeals but they have yet to hand down a decision. The case was heard by the court this past spring and yet the hundreds of families sit and wait and wait and wait..................no one can argue against the right of these river residents to move this issue forward and find resolution. The sooner the better.
Mark you Calendars
The next DEQ Dow quarterly meeting will be held on November 28th 6 pm at Horizon's in Saginaw. EPA will be in attendance. Thanks to those of you who e-mailed and are sharing this Update with your lists. Don't forget to visit the TRW web site for the latest news.
Wishing all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
No one has the right to use America's rivers and America's Waterways that belong to all the people as a sewer. The banks of a river may belong to one man or one industry or one State, but the water which flow between the banks belong to all the people..............Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Clean Water Act in 1965
Source: Lone Tree Council / TRW
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 source organization's web site link is listed above. The Newspaper / Media page of our site contains an extensive archive of media articles dating back to January 2002. The Newspaper / Media page may be accessed by scrolling down to the bottom of the CONTENTS section and clicking on the Newspaper/Media link.