Tittabawassee River Watch www.trwnews.net
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Tittabawassee River Watch www.trwnews.net
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TRW Archives 2002, 4th Quarter 10/20/02 - 12/31/02
12/29/02 Fingerprints of Dioxin Contamination A few color graphs tell the whole story. The Dioxin came from Dow Operations in Midland, spilled into the Tittabawasse River and now contaminate the entire floodplain including our parks & backyards. Dow is careful to always state the contamination is a result of releases from long ago (Historical). We ask, are "old" dioxin molecules any less toxic and than new ones? Does Dow have any fingerprint data of recent (non-historical) dioxin production to prove these claims?
12/27/02 Associated Press: State proposed deal with Dow falls apart Many other related articles dating back to January 2002 available, click here
12/27/02 Dow-DEQ deal DEAD
12/20/02 Dow-DEQ deal on verge of collapse Heatlh Study still on the table. WHY?? Many other related articles dating back to January 2002 available, click here
12/20/02 Detroit Free Press: A plan for cleaning up dioxion sets off anxiety Many other related articles dating back to January 2002 available, click here
12/19/02 Press Release: Environmental groups warn President against appointment of Engler to head EPA
12/17/02 Midland Daily News Editorial rebuttal
12/14/02 Associated Press: Critics claim Engler is trying to lessen liability for Dow Chemical Many other related articles dating back to January 2002 available, click here
12/11/02 Toledo Ohio concerned about dioxin in the Tittabawassee River flood plain. Environmentalists are comparing the potential pollution liability in central Michigan with the $500 million federal order against General Electric last year for dredging PCBs from the Hudson River bed above New York City.
12/10/02 MDCH staff comments on Dow Corrective Action Consent Order (pdf). Comments were requested by her superior but in the end were not allowed on the public record. Comments are from a toxicologist who was the lead person in charge of the Health Consultations issued in March 2002.
12/9/02 Public comment period on Dow Corrective Action Consent Order is closed as of 6 PM. DEQ officials have said they intend to approve the agreement before Gov. John Engler leaves office at the end of the year regardless of the all of the negative input by citizens and the EPA. It appears that the Michigan Department of Community Health will also be excluded from commenting on this CACO. Circuit Court Judge Collette set a hearing on Jan. 6th 2003 on the DEQ/DOW consent order. Tittabawassee River Watch, Lone Tree Council, residents of Midland and the floodplain will have their day in court. Judge Collette indicated that our right to challenge the consent order, even if signed, will be preserved.
Back in 1908, Ezra Rust suggested the Tittabawassee River be used to provide Saginaw with fresh drinking water. He is quoted as saying "That these waters may be polluted at Midland by a chemical plant or by that small population of that city may be true, but this can easily be corrected." Ezra was a great guy, but evidently had nothing in common with Nostradamous. See Saginaw Trivia as posted in the Saginaw News 12/9/02.
Hundreds of comments & objections raised by the EPA. If you seek to understand why the Ecology Center, Lone Tree Council, TRW and many others are challenging the MDEQ in these matters, you have to read these.
12/6/02 CACO Restraining order update In an Ingham County Court today, Circuit Court Judge Collette set a hearing on Jan. 6th 2003 on the DEQ/DOW consent order. Although our request for a Temporary Restraining Order was denied, we are very happy that the Tittabawassee River Watch, Lone Tree Council, residents of Midland and the floodplain will have their day in court. We are delighted that the judge is willing review these issues so quickly. In addition Judge Collette indicated that our right to challenge the consent order, even if signed, will be preserved. Our attorney, Chris Bzdok was pleased with the ruling.Michelle Hurd Riddick, Lone Tree
Council 12/5/02 Content of temporary restraining order against MDEQ as filed in Ingram county circuit court Over 152 legal points in this temporary restraining order. Read it for a very good review of what's gone wrong in the MDEQ and why we had to sue them. We are asking the courts to:
12/5/02 Citizens Sue to stop dioxin deal between state and Dow Chemical Press Release CITIZENS SUE TO STOP DIOXIN DEAL BETWEEN STATE AND DOW CHEMICAL Dioxins, One of the Most Toxic Substances Known A coalition of six environmental groups and citizens living in areas contaminated with toxic dioxin filed suit today to stop a proposed deal between the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Dow Chemical Company. The deal, if approved, would expose communities to levels of dioxin nearly 10 times above the state's current standard, they said. The lawsuit is the second in a series of actions the coalition is pursuing to block a proposed "corrective action order" drafted by DEQ in consultation with Dow that substitutes a standard of 831 parts per trillion of dioxins in soil, far above the 90 parts per trillion cleanup standard in DEQ policies and rules. The less protective standard would initially apply to the Midland area, where sampling has shown high levels of dioxin in public areas, but could later be extended to other contaminated areas. Families who live along the Tittabawassee River fear the standard will be extended to their yards and neighborhoods. The coalition also believes that a state and national precedent could be set if the methods used to derive the standards are adopted. "DEQ's proposed action is clearly unlawful," said Chris Bzdok, an attorney for the citizens. "The agency has failed to follow law and rules in drafting an order that seems designed primarily to serve the interests of Dow Chemical Company, not the public health." Bzdok pointed out that an assistant attorney general earlier this fall critiqued a draft of the consent order as "illegal" and called for it to be scrapped. Instead, top DEQ officials have cut the Department of Attorney General out of discussions on the order, spending $10,000 in taxpayer money to hire their own outside counsel. Because the consent order could be signed at any time after the close of the public comment period on December 9, the suit's plaintiffs said only a decision by the court for an injunction to stop the order could protect the public interest. The DEQ has refused requests for an extension of the 30-day public comment period to allow public health advocates, environmentalists, local residents and others to examine the hundreds of pages of technical documents released by DEQ just weeks ago, and to provide comment. "Everything about this deal stinks. The public interest has been ignored, the science disregarded, public input has been squelched, and the law violated. Now our health is at risk," said Diane Hebert, Midland resident and Director of Environmental Health Watch. "If Dow gets away with this here in one of the largest watersheds in Michigan, with one of the most well studied and toxic chemicals known, this sham process could come to your town next," said Michelle Hurd Riddick of Lone Tree Council referring to the methods used to calculate the less protective cleanup standard for dioxin. "This is bad policy, and bad governance, and it puts health at risk." Groups filing the lawsuit in Ingham County Circuit Court are: Lone Tree Council, Tittabawassee River Watch, Ecology Center, Clean Water Action, Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, and PIRGIM. In addition, ten residents of Midland and the contaminated downriver floodplain joined in the action.Contact:
Residents living in dioxin-contaminated
areas were joined by leading environmental organizations in the state today in petitioning
the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), demanding the right to intervene
in a proposed decision that could relieve Dow Chemical Company of responsibility for
comprehensive cleanup, and expose Michigan residents to future health risks.
For more information, see http://www.ecocenter.org . To learn more about Tittabawassee River Watch, see http//:www.trwnews.org.Contact: Michelle Hurd Riddick, Lone Tree Council - 989-799-3313 Terry Miller, Lone Tree Council - 989-686-6386 Dave Dempsey, Michigan Environmental Council - 517-487-9539 Tracey Easthope, Ecology Center, 734-663-2400 x 109 John Taylor, Tittabawassee River Watch, 989-781-2950 Diane Hebert, Environmental Health Watch - 989 832-1694
The DEQ is hell bent on pushing the DOW health study and the Corrective Action Consent Order through in the next 2 weeks. Public Comment period on the Dow CACO ends 12/9/02. Please take a few moments and send an email to Mr. Jim Sygo at sygoJ@michigan.gov Tell him you insist on a public hearing on the health study in Saginaw County. Jim is the division chief handling this issue for the DEQ director Harding. The high dioxin levels of 831 ppt TEQ contained in the CACO may be applied to all of us who live down stream if we fail to act now! The "Health Study" as written will be heavily influenced by Dow, do you want the inmates running the asylum? Please copy your emails to info@trwnews.org at the cc: prompt. While your at it, please sign our petition to stop the Dow funded Health Study TRW Dioxin Resolution Petition Fall 2002 Thank you.
11/21/02 Dow CACO Public Hearing, Saginaw News article Midland ready to deal Friday, November 22, 2002 ANDY GRIMM THE SAGINAW NEWS Despite protests from environmental groups and federal Environmental Protection Agency misgivings, a proposed agreement between Dow Chemical Co. and the state Department of Environmental Quality to handle dioxin contamination in Midland will move ahead, said DEQ Deputy Director Art Nash. The agreement, called a consent order, would not require Dow to clean up residential sites in Midland and surrounding areas where levels of dioxin are less than 831 parts per trillion. It also formalizes plans for a multimillion-dollar health study paid for by the chemical company. There are no residential sites in Midland that would require cleanup under the 831 parts per trillion standard, state officials have said. Residents at a public hearing Thursday at Midland's Dow High School complained that DEQ and Dow officials are hurrying to sign the pact before the end of the year, when industry-friendly Gov. John Engler leaves office. Public comment on the agreement ends Monday, Dec. 9, and state officials will not extend the deadline, Nash said. The 831 parts per trillion level will likely change several times after DEQ officials adjust a mathematical formula to identify the health risks associated with dioxin, a toxic byproduct of chlorine manufacturing that scientists have linked to a host of illnesses. "This is just a start, not a finish to the process," Nash said. "Clearly the public needs to focus on the process. The risk assessment is very complex. I don't even understand all of it." Nash said the draft of the consent order differs significantly from a version staffers in the state attorney general's office called "illegal" and "fatally flawed." "There was a lot of personal opinion in (the attorney general's review)," Nash said, adding that the DEQ has hired a private lawyer to review the order. Spokesman Gregory T. Bird said last week that attorney general staffers still are reviewing the order, but their approval is not necessary for DEQ Director Russell Harding to sign the accord. DEQ officials refused a request from the Environmental Protection Agency to delay approving the agreement until they can fully review it, said Gregory A. Rudloff, a corrective action officer for the EPA. Freeland resident Vince Castellanos, a member of the Tittabawassee Township dioxin committee, said the public needs more time to digest the 42-page agreement and dozens more pages of technical documents. "They're talking jargon that 90 percent of the people don't understand," he said. Saginaw County residents at the hearing expressed concern that the DEQ will apply the Midland standards to a potential cleanup along a 22-mile stretch of the Tittabawassee River downstream from Dow's complex. More than a dozen Midland residents, including Mayor Drummond Black and Dow Michigan Operations Chief Gary Veurink, made statements in support of the agreement. Midland residents have debated the dioxin issue since the 1980s, Black said. "Let's get on with the Midland problem," he said. "Don't wait on Midland while you're trying to decide what to do with the river." A handful of others booed comments by members of River Watch, an environmental group formed this year after tests found high levels of dioxin in the Tittabawassee River flood plain. "There are people here who are obviously concerned about their health," said Chuck Gartner, a Dow engineer who has lived in Midland for 20 years, "but some people will never be satisfied (with health studies) because they 'know' dioxin is bad. "We can spend a tremendous amount of money to resolve a problem that only exists in someone's mind, or we can put it to some good use." Thomas Township resident Robert Cowling, who joined a half-dozen Greenpeace protesters outside a Dow office building Thursday morning, said he was not surprised by Midland residents' willingness to accept the plan. "They can swim (in dioxin) neck deep if they want," but the plan must address concerns of residents downstream, said Cowling, who carried a banner that read: "Michigan DEQ: A wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co." The hearing showed the difference between Midland, where Dow is the largest employer, and communities downstream, said Michelle Hurd Riddick, a member of the Lone Tree Council, an environmental group. "It contrasts the two communities very much, but unfortunately this is a watershed issue," she said. "If they don't have a problem with the dioxin that's up there, that's fine. They need to find a way to keep it in Midland." t Andy Grimm is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9688.
The letter below ran
in the Letters to the Editor, Saginaw News on Friday (November 15th) . Here is the letter
in its entirety. Bold print is
what the Saginaw news omitted, edited, left out! A bit of significant
information. Yah, think? The Bay City Times printed
the entire letter. As of 11/23/02, the Midland Daily News has yet to print the letter.
11/13/02
Lone Tree Council Dioxin Update November 13th 2002
TITTABAWASSEE RIVER WATCH MEETING GreenPoint Nature Center MONDAY, November 18 --6pm PLEASE ATTEND Greetings! The dioxin issue continuous to morph into an unbelievable monster that we are hard pressed to control. But we can't and we won't give up. The issue is so complex that even some of the good folks in the DEQ are hard pressed to understand all the implications. 1. The Corrective Action License for Dow Chemical is in the public comment period until Dec 9 2002. This is a huge license for Dow that will issue several permits at one time. The biggest implication for the T-River in the License is section 11 where cleanup of off site releases (off the Dow Plant site) is addressed. The Tittabawassee River and Floodplain are not listed to be cleaned up. We were told that the Floodplain was listed in a previous draft, however, DEQ administration had it removed. No reason given. The implications are huge. 2. The Consent Order for Dow Chemical. Yes, this is the same "sweetheart deal", that Deputy Director Nash denied existed ( Freeland meeting Oct.3). Dow is being given permission to raise soil standards from 90ppt to 831 in Midland. Using a highly technical risk assessment formula (PRA) Dow believes with DEQ administration blessing that this 831ppt is safe for people. Problems? You bet. State Toxicology people had very serious concerns about the science and disagree with several conclusions. These Tox people asked EPA's independent dioxin experts to review and comment. DEQ refused to give EPA time to review. The implications for the floodplain are huge! The infamous DOW HEALTH STUDY is in the Consent Order. We have all know for sometime that the health study could only be beneficial for Dow. Using the health study it is only a matter of time before the 90ppt is raised in the flooplain. The floodplain residents will continue to be exposed, Dow will skirt cleanup and Lake Huron, in time will be the fallout for dioxin. Fingerprinting. Dow keeps saying that dioxin fingerprints don't match their current process. THAT'S BECAUSE NO ONE HAS DONE THE FINGERPRINTING. Dow and DEQ administration have put off fingerprinting for Floodplain soils and soils from the Dow plant site because they know the fingerprints would match. In a court of law, you would than have a "liable party." Dow PR machine is working overtime, their political dollars start here in Saginaw County and move all the way to Washington, DC. Deep pockets and lots of money. A most formidable opponent. We have until the end of the year to stop this train wreck from occurring. We are working on it very hard with a great deal of help from our friends at MEC and the Ecology Center. You should know that EPA appears to have some very serious reservations about how things are being handled here and will be reviewing and commenting on a number of items. Also, DEQ and MDCH field staff and toxicology people are commenting on the consent order. Most of them do not like it and are outraged by what is taking place. Come to the meeting at Greenpoint this Monday. Join the River Watch and help protect our water resources, the public health and property values along in the floodplain. Bring a friend and we look forward to seeing you Monday!
11/17/02 DEQ releases Dow Corrective Action Consent Order for public comment
11/1/02 River residents at HIGH risk of dioxin exposure "At higher risk of exposure to dioxin are children, nursing infants, some workers and farmers, people who eat fish as a main staple of their diet such as some indigenous peoples and fishermen, and people who live near dioxin release sites. These groups of people are likely exposed to at least 10 times as much dioxin as the general population." The preceding is a quote from the American Peoples Dioxin Report published by the Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, an organization that developed out of the Love Canal tragedy. Scientific research supporting the report can be found at Technical Support Document.
10/22/02 Dow diverting attention from cleanup
Dow & MDEQ in collusion to create Dioxin Zone Supporting Documentation Michigan Asst. Attorney General Warning to MDEQ that CACO is ILLEGAL MDEQ Art Nash requesting AG to doctor illegal document & make it legal
10/20/02 Sign our petition to stop the Dow funded "Health Study"
TRW Dioxin Resolution Petition Fall 2002
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