06/30/08 Fourth book in series
on local dioxin pollution released
Richard Maltby of Midland has published a anew
book: The Aftermath, Restoration of a Failed Ecosystem
From the author:
"This is the fourth edition of a series of my books
of the pollution of the Tittabawassee River and environs, and the
dioxin-contaminated community of Midland and floodplain by the Dow Chemical
Company. My previous edition include the Pollution Signature,
The Dioxin Story, and Revival of the Tittabawassee.
As noted in this edition, concern is with the restoration of a failed ecosystem
brought on by the Down Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan."
Copies are available in local libraries.
Mr.
Maltby a retired professional urban and environmental resource planner is a
member of the American Institute of Certified Planers (AICP) and the American
Planning Association. He has 38 years of experience in Michigan, Illinois, and
New York; the most recent as the Midland county planning director from
1983-1998.
06/22/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update: Slurry Pit Update
A public
meeting regarding the Operational Management Plan (OMP) for the Upper
Saginaw River Dredged Materials Disposal Facility is planned for June 24,
2008. The OMP is on
www.Dredgeitright.org site. The meeting
will be held at Curtis Hall SVSU campus starting at 7pm.
Other Topics:
Last week several of
us met with the Lieutenant Governor who intervened in the slurry pit debate
between the DEQ and the Corp. Mr. Cherry stated, as has DEQ management, that
the Corp of Engineers claimed “ sovereign immunity”, i.e. we are above the
laws of the state of Michigan.
On January 28th
Jim Koski pulled his application for groundwater permits required under Part
22. The next day Jim Koski, notified MDEQ that Dow Chemical pulled funding
for the slurry wall.
Without Dow the
strategy had to change. So the Corp submitted a study, paid for by Dow,
which said a slurry wall was not needed
Will James, Saginaw,
Thomas or Tittabawassee Twp be the recipient of a slurry pit too? Page 6 of
the Framework agreement says Dow can construct a facility like the one on
the Saginaw River for their cleanup along the Tittabawassee River.
The
Lieutenant Governor believed Dow over his agency (DEQ). Who would you
believe?
Opinion of Dow contractor Environ (paid
for by Dow) on why the DMDF is safe without a slurry wall.
READ MORE
DEQ response stating why the Environ
opinion is in error and why the DMDF does need a slurry
wall.
READ MORE
Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
06/01/08
Lone Tree Council / CACC Anniversary presentation by Dave Dempsey
Congratulations
to the Lone Tree Council and CACC for 30 years of defending Michigan's
environment! A
celebration held today was enjoyed by a group of almost 100 members and friends,
and was honored with guest speaker, and Great Lakes author, Dave Dempsey.
Dave is a former Policy Advisor for the Michigan Environmental Council, former
Environmental
Advisor to Governor Jim Blanchard and was appointed to the Great Lakes Fishery
Commission by President Bill Clinton.
His insightful speech (see link below) touched on many points critical to restoring the
one of a kind environment enjoyed by so many living in Michigan. Below are
a number of excerpts, please read the entire speech, solutions are
offered!
"We have begun, I believe, to allow the Great Lakes to be converted to a
product. And this we must never do."
"Do we really want water to be subject to the same erratic, exploitative
control and pricing that petroleum is subject to Imagine a 20 cent per
gallon price rise in one day for water. It wouldn’t be a mere inconvenience
– it could kill.
Water is
different.
Water has a spiritual value. Water is life.
I want Michigan to be the last best
defender of fresh water. If not us, who? If not now, when? "
"In short, looking at Michigan conservation and environmental policy
from the outside in, I’ve come to the conclusion that the system is broken.
That is, the problem is systemic. It’s not just Dow, or Whirlpool, or
Meijer, or 100 other examples. It’s a systemic problem that will require a
systemic solution. Or several of them. This is where I want to propose a new
road for us to take."
Let’s look at the system as a
whole – and let’s fix it.
·Let’s fix the campaign
finance system.
·Let’s fix Michigan’s
judicial system.
·Let’s fix the environmental
decision making system.
·Let’s fix the economic
system.
The speech contains all of the details between the bullet points above.
In our opinion, one of the most critical issues brought up was the urgent need
to take back our Michigan Supreme Court. As Dave put it,
"We
don’t have a Supreme Court anymore, we have a Supreme Corporation"
"This year, one of the principal architects of a series of dangerous
rulings, Clifford Taylor, is up for re-election to an eight-year term. If
fixing the campaign finance system or the method of choosing Supreme Court
justices seems too big a mission for you, I recommend one simple thing: vote
Clifford Taylor out of office. That’s one step toward righting the balance
of the public and the private interest."
06/01/08 EPA
responds: Chamber of Commerce statements have little factual basis
As posted in the Saginaw News "My View" column Saturday June 1, 2008
Assumptions without research lead to misinformation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shares the
view recently
expressed in these pages by Bob Van Deventer of the Saginaw County Chamber
of Commerce that protecting the health and safety of residents in the
Saginaw Valley environment is a top priority.
However, Van Deventer's presentation of the issues concerning dioxin
contamination in the Tittabawassee River system leaves out several important
details.
Van Deventer claims that "not one individual has ever been ill because of
the effects of furans/dioxins" in the river. This is a striking
oversimplification. To EPA's knowledge, no specific study has ever been
conducted that supports this statement.
Certainly, in the case of dioxin, delaying action until people actually
suffer clinical health effects would be irresponsible.
Considerable evidence shows that adverse health effects are possible and
may begin to occur when individuals are exposed at levels not much higher
than those expected for the general population. Also, available data show
elevated dioxin levels in soils near many private homes as well as in local
game and fish in the Saginaw Valley.
Another Van Deventer claim, that "wildlife along the Tittabawassee River
is flourishing," has little factual basis. The EPA has never received a work
plan for an ecological risk assessment by Dow or Michigan State University
researchers that meets the agency's baseline requirements. Furthermore, the
MSU wildlife studies to date have not undergone peer review.
Finally, in discussing the University of Michigan's preliminary results
from its dioxin exposure study, Van Deventer states that it "clearly showed
very little difference in dioxin blood levels" between Tittabawassee River
floodplain residents and a test group not living in the area. Again, the U-M
study has yet to be fully peer-reviewed.
To conclude anything definitive at this early date would seem to be an
attempt to limit further discussion. A final report is not expected until
late this year at the earliest.
The studies under way clearly demand the full scrutiny of the scientific
and academic communities. The agencies also fully support the concept of
new, additional studies of human and ecological health in the area by
qualified researchers. To do anything less is to short-change the residents
and the health of the Saginaw Valley.
Mario M. Mangino is a toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental
Agency's Region 5 in Chicago.
06/1/08 EPA: Agencies consider
downstream effect of river restoration
As posted in the Saginaw News "My View" column Saturday June 1, 2008, 2-3
months after it was submitted in response to Horn's My View article of 2/29/08
-----
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees with state
Rep. Kenneth
B. Horn that all parties with a vested interest in cleaning up the
pervasive, long-standing dioxin and furan contamination in the Tittabawassee
and Saginaw rivers should work together to resolve this complex problem.
The residents who live along these valuable natural resources have been
waiting for decades and deserve to finally see real action.
The EPA is working closely with the Michigan Department of Environmental
Quality to accelerate the process and help bolster the state's efforts to
compel Dow Chemical Co. to clean up the Tittabawassee River.
To be accountable to the public we serve, the EPA must also provide
clarity, context and, in a few instances, corrections regarding some issues
that were recently raised by Horn in these pages.
In 2006, Dow assured the DEQ that it would clean up three highly
contaminated sections of the Tittabawassee River, but in 2007 the company
indicated it would not finish by the end of the year. When Dow proposed two
more years to finish work on the section near its Midland facility and made
no plan to clean up the section six miles downriver, the EPA exercised its
authority under Superfund and ordered Dow to complete all three cleanups
simultaneously in 2007.
It is important to note that the DEQ and Dow were already planning to
remove dioxin-contaminated soil along the 1,600-foot section three miles
downriver from Dow's plant before the EPA got involved.
The plan called for Dow to engineer the riverbank to minimize future
erosion. The goal was to allow the river to expand up the bank and reduce
its energy during high flow periods.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also provided expert opinion, and its
recommendations were incorporated into the work plan. The EPA's order
ensured that the work got done.
Horn made the point that "lots of rip-rap" should be used to keep the
banks from eroding.
While the EPA agrees that using some rip-rap is warranted, overuse may
concentrate the river's energy and cause problems for communities downriver.
The EPA and the DEQ recognize that extensive work needs to be done to
stabilize rapidly eroding riverbanks. However, neither agency considers
lining the river with rip-rap an acceptable solution.
It is also necessary to clarify that as a matter of fact, 300 majestic,
100-year-old oak trees were not ripped from the ground during the cleanup.
According to
Dow's tree inventory, only three of the 419 trees cut down
were oaks. The rest were fast-growing and short-lived cottonwoods and ashes,
generally considered to be less desirable. It is highly unlikely that many
of them were 100 years old since most were small in diameter indicating
relatively young ages.
Certainly, the EPA realizes it is unfortunate that even one tree was cut
down, and that is why Dow was required to plant 430 new trees.
The Fish and Wildlife Service recommended that Dow replace the trees with
a greater variety of native species because diversity makes the area less
susceptible to blight or infestation.
Dow also replaced groundcover in the area with native grasses, an
improvement requested by the Natural Resource Trustees.
The EPA could not agree more with Horn that future work should be
accomplished in a way that does the least damage possible to the natural
beauty of the rivers. The EPA and the DEQ are working together to make sure
that even greater care is taken in the future to protect existing vegetation
and, when possible, enhance the habitat with natural bank stabilization
methods.
Ralph Dollhopf is associate director of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Region 5 Superfund Division in Chicago.
05/29/08 EPA to seek immediate
cleanup of dioxin in riverside residential neighborhood
CHICAGO (May 28, 2008) - Officials from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Michigan
Department of Community Health met with residents of the Riverside Boulevard
neighborhood in Saginaw last night to discuss results of recent sampling of
dioxin-contaminated soil in the area.
Soil from residential properties in an area along the Lower Tittabawassee
River was recently sampled and analyzed by EPA and evaluated in
collaboration with MDEQ and health officials. While final data is still
coming in, preliminary results show properties with unacceptably high levels
of dioxin contamination.
EPA has notified Dow Chemical Co. of the situation and will meet with the
company and MDEQ to discuss potential response actions. EPA and Dow
successfully negotiated the terms of four hot spot cleanup projects
implemented by Dow on the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers downstream of its
Midland, Mich., facility last year.
"This cleanup is a high priority as this dioxin contamination is in a
residential neighborhood," said EPA Region 5 Superfund Division Director
Richard Karl. "We will continue to work with the state agencies to evaluate
results of sampling from other residential areas and consider appropriate
actions.
The recent sampling project was prompted by Dow's February 2008 disclosure
to the agencies of an elevated dioxin level found in a residential soil
sample collected by Dow in November 2007. Under the company's Michigan
operating license which requires Dow to conduct corrective action for
historic releases, MDEQ has been requiring Dow to conduct floodplain soil,
riverbank and sediment sampling in and along the Tittabawassee River
downstream of Midland.
Dow's Midland facility is a 1,900-acre chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxins
and furans are byproducts from the manufacture of chlorine-based products.
Past waste disposal practices, emissions and incineration at Dow have
resulted in on- and off-site dioxin and furan contamination.
# #
05/25/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update: CACC/Lone
Tree Council 30 year celebration
Please take time to join us for
this very important anniversary and celebration of thirty years of dedication to
public health and the resources of the Saginaw Bay Watershed. Tickets can be
purchased at the door but I need you to RSVP to me about your intentions to
attend the celebration.
Join us in welcoming the man who
knows the most about these Great Lakes, accomplished writer, author, friend and
educator Dave Dempsey, who graciously agreed to be our honored guest and speaker
for the celebration. Dave is a former Policy Advisor for the Michigan
Environmental Council, former Environmental Advisor to Governor Jim Blanchard
and was appointed to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission by President Bill
Clinton.
Good food, music and so many
reasons to celebrate. Please lend you voice and blend your voice in support of
thirty years of commitment to many more years to come. I look forward to
hearing from you. We remain committed to fighting for the water and resources
of the Saginaw Bay Watershed and this state. Please join as we plan our future
course.
Best always,
Michelle Hurd Riddick
DAVE DEMPSEY TO SPEAK AT CACC/LONE TREE
COUNCIL 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
05/23/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update: Slurry Pit Update
“The DEQ admits that the flood actually
occurred, but displacing 1.7 million cubic yards of floodwater won't matter. It
did matter. Floodwaters receded as soon as the railroad grade gave way, draining
the homes of water.
Given the relatively flat topography
of the Saginaw Valley, the equivalent of 14 Pontiac Silverdome-sized swimming
pools 4-feet-3-inches deep has to find someplace to go: Your house. Don't worry;
the Federal Emergency Management Agency will take care of us. The FEMA permit
required was never approved. “
Topics:
The Slurry Pit on the Saginaw River
Our own one of a kind slurry pit
Crap shoot placing groundwater
monitors
Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
05/21/08 UM dioxin study
data misleading in the wrong hands
As posted in the
Saginaw News My View column May 29th 2008 by Greg
Holzman, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Community
Health in Lansing.
My View: Completeness of dioxin
studies spurs concern
Posted by Greg Holzman May 20, 2008 13:21PM
The Michigan Department of Community Health has taken an active role
evaluating dioxin contamination in Midland and along the Tittabawassee and
Saginaw rivers. Our goal is to provide accurate health information so people
can make informed decisions to protect themselves and their families.
We know high levels of dioxin are found in soil and river sediments in
this area and the contamination moves into fish and wild game. We know that
fish and wild game from the area contain dioxin at levels much higher than
grocery store food.
Dioxins and furans can be harmful to health. We can't say whether anyone
has ever become ill as a result of dioxin contamination in the Midland and
Saginaw areas. Fact is, we don't know.
Most medical doctors do not have the training or resources to evaluate
chemical exposures.
So it is unlikely that a visit to the doctor's office would trigger
dioxin blood tests. Such tests are expensive and medical insurance does not
pay for them. A dioxin blood test would not help determine the best medical
treatment. Dioxins build up and stay in a person's body for a long time, and
no medical treatment is available to remove them.
The University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study is a groundbreaking
study of dioxin levels in the blood of Michigan residents. The study,
however, did not study whether people have become ill as a result of the
dioxins in their bodies.
The department is concerned that people who may have the highest exposure
to dioxins in the Midland and Saginaw areas were not part of the study. We
are concerned that citizens will think that fish and wildlife are safe to
eat because of the way some data are presented.
Only a small number of people in the study ate fish from area rivers and
most ate only a few meals per year of fish with lower levels of dioxins. A
handful of people said they eat the more highly dioxin-contaminated fish,
such as catfish. Department surveys show that some people are eating more
fish than the study participants reported. Many people eat the highly
contaminated fish that the department recommends no one eat.
About 14 study properties in the flood plain of the Tittabawassee River
showed dioxin soil concentrations exceeding 1,000 parts per trillion. Most
of the study's soil samples were less than Michigan's 90 parts per trillion
cleanup standard. Yet the results of soil sampling conducted by Dow Chemical
Co., the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental
Protection Agency reveal dioxin concentrations greater than 1,000 parts per
trillion, with levels even in the tens of thousands.
Though the answers to these public health questions are important to
people who live in the dioxin contaminated areas, they are not readily
available. Public health and other government officials can best serve the
public by stating the facts accurately and by providing people with the
information they need to make good choices.
Together, we can prevent exposures to dioxins before they cause harm to
our citizens' health.
Greg Holzman is chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of
Community Health in Lansing.
05/21/08 Environment
Report on NPR: Living downstream from Dow Chemical
Recent spot on on NPR
from the Environment Report features local residents
LIVING
DOWNSTREAM FROM DOW CHEMICAL
Vincent Duffy, the
May 19, 2008
It’s been more than 50 years since Dow Chemical Company stopped dumping
dioxin into the river flowing past its plant in Michigan. But the company and
government regulators are still arguing over how to clean it up.
Click here to view
transcript or
here
to listen on line.
05/18/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update:
Enhanced Wild Game Advisory
Last week MDCH, MDEQ
and DNR added to and extended the range for wild game consumption along
these contaminated rivers. Several game were added and the advisory was
extended to include the Saginaw
River. Children and women of childbearing age are
targeted most frequently in the advisory.
DEQ/Dow quarterly meeting
Dow’s
paid consultants and employees utilized a great deal of time going to
the microphone to challenge MDEQ and MDCH on their science.
A few medial observations
about Mary Gade being fired
Dow’s
influence across all levels of government is palpable.
Dow share holders meeting
5/15/08
Andrew Liveris, having
his own schizophrenic moment of disconnect blew off the dioxin
contamination down river from corporate headquarters.
Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
Once again the Sisters of Mercy carry a
resolution to the shareholders of Dow Chemical insisting the
chemical giant be transparent and forthcoming. Stay tuned for VOTE
#4 from the Dow Chemical Annual General Meeting tomorrow. Last year
the Sisters of Mercy resolution carried an unprecedented 23% of the
shareholders on their resolution.
Below are the
comments given by MEC's Pam Pugh Smith to Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow
Chemical during the share holder meeting. Pam made these poignant
comments during the public comment period of the annual Dow
shareholders meeting. Of course the web cast is turned off for the
public comment period because for Dow 'corporate accountability' is
an oxymoron.
Pam Pugh
Smith
Michigan
Environmental Council
Address
to the Dow Chemical AGM
Thursday,
May 15th 2008
Midland,
MI
Good
morning. My name is Pamela Pugh Smith and I am a board
member of the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of
70 statewide watershed conservation, public health and
environmental organizations. I appreciate the opportunity
to address you today. My primary work with the MEC is
centered on Environmental Justice.
As you
know, dioxin contaminates 52 miles of river and the Saginaw
Bay of Lake Huron, our second largest Great Lake. The
magnitude of this contamination cannot be understated
because it truly impacts our communities. MDCH issued
enhanced fish consumption advisories this past summer…
augmenting the advisories in place since 1978 when dioxins
were first found in Walleye. But walleye are not the only
fish taken from these rivers. The MDCH fish survey found a
disproportionate number of African Americans eating the most
highly contaminated bottom eating fish, mainly cat fish and
carp, from these rivers. Dioxin and furans are persistent
organic pollutants whose impact on developing babies,
children and women of childbearing age are well documented.
In addition to families being exposed through eating this
protein source, children are exposed to contaminated
sediments as they fish from this God-given resource. In the
summer you can find people fishing from the banks of the
river, only yards away from the spot thought to contain the
nations highest levels of dioxin,---1.6 million ppt.
This
contamination demands that we honestly confront the
substantive issue of people who eat these fish to subsist.
This is a moral and ethical issue and there are huge public
health and economic justifications for cleaning up our
rivers. Until that time, it is a danger for the public to be
subject to constant debate over the science provided by
regulatory agencies which is aimed at protecting the health
of vulnerable citizens.
Finally, Mr. Liveris I pose the question to you, is Dow
Chemical of the belief that it is OK for children and women
of childbearing age to consume fish contaminated with dioxin
and furans?
In response to
Pam's closing question to Mr. Liveris, he stated: " The science
is in, I have answered that question". No he didn't. Coward.
Not sure just
how nasty the fish would be have to be before it’s a problem for
Mr. Liveris but you can bet the CEO isn’t feeding local fish to
his grandchildren. It’s clearer than ever that Dow wants to define
the parameters of their goodwill and accountability. Only their
science is relevant, and they will define whose water is important,
what clean water is and who in the Human Element matters.
Michelle
Hurd Riddick
Lone
Tree Council
The outcome: 22% in favor to Sister of Mercy resolution
More than 22% of Dow's voting shareholders voted to urge the company
to report on progress to clean up a massive contamination site at
Dow's mid-Michigan global headquarters.
When more than 22% of Dow's 939 million shares voted for more
transparency and action on this issue, the company should take
notice," said Sanford Lewis,
attorney, who drafted the resolution. "The company has appeared in
a series of high profile negative media stories related to the
contamination. The reputational damage to the company is
significant, and suggests a resolution to this issue is long
overdue."
05/13/08 State releases new
wild game dioxin advisories
As
reported on WEYI TV, "Three state agencies recently announced their
response and concerns regarding Dow Chemical Company study reports on wild game.
In 2004, Dow evaluated concentrations of dioxins in wild game living in the
Tittabawassee River floodplain downstream from the city of Midland. In 2007, Dow
conducted additional studies in the Tittabawassee River and Saginaw River
floodplains.
The
Michigan Departments of Community Health, Environmental Quality and Natural
Resources said samples of wild game taken from the floodplains in 2007 confirm
high levels of dioxin and dioxin like compounds in muscle meats, skin and other
consumable portions of animals. High levels of dioxins previously found in game
taken along the Tittabawassee River had prompted a 2004 Health Advisory for
whitetail deer, turkey, and squirrel. ..."
-
Do not eat the liver from deer harvested in or near the
Tittabawassee River floodplain downstream of Midland. Eating liver
taken from deer harvested in the flood plain of the Saginaw River is not
likely to result in adverse health effects.
-
Limit consumption of muscle meat from deer harvested in or near the
floodplain of the Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland and in or near
the floodplain of the Saginaw River. Women of childbearing age and
children under the age of 15 should eat only one meal of deer muscle meat
harvested in the floodplains per week. Trimming any visible fat will lower
the level of dioxins in the cooked meat.
-
Do not eat turkey harvested in or near the floodplain of the
Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland. While MDCH advises that
you not eat turkey taken from this area, at a minimum the skin, liver and
gizzard should be removed and discarded.
-
Limit consumption of squirrel harvested in or near the floodplain of
the Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland. Women of
childbearing age and children under the age of 15 should eat only one meal
of squirrel from this area per week.
-
Do not eat the skin of Canada goose or wood duck harvested in or
near the floodplain of the Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland and in
or near the floodplain of the Saginaw River. MDCH recommends that
you remove the skin of waterfowl before cooking and discard the liver and
other internal organs.
05/07/08 TRW
Press Release: Request federal legislators investigate Gade firing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 6 2008
Contacts:
Carol Chisholm 989-790-4836, Cell
860-3510
John Taylor 989-781-2950
Kathy Henry 989-401-1762
Pat Bradt- 989-753-6036
IMPACTED RESIDENTS WANT ANSWERS ABOUT FIRING OF ADMINISTRATOR GADE
Residents living on rivers contaminated with Dow dioxin call on their
legislators for answers
Letters were sent today to Saginaw Bay Watershed’s federal legislative
delegation calling upon them to initiate investigations into the firing last
week of Region V Administrator Mary Gade. Residents living along the highly
contaminated Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers are some of the watersheds most
impacted residents as a result of the chemical companies releases to the
river.
Administrator Gade told the Chicago Tribune she was fired because of
aggressive enforcement against Dow Chemical for their dioxin contamination.
Beginning last spring Region V issued orders under CERCLA demanding Dow Chemical
initiate cleanup of some the highest concentrations of dioxin in the nation.
" There is no doubt in our minds that Ms Gade is gone because she dared
challenge Dow Chemical" said John Taylor who has high dioxin levels on his
property. " We want answers. We didn’t always agree with Ms. Gade, but we
found her sincere and concerned about the well being of river residents."
Most recently Region V initiated an investigation and soils sampling along a
stretch of homes where high levels of dioxin were found. " Residents are
calling on our Congressman and Senators to get to the bottom of Ms Gade’s
dismissal ", said Pat Bradt a Saginaw River resident. In their letter to
elected officials, residents have said enough is enough. " We have watched
Dow manipulate legislators, local officials and the Governor in Michigan for too
many years". They are now apparently calling the shots at the federal level and
we want to know why?
Tittabawassee River resident, Carol Chisholm, said residents are tired of the
decision-making going on behind closed doors and political wrangling that denies
them a legitimate voice and hinders cleanup. " We pay tax-dollars and expect
those agencies who work for us to respond. We deserve a reason and rationale for
why the administrator is gone. She made good things happen. We want to know how
our elected officials feel about Ms. Gade being canned".
Letters were faxed yesterday and residents are hoping their plea does not
fall on deaf ears in Washington. Visit
The Honorable Carl Levin
United States Senator
FX: 202-224-1388
The Honorable Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
202) 228-0325
The Honorable Dale Kildee
United States Congressman
FX: 202-225-6393
The Honorable Bart Stupak
United States Congressman
FX: (202) 225 4744
The Honorable Dave Camp
United States Congressman
FX: (202) 225-9679
May 6, 2008
Dear Senators Levin and Stabenow, Congressmen Kildee, Stupak and Camp;
As property owners of the Tittabawassee/Saginaw River's floodplains, we were
shocked, and extremely disappointed to hear of Region 5 EPA Administrator Mary
Gade's resignation.
Particularly because she cited the Dow Chemical dioxin clean up here in
Michigan as the reason for her dismissal.
Under Ms. Gade’s guidance, EPA finally seemed to be on the right tract after
decades of inaction in addressing the Saginaw Bay watershed's dioxin
contamination brought on from over a century of Dow polluting our communities
and watershed.
We have literally had no voice in Dow contaminating our homes, land, and
bodies from local, state and federal government, and community leaders, until
Ms. Gade stepped up to the plate. Her actions gave us hope for a better future.
What's become of this country when politicians cast aside concern for
residents health and well being that are living in the highest level of dioxin
contamination ever recorded in this country? Higher levels than Love Canal and
Times Beach, Missouri. Not to mention that this is the Great Lakes, and Lake
Huron where the contamination continues to spread further with each year of
inaction.
We have been warned by regulators not to eat many of the fish and wild life,
and to wear dust masks when mowing our yards because of Dow’s dioxin. We have
also been advised not to let our children and grand children play in
contaminated areas, in other words, our yards, because of the extremely high
levels found here.
Enough is enough.
We plead to all of you to investigate and make right the forced resignation
of Mary Gade by our federal government. It seems the only concern until Ms.
Gade's authority has been for the polluters. That is unacceptable, outrageous,
and a very sad statement and outlook on what the politics of this country have
become.
Sincerely,
John Taylor
Thomas Twp
Kathy Henry
Tittabawassee Twp
Carol Chisholm
Saginaw Twp
Pat Bradt
Zilwaukee Twp ( Saginaw River resident)
05/06/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update: MDEQ meeting Wednesday
DEQ Dioxin Quarterly Meeting is this
Wednesday May 7th at Horizon Conference Center beginning at 6:30.
Agenda items for the meeting include:
A summary of Dow's 2007 sampling
data for the middle Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River, and Saginaw Bay
A brief overview of the fish and
wild game advisory By MDCH
A summary of the U.S. EPA' s
recent residential sampling activities
A summary of the interim response
activities that the DEQ is requiring Dow to conduct during the 2008 field
season
Natural Resource Damage
Assessment Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
05/06/08 Who fired Mary Gade?
Interesting tidbits
Stephen Johnson, The
Environment’s Alberto Gonzales
It has become clear that EPA Administrator
Johnson has subverted the agency's mission to be an independent watchdog for
the health of the environment and the American people, in contravention of
science, ethics, and the law. What former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
did to the Justice Department, Johnson is doing to the EPA.
Shades Of U.S. Attorney Scandal: Top EPA Official Forced Out By Political
Appointees It seems the EPA is
following the Department of Justice’s efforts to rid itself of staffers who
are not “loyal Bushies” with the dismissal of EPA Region V Administrator
Mary Gade. Gade in 2000 was a top Bush environmental adviser who argued “I
believe Governor Bush in two terms has put together a stronger bipartisan
record on conservation and the environment than Al Gore has in twenty-plus
years in Washington, D.C., precisely because Bush puts action and results
above talk and posture.”
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/01/mary-gade-firing/
Former EPA Official: Gade’s Firing Is ‘Unprecedented And Highly Irregular’
Robert M. Sussman, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and
former Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, calls
Mary Gade "one
of the most seasoned and experienced environmental policy-makers in the
country" and says, "To remove a Regional Administrator because of a
disagreement over policy at an individual site is unheard of."
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/02/sussman-gade-firing/
VIDEO: Sen. Whitehouse Compares EPA Firing To U.S. Attorney Scandal: ‘Déjà
Vu All Over Again’ On the Senate floor, Sen.
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) says, "Today it seems that the Bush Administration
might haveonce again removed a
highly qualified and well-regarded official whose only misstep was to
disagree with the political bosses."
He also announced that a Senate hearing on Wednesday, May 7 will look into
politicization of the EPA and the Gade firing. Rep. Dingell (D-MI) and Sen.
Durbin (D-MI) also announced their concern with the firing.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/02/whitehouse-gade-deja-vu/
Who Fired Mary Gade?
Gade told the Chicago Tribune two political
appointees under EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson pressured her on the Dow
case and then forced her out the door. The most likely suspects are Deputy
Administrator Marcus Peacock and Assistant Administrator Luis Luna.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/03/who-fired-gade/
Dow’s
Toxic Legacy Of EPA Corruption
In 1983, a dioxin-laced scandal involving the
very same Dow Chemical plant at their Midland, Michigan headquarters led to
a dramatic shakeup of Reagan’s EPA, when Mary Gade was a young staffer at
the agency. A congressional investigation exposed the extent of Dow
Chemical’s influence over the EPA, leading to the dismissal of EPA
Administrator Anne McGill Burford and 12 other officials.
Brad
Johnson Research Associate Center for American
Progress 1333 H Street, NW Fl 10 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 682 1611 x358 bjohnson@americanprogress.org
05/03/08 Lone Tree / TRW
Dioxin update
The politicization of Dow Chemical's
dioxin contamination needs a thorough vetting at all levels of government. Gade's
firing is right on the heels of a senate committee which is reviewing a
report that says the Bush administration is hampering the ability of
Environmental Protection Agency scientists to assess the health dangers of
toxic chemicals.
Senate Hearings to be held next week on
firing of Region V Administrator
DETROIT NEWS:
Dingell to probe why EPA official
leaving job
WALL STREET JOURNAL:
EPA Regional Chief Resigns After Dispute
"She
declined to specify what she and her superiors had disagreed about
but added that ordinary citizens "should be concerned" because "this
may be some of the worst dioxin contamination" in the U.S."
Click here for
all the details or here for Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
05/02/08 Senate to conduct
oversight hearing on firing of Gade
Sen. Whitehouse Compares Gade Firing to US Attorneys Scandal Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D Rhode Island) will be leading an
oversight hearing into the politicization of the EPA and the circumstances
surrounding Gade’s dismissal
next Wednesday.
Click here to
view Youtube video of his C-Span 2 speech.
05/01/08 EPA top Midwest
administrator forced out by Bush because of enforcing Dow cleanup
Lone Tree Council / TRW Update Mary Gade, based in Chicago,
says Bush administration made her quit over Dow Chemical case
By
Michael Hawthorne Chicago Tribune reporter
May 1, 2008
The Bush administration forced its top environmental regulator in the Midwest to
quit Thursday after months of internal bickering about dioxin contamination
downstream from Dow Chemical's world headquarters in Michigan.
snip: For the past year, Gade has
been locked in a heated dispute with Dow about long-delayed plans to clean up
dioxin-saturated soil and sediment that extends 50 miles beyond its Midland,
Mich., plant into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron.
snip: Though regional EPA
administrators typically have wide latitude to enforce environmental laws, Gade
drew fire from officials in Washington last month after she sent contractors to
test soil in a Saginaw neighborhood where Dow had found high dioxin levels.
snip:"There is no question this is
about Dow," Gade said. "I stand behind what I did and what my staff did. I'm
proud of what we did."
Harken back to the 1980's and Dow
interference with EPA. For months now Dow has been reaching out to EPA
headquarters shopping around for a better deal, a quick-out or an opportunity
to skirt the law. Same thing they've been doing for thirty plus years.
Looking forward to the ongoing investigativestory by the Tribune. Go to the link and watch the video clip of Joy
and Lloyd Cooper who live on the Tittabawassee River in the neighborhood that
drew Mary Gade so much fire.
05/01/08 Decision on slurry pit could
threaten Major Great Lakes watershed
Lone Tree Council / TRW Update
Lt. Governor Cherry’s slurry pit
decision in conflict with MDEQ technical staff and CDC
Today Lieutenant Governor John Cherry
intervened in a regulatory process, overriding regulations and the advice of his
department, the MDEQ, to allow the
continued construction of a slurry pit to house dioxin-laden sediments, without
providing for adequate controls.
The decision comes on the heels of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
announcement yesterday that it intends to investigate the impact of toxic
chemicals like dioxin on the health of people living in the Saginaw Bay
watershed and other Great Lakes’ regions. A preliminary report from the CDC
found that health could be at risk.( see link below).
The Lt. Governor’s intervention comes after a three-year process of review and
construction in which the MDEQ carefully evaluated the facility and made the
case for a slurry wall (a protective barrier to prevent dioxin-laden waste from
entering the environment) and a groundwater permit in order to improve the
facility and protect the resources of the state. The facility will house highly
contaminated dioxin-laden sediments as a result of Dow Chemical Company’s
operations over the last century. Two weeks ago the director of the MDEQ,
Stephen Chester, was resolved to require both the slurry wall and groundwater
permit before the site operated. Then the Lt. Governor was asked to become
involved.
“This is clearly and wrongly political intervention at its worse in the
regulatory process,” said Lone Tree Council’s Michelle Hurd Riddick. “Why do we
have regulations, permits, laws, and research if elected officials can just step
in for political expediency. " How does this ailing Saginaw Bay Watershed,
recover when
such foolish and irresponsible decisions continue to made".
It was also decided that ground water permits would not be needed, despite
concerns by DEQ staff that the unlined structure could potentially threaten
groundwater and the wells of residents dependent upon them. Also, the threshold
for dioxin to place in the site is 1 million ppt, that is more than 100,000
times higher than the
state’s standard for what is allowed in residential areas in Michigan.
“These are bad decisions that set a worse precedent,” said Rita Jack of the
Sierra Club. “We could see these unlined, un-permitted,
hole-in-the-ground-solutions threatening our water throughout the Great Lakes –
that is unacceptable.”
The facility is strongly opposed by area residents and environmentalists as
risky and ill planned. Located in a floodplain, on productive farmland,
adjacent to the
river and the Crow Island State Game Area, and next to the yards of residents of
Frankenlust and Zilwaukee Townships, the facility still does not have an
operation and management plan. Environmentalists have urged the Governor’s
office and area officials to purse other locations
and options that do not threaten the largest watershed in Michigan.
Despite the controversy surrounding the facility, and letters from the Zilwaukee
Township clerk, Frankenlust Township supervisor, and
Dr. Neil Varner, Medical
Director of Saginaw County Department of Health, requesting a transparent and
open discussion, decisions were limited to the Army Corps of Engineers, DEQ, and
Lt. Governor. The Lt. Governor all but ignored a request to meet with twp
officials where the site is located. “The Lt. Governor has known from the
outset that this was a highly controversial facility,” said Pat Bradt, Zilwaukee
Township clerk. “He could have shown leadership by pursuing real alternatives
that don’t jeopardize the health of residents or the watershed. Instead he is
pursuing a disastrous plan that will continue to haunt this community for
decades.”
05/01/08 Dr. Varner, Medical Director
Saginaw Count Health Department speaks out on Dredge pit
Lone Tree Council / TRW Update
Special thanks
to Dr. Varner, Medical Director Saginaw County Health Department
Earlier this week, Dr. Varner sent a
letter to the Lt. Governor asking him to proceed with caution in making any
decision on the dredge pit. I liked this statement best:
It appears that the local
decisions are being displaced from a community-wide ones to political
ones.... a method that will be unlikely to serve any good long term
solution..
Here's Dr. Varner's entire letter:
-------
April 30, 2008
Honorable Lt. Governor John D Cherry
Jr:
Recent activities surrounding a
toxic waste disposal site in Zilwaukee Township has prompted public concern
and even letters from Ms Patricia Brandt, Clerk of Zilwaukee Township
regarding the wisdom and safety of current site and precautionary safety
measures that appear to be lacking in the current plan and design.
History can teach us valuable
lessons . We need only look back at the many plans and revised plans in
Europe following the 1976 Seveso accidental dioxin release to grasp just how
complicated the entire subject of waste management is, even with extensive
public involvement.
It appears that the local
decisions are being displaced from a community-wide ones to political
ones.... a method that will be unlikely to serve any good longterm
solution.. It was Joseph Joubert ( writing in “Poisoned Harvest” by Robbins,
C., pg 7...Gollancz., London 1991) who said, “Tis better to debate a
question without settling it, than to settle a question without debating
it....” How relevant that remark is to the current debate cannot be
underestimated since it is the question of pollutants biologically active at
the parts-per-trillion level, pollutants that cannot be seen or even easily
measured as they waft into the atmosphere or wash along the flood plain
where wildlife, fish and game can carry them into the food chain ........
Please proceed with utmost
caution in this area of public interest and concern......public health and
human lives depend upon it..........
Neill D Varner, DO, MPH
Medical Director
Saginaw County Department of Public
Health
---------
It's been a bad day in this ailing sick
watershed of ours. Good people are silenced at all levels of government either
by being fired or ignored as the LG ignored MDEQ on the dredge site. As usual
its the stench of dark corners, lack of sunlight and the ability of Dow to lobby
quietly and privately in places of power and decision making. And political
affiliations don't matter do they?
04/30/08 Another Dow delay, asks Supreme Court
to overrule Appeals Court decision
Dow filed its
motion for leave to appealto the Michigan Supreme Court
regarding the class certification order on April 24, 2008. This was in
response to the Michigan Court of Appeals March 14, 2008
denial of Dow's motion for reconsideration in granting class action
status to the case. Dow’s main thrust is to try to get the Supreme Court
to
adopt the opinion of the dissenting judge on the Court of Appeals, Judge
Kelly. Judges Meter and Hood ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs
have until May 21, 2008 to respond.
Click hereto review all the details of the case since it was
filed in March of 2003
04/29/08
Lone Tree
Council / TRW Dioxin Update
Below is a letter sent to the
Lieutenant Governor, John Cherry, by Zilwaukee Twp requesting a meeting
before any decision is made on the slurry pit slated for the township. A
letter was also sent by the Supervisor of Frankenlust Twp, which is also on
the unfortunate receiving end of the this dredge site which straddles county
lines. This site has been controversial because of the high concentrations
of Dow's dioxin in the Saginaw River. These elected officials want a
meeting with the Lieutenant Governor before any decision is made. There
concerns are legitimate. This dredge site will forever change their
communities. They have been forced to take a risk for the business community
along the river. They are entitled to some respect and the meeting they
want. Then again so have the taxpayers who are liable for this site. We own
it. To date there is no threshold for dioxin levels and no plan to present
to the public as to how this site will be managed. Yet, it appears to be OK
with elected officials and editorial boards alike.
This dredge site has been cloaked
in the secrecy of confidentiality within the ADR ( alternative dispute
resolution) established by the Lieutenant Governor's closed door meetings
with Dow four year ago. A process ignored by the media. Yet meeting notes
and documents ( available before the ADR) clearly reflect Dow's interest in
this site and EPA and DEQ's interest in this site as an option for Dow
Chemical. Zilwaukee and Frankenlust Twp have legitimate concerns, but
perhaps, other Twps, those along the Tittabawassee River have concerns too.
Perhaps they don't know it just yet.
Whatever decision the Lieutenant
Governor comes up with best be sound. Why? Because Dow, when it sites a
facility on the Tittabawassee River will expect no more stringent standard
than the DMDF. Dow's Greg Cochran, was quite candid with myself and Terry
Miller, on our tour of the Tittabawassee River, that the company would
likely need to site something on the Tittabawassee river.
Here's EPA's comments in 2005
after a call with the Corp of Engineers about the DMDF:
Ken Westlake’s (EPA) "DOW WILL ARGUE THAT THEY SHOULDN’T HAVE TO BE MORE PROTECTIVE
IN THEIR SEDIMENT CLEANUP AND DISPOSAL"
Click here to
view the entire update and the Zilwaukee Twp Letter
Please go to
www.dredgeitright.org to view
congressional testimony about the Corp of Engineers many flaws in planning and
environmental protection. We can and should do better.
04/24/08 Petition effort for
cleanup of Michigan's Largest Great Lakes Watershed
Be a voice for Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay Watershed
Dow Chemical, responsible for the
worst dioxin contamination in the Great Lakes, continues to
thumb their nose at residents of the watershed and the state,
ignoring their legal ( RCRA) obligations while shopping around
for a better deal with EPA headquarters.
The
Saginaw Bay is the largest watershed in Michigan. More than 50
miles of its rivers that empty into Lake Huron are threatened by
dioxin and other highly hazardous chemicals. Federal and state
laws require Dow Chemical Company, the responsible party, to
clean up the contamination. However, pressure to resolve this
issue behind closed doors is mounting. Public participation in
an open transparent process is the best way to assure cleanup
will be comprehensive and will restore the region to health.
Preserving and protecting the Great Lakes is the public trust
responsibility of every elected representative. The Great Lakes
region, its ecosystems, its economy and future generations also
depend on citizens acting to protect our water resources.
Please sign the petition below urging a
comprehensive cleanup and an open, transparent public process in
addressing this ongoing threat to Lake Huron.
Please go to the link below
and lend your name in support of an open transparent
process for cleanup of Dow Chemical's dioxin
contamination in the Saginaw Bay Watershed. The following
environmental organizations, citizen groups, organizations and
religious orders have signed on:
Lone Tree Council
Sierra Club Michigan Chapter
Clean Water Action Michigan
Great Lakes Natural Resource
Center National Wildlife Federation
Michigan League of Conservation
Voters
Dominican Sisters of Hope
New York, Mercy Investment
Program, U.S., Sisters of Mercy
Regional Community of Detroit,
Michigan
Ursuline Sisters of
Tildonk-U.S. Province New York
Citizens for Alternatives to
Chemical Contamination
Trillium Asset Management
Corporation
Michigan Environmental Council
Sisters of St Joseph of
Carondelet
CATS (Residents on the Saginaw
River)
Huron Environmental Activist
League (HEAL)
Tittabawassee River Watch (
Residents on the Tittabawassee River)
Congregation of St. Joseph,
Office of Peace and Justice
Ecology Center
National Environmental Law
Center
Environment Michigan.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Lend your name in support of
Lake Huron and the Michigan's largest watershed by signing
on at the following link:
PETITION EFFORT SHOWS STRONG
SUPPORT FOR DIOXIN CLEANUP OF MICHIGAN’S LARGEST GREAT LAKES WATERSHED
Plus Community Activists Share
Cleanup Hopes with trip to Washington
The cleanup of Michigan’s
largest Great Lakes Watershed will bring jobs and a brighter future for
Michigan’s economy, and will benefit everyone who visits the Saginaw Bay
Watershed and Lake Huron. An online petition is being used to gather
signatures of as many of the millions of Great Lakes fans as possible – the
simple message is that all of them support public participation in an open
transparent process as the best way to assure a comprehensive cleanup of Dow
Chemical’s dioxin to restore the entire region to health.
“We believe it is the duty
of elected state lawmakers to uphold the public trust and protect and
restore the Great Lakes to health,” states the petition. “Our economy, our
public health, and our future depend on the exercise of this solemn
obligation.”
Leaders of the Lone Tree
Council, along with members of the Ecology Center of Ann Arbor, Sierra Club
Michigan Chapter, Clean Water Action and the League of Conservation Voters
traveled to Washington D.C. on February 26th for a meeting with
top officials at the United States Environmental Protection Agency after
learning of Dow’s request for a meeting with the agency.
“We were concerned that,
as in the past, Dow Chemical was trying to slip behind closed doors to ask
for a deal to avoid a cleanup of their dioxin,” Michelle Hurd-Riddick said.
“So we decided to go to Washington, too, and make sure EPA knows there’s
more than one stakeholder in this cleanup effort.” The groups met with
Assistant Administrator Susan Bodine, head of EPA’s Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response and Superfund. At that meeting, Bodine confirmed the
cleanup plan would not be altered. “Ms. Bodine told us that the Michigan DEQ
will maintain the lead on corrective action cleanup, and EPA Region V will
also be there,” said Riddick, “and that was very good to hear.”
To show there is support
from the Great Lakes community for comprehensive cleanup of the dioxin in
the watershed, the groups are asking Great Lakes fans to sign an online
petition modeled after the position paper left with EPA, Assistant
Administrator, Susan Bodine. Major community and environmental advocacy
organizations have already signed on including the 70-member Michigan
Environmental Council, but the groups want to show there is a larger
audience.
“This is the largest
watershed in the state, and the dioxin contamination is a Great Lakes Water
Quality issue,” said Sierra Club’s Rita Jack, “the petition is to show the
public is aware, and they want their elected officials to be vigilant, and
to watchdog this whole process.”
The groups are collecting
signatures on a website set up by the Ecology Center and available at
http://www.ecocenter.org/takeaction/dowpetition.php
They will deliver the signatures to legislators and the governor in the near
future. “We know there is support for a cleanup, this petition gives us a
way to show that,” said Lone Tree Council Chairman, Terry Miller.
"For those who think there's no difference
between the fish you get at the supermarket and the fish you catch, Groetsch
says think again. Studies show toxic chemical concentrations are far higher
in fish found in the Saginaw River and Bay: 7,000 times higher in carp, 280
times higher in white bass, 270 times higher in catfish, 40 times higher in
walleye and 12 times higher in perch."
04/22/08 Stunning flaws in Army
Corps of Engineers project planning
In a recent
Saginaw News editorial,
Army Corps of Engineers Mike O'Bryan says "you can't ever be 100 percent,
but I'm as close to 100 percent as you can get on my feeling that (the
Saginaw/Bay dredging pit) is a totally safe site," The News than goes
on to say "... well, he speaks with the authority of more than two centuries
in the business." and questions the "DEQ's intransigence" over the
issue.
Why are the MDEQ, the Lone
Tree Council, and other concerned citizens stubbornly refusing to
compromise?
More than a
decade of reports from the National Academy of Sciences, Government
Accountability Office, Army Inspector General, U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy, and independent experts have revealed a pattern of stunning flaws in
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project planning and implementation, and urged
substantial changes to the Corps’ project planning process. Changes needed
to address concerns raised in the studies summarized below are included in
S.564, the Water Resources Planning and Modernization Act of 2007
Below are a few snippets,
click here
for all the details
Delaware
River Deepening Project: Comprehensive Reanalysis Needed: finds
that the Corps overstated the project’s benefits by 200 percent (the GAO
found at most $13.3 million annual benefits vs. the Corps’ $40.1 million),
that the Corps’ benefit cost analysis was based on invalid assumptions and
outdated information, and that the Corps could not explain its own analysis
...
Improved
Planning and Financial Management Should Replace Reliance on Reprogramming
Actions to Manage Project Funds... finds that the
Corps’ excessive use of reprogramming funds is being used as a substitute
for an effective priority setting system ...
Corps of
Engineers, Observations on Planning and Project Management Processes for the
Civil Works Program ...finds
that recent Corps studies “did not provide a reasonable basis for
decision-making” because they were “were fraught with errors, mistakes, and
miscalculations, and used invalid assumptions and outdated data.” ...
Agriculture
as a Source of Barge Demand on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers...finds
that the grain traffic forecasts being used by the Corps to justify lock
expansion on the Upper Mississippi River were overly optimistic as more and
more grain is used to produce ethanol, livestock and other value-added
products – products ...
External
Review Panel for the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, ...“an
overall pattern of engineering judgment inconsistent with that required for
critical structures.” ...
Improved
Analysis of Costs and Benefits Needed for Sacramento Flood Protection
Project: finds that the Corps dramatically miscalculated the costs and
benefits of the Sacramento Flood Control Project in California, over-counted
the residential properties that would be protected, miscalculated the area
that would be protected, and used an inappropriate methodology to calculate
prevented flood damages...
Analysis of
The Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River Navigation System’s Role in U.S. Ocean
Container Trade: finds fundamental flaws in the Corps’ plan to expand
the Great Lakes navigation system, including a host of factors not
considered by the Corps that make the Great Lakes ports unattractive to
international containerized cargo....
Restructured
Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway Feasibility Study...finds
flaws in the models used by the Corps to predict demand for barge
transportation and concludes that these flaws preclude a demonstration that
expanding the locks is economically justified. ...
Oregon Inlet
Jetty Project: Environmental and Economic Concerns Need to Be Resolved:
finds that the Corps’ economic analysis does not provide a reliable basis
for deciding whether to construct the project, as it relies on outdated and
incomplete data and unsupported assumptions, and fails to account for risk
and uncertainty in key variables that could significantly affect the
project’s benefits and costs. ...
Inland
Navigation System Planning:
The Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway:
finds that the Corps was using a fundamentally flawed model to assess the
lock expansion project; Congress should direct the Corps to fully evaluate
use of nonstructural measures; the Corps was not properly accounting for the
environmental consequences of its proposed plan...
Investigation of Allegations against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Involving Manipulation of Studies Related to the Upper Mississippi River and
Illinois Waterway Navigation Systems: finds that the Corps deceptively
and intentionally manipulated data in an attempt to justify a $1.2 billion
expansion of locks on the Upper Mississippi River, and that the Corps has an
institutional bias for constructing costly, large scale structural projects.
Review
Comments on Yazoo Backwater Area Reformulation: finds that the Corps’
proposal to construct the $191 million Yazoo Backwater pumping plant in
Mississippi overestimates just the agricultural benefits by $144 million,
and claims almost $3 million in annual benefits that are explicitly
prohibited by the Corps’ own rules....
Hurricane
Katrina, Strategic Planning ... “the Corps
appears to be following a piecemeal approach, similar to its past practice
of building projects without giving sufficient attention to the
interrelationships between various elements of those projects or fully
considering whether the projects will provide an integrated level of
hurricane protection for the area.” ...
Performance
Evaluation of the New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Protection
System ... the Corps did
not take into account poor soil quality, and failed to account for the
sinking of land, which caused some sections to be as much as 2 feet lower
than other parts. Breaches in four New Orleans canals were caused by
foundation failures that were “not considered in the original design.” ...
Project
Engineering Peer Review Within The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers: ...Reviews
should be carried out by experts who have no connection to the Corps, to the
local project sponsor, or to the particular project contract
...
Investigation
of the Performance of the New Orleans Flood Protection Systems in Hurricane
Katrina ...finds
that the catastrophic failure of the New Orleans regional flood protection
system was the result of “engineering lapses, poor judgments, and efforts to
reduce costs at the expense of system reliability.” ...
External
Review Panel for the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, ...“an
overall pattern of engineering judgment inconsistent with that required for
critical structures.” ...
American Society of Civil Engineers ... finds that the
catastrophic failure of the Corps’ New Orleans hurricane protection system
“demonstrates” that “fundamental flaws were part of how the system was
conceived and developed.”...
Preliminary
Report on the Performance of the New Orleans Levee Systems in Hurricane
Katrina ...breaches
in New Orleans levee systems appear to have resulted from stability failures
of the foundation soils and/or the earthen levee embankments pointing to
failings in the design and oversight of construction of the levees by the
Corps of Engineers, ...
An Ocean
Blueprint for the 21st Century Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy: ... changes to the
Corps’ civil works program to ensure valid, peer-reviewed cost-benefit
analyses of coastal projects; provide greater transparency to the public;
enforce requirements for mitigating the impacts of coastal projects; and
coordinate such projects with broader coastal planning efforts. ...
Water
Resources Planning: a New Opportunity for Service: recommends
modernizing the Corps’ authorities, planning approaches, and guidelines to
better match contemporary water resources management challenges.
Adaptive
Management for Water Resources Project Planning: recommends needed
changes to ensure effective use of adaptive management by the Corps for its
civil works projects.
River Basins
and Coastal Systems Planning Within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: ...recommends
needed changes to the Corps’ current planning practices....
Analytical
Methods and Approaches for Water Resources Planning: recommends needed
changes to the Corps’ “Principles and Guidelines” and planning guidance
policies
A Report to
the Nation, Recommendations for a New Ocean Policy: recommends
enactment of “substantial reforms” of the Corps, including legislation to
ensure that Corps projects are environmentally and economically sound and
reflect national priorities....
Assessment
of Fish and Wildlife Mitigation Guidance: finds that the Corps has
proposed no mitigation for almost 70% of its projects, and for those few
projects where the Corps does perform mitigation, 80% of the time it does
not carry out the mitigation concurrently with project construction.
National
Academy of Sciences,Review Procedures for Water Resources Planning:recommends creation of a formalized process to independently review
costly or controversial Corps projects
Compensating
for Wetland Losses under the Clean Water Act: highlights the
significant problems with mitigation efforts to date, including mitigation
carried out by the Corps ...
New
Directions in Water Resources Planning for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:recommends key changes to the Corps’ planning process and examines the
length of time and cost of Corps studies in comparison with similar studies
carried out by the private sector....
Floodplain
Management Into the 21st Century, a Report to the Administration Floodplain
Management Task Force...recommends
changes to the nation’s water resources policies based on lessons learned
from the great Midwest Flood of 1993, including modernizing the Corps’
Principles and Guidelines, requiring the Corps to give full consideration to
non-structural flood damage reduction alternatives, requiring periodic
reviews of completed Corps projects, adopting floodplain management
guidelines that would minimize impacts to floodplains and reduce
vulnerabilities to population centers and critical infrastructure,...
Restoring
and Protecting Marine Habitat ...the
Corps and all federal agencies with responsibility for marine habitat
management should revise their policies and procedures to increase use of
restoration technologies; take into account which natural functions can be
restored or facilitated; improve coordination concerning marine resources;
include environmental and economic benefits derived from nonstructural
measures in benefit/cost ratios...
Additional details
about the
Saginaw/Bay dredging pit can be found at www.dredgeitright.org
04/21/08
Lone Tree
Council / TRW Dioxin Update
The Corps is an agency that likes
projects, no matter what they do to the environment. Give them a dollar and
they'll push it any way you want."
---Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) [Washington Post,
9/14/00]
THE DREDGE SITE
Several news stories and yesterday's
Saginaw News editorial have addressed recent activities surrounding the
navigational dredge site on the Saginaw River highlighting the riff between the
DEQ and Corp of Engineers. The SN editorial comment, suggests taxpayers and
residents trust the Corp of Engineers’ expertise on the dredge site------ that
would be the same agency that constructed and hailed the levees of New Orleans
as state of the art.
http://www.mlive.com/saginawnews/opinion/index.ssf/2008/04/editorial_dredging_delays_hurt.html
Read the Saginaw News' glowing comments
about the Corp of Engineers then visit the Corp Reform Network
www.corpsreform.org to read the
Corp Reform legislation sponsored Senators Feingold and McCain to reign in this
rogue federal agency that answers to know one. You can also read about dozens
and dozens of run amok Corp projects across this nation.
This dredge site does not exist in a
vacuum. It is not just about jobs. Context matters. Substantive but ignored and
overlooked in much of the media coverage are the following issues of magnitude:
The taxpayers of Saginaw County own
this site and have liability for any future contamination from the site
The highest concentrations of dioxin
in the nation are in the Saginaw River
We do not know how high the
concentrations are in the navigation channel.
The Corp has not produced an
operational management plan to demonstrate how this site will be managed day
to day let alone in the future...
There are families living adjacent to
this slurry pit.
Besides dioxin, there are PCB’s,
mercury and dozens of other contaminants to be contained
These issues matter for the long-term
integrity of the watershed, river and people living there. They matter to the
taxpayers of Saginaw County unless of course we are to believe the Corp will
bail us out of any future financial liability should this site flood, leak or
concentrate dioxin levels over time which would require special and expensive
handling. The Saginaw River and Bay are on the federal Area of Concern, the
only site with that designation on the US side of Lake Huron. I would suggest
that many of the impairments, which have garnered us this sordid designation,
were the result of poor planning, myopic vision and a lack of understanding how
this dynamic eco-system operates and flippant disregard for environmental
legislation and safeguards.
It matters that the federal government
believes the Saginaw Bay Watershed to be one of the most contaminated in the
nation. It should be everyone’s objective, no exceptions, to take steps to
mitigate and prevent further injury to residents, groundwater, surface waters
and wildlife resources via exposures to these high levels of dioxin and other
contaminants. This isn't just about the need to dredge the river it is also
about how to safely contain toxic river dredgings materials, how to prevent
groundwater contamination and how water from the site will be discharged back to
the river in accordance with the Clean Water Act. ( a question nobody's talking
about) It's about being on the correct path to detoxing this watershed from
years of abuse and stupid decisions.
The Corp was issued a 401 certificate
under the Clean Water Act ---that permit was predicated on the Corp and Saginaw
County doing “betterments” which included containing sediments and groundwater
monitoring. Jim Koski, Saginaw County, pulled the groundwater permits and the
Corp of Engineers say a slurry wall to contain contaminated sediments is no
longer needed, even though for the past two years these betterments were part of
their repertoire for why this site was state of the art. The DEQ would have
every right to pull their 401 certificate issued under the Clean Water Act---
laws matter. Protecting the Great Lakes resources matter. It’s unfortunate that
efforts to restore this watershed and provide protection from the contaminated
sediments of the Saginaw River are not priorities for Mr. Koski or the
Corp………….however, this luxury they have granted themselves does nothing to
absolve taxpayer liability or insulate the county from future lawsuits or
environmental degradations.
Backing away from their “betterments”, the
site according to the Corp is still the safest one they've ever built. In past
local news editorials, residents and environmentalists alike have been
admonished for seeking recourse in the courts because all the steps and permits
to make this site state of the art would be in place. Now they're not going to
be in place and we are still told the site is safe. One has to wonder if Mr.
Koski and the Corp have gone along with the “betterments”concept until the
court cases were settled… just BS the judge until we get out of court.
Like many ill planned Corp of Engineers
projects this site was not properly funded from the beginning. The cart was put
before the horse. There was never enough money to do this project correctly
given its location to the river, to residents, the site geology and the levels
of contamination in the river.
It is also not a coincidence that the
slurry wall and the groundwater permit were abandoned after Dow Chemical
withdrew support on this project. Last fall, in a letter to Lone Tree Council,
Dow Chemical stated there were no commitments
made on their part to provide any additional funding pending a
comprehensive understanding of what might be required in terms of "betterments”
and a clear understanding of the company’s ability to use the facility were
those betterments accounted for. There is no money and never has been to do this
site properly. Strapped for money the county cannot even afford to test the
wells of residents living next door to this slurry pit let alone fund the
testing needed down the road to monitor this site...what were they thinking.
At public hearings in 2004, Lone Tree
Council and residents asked for this site to be moved upland, away from the
river floodway. We asked for all stakeholders to be at the table to discuss how
to do navigational dredging and cleanup. MDEQ, the Corp of Engineers and Jim
Koski dismissed our inquiry and suggestions, insisting this site was not about
dioxin or Dow but about navigational dredging. But the dioxins have always been
the wildcard that skews everything. The wildcard which made proper citing,
stringent permitting, long-term containment, wildlife protection and public
health an integral part of the dredge project.
This site has no business being located
where it is. Please remember there are dozens of families living in the shadow
of this slurry pit that deserve to be defended and recognized every bit as
rigorously as the dock owners, Corp or Jim Koski.
Much more
on this issue very soon. We hope to share with you some of the statements the
Corp of Engineers and Saginaw County made to Federal District Court, Bay City
Circuit Court and in depositions. The public is being taken for ride on this
slurry pit.......
Regards,
Michelle
Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree
Council
Some favorite quotes about Corp of
Engineers:
"The Corps still doesn't get it. They
still think they can defeat Mother Nature with brilliant engineering. They
talk about the environment, but they don't really believe in it."
---Bill Hartwig, regional Fish and Wildlife Service director
“If you even mention an environmental
concern, you're not a team player. The pressure to look the other way is
incredible."
---Robert Oja, former regulatory chief for the Corps Alaska District
[Washington Post, 9/13/00]
"The Corps has less credibility than a
French figure-skating judge."
---Steve Ellis, Taxpayers for Common Sense
Click here for
all the Dioxin Updates going back to February 2003
04/09/08
Lone Tree
Council / TRW Dioxin Update
Below are a few snippets from the latest
edition, click here
to view the entire update
Natural Damage Assessment
Yesterday
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released for public comment the draft
Natural Resource Damage Assessment plan for the Tittabawassee and
Saginaw rivers and Saginaw Bay in Midland, Saginaw and Bay counties.
The release is centered on
investigation activities being conducted by the Trustees of the NRDA as
they evaluate the type and extent of resources lost as a result of
Dow’s dioxin contamination.
This NRDA document permits all of
us a candid painful look at the long history of Dow's extensive
contamination. It gives us perhaps a more candid and painful perspective
on how long the regulatory agencies have been grappling with this
company. Thirty plus years is outrageous. The repeated injury to
resources, property and Lake Huron from decades of Dow using the river
as their own personal sewer is beyond sad.
The Trustees are taking comments
on their plan to evaluate damages. Issues of monetary compensation are
well down the road. As said before, public and resource losses cannot be
ascertained nor fully compensated for until such time as the full extent
of the contamination is know highlighting the need for Dow to submit
solid work plans to the state. The process is not punitive. The intent
is to make the public whole again.
Comments on the draft assessment plan will be accepted through May 19
and should be submitted to Dr. Lisa Williams, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 2651 Coolidge Road, Suite 101, East Lansing, MI 48823.
Hard copies also will be available at the
Bay City DEQ office on 503 N. Euclid Ave.
A public meeting on the draft is
scheduled for 7 p.m. April 17 in the Great Hall B at
the Best Western Valley Plaza Inn, 5221 Bay City Road, Midland.
Chapter 3 is especially interesting -
Dow has a long history of pollution reaching back to the late 1800's
Transparency a cornerstone of our
democracy
People are always going to agree and disagree on many aspect of this
contamination issue. But one would think that everyone would at least be
in agreement on community right to know and being transparent about
process and the people’s business and how that business is conducted
...
Sadly, on March 25th the Saginaw County Board of
Commissioners (BOC) voted to support
Resolution B put forth by Commissioners Wurtzel (Thomas Twp)
and Ann Doyle (Tittabawassee Twp). This resolution asks EPA to step back
into the lead and resume negotiations with Dow Chemical…..essentially a
continuation of the closed-door negotiations that EPA ended in January
after Dow Chemical failed to deliver on substantive issues like public
health protection.
In a letter to the BOC, Lone Tree Council chided them for
passing a resolution, which essentially told the residents/taxpayers
of Saginaw County three things:
1. Dow does not need to play
by the rules or the laws of the land
2. It’s OK for negotiations to
take place behind closed doors over this public resource
3. Dow does not have to honor
their contract signed in June 2003
The
Board of Commissioner did not deliberate and apparently did not inquire
what MDEQ or EPA thought about their resolution.
Commissioner Wurtzel admonished his fellow board members to get
“some guts” and pass the resolution. Well there is nothing gutsy
about Commissioner Wurtzel’s resolution. Snubbing one’s nose at a
transparent public process or advocating keeping the public in the
dark is frankly cowardly.
We
owe many thanks to Commissioners Woods, Foxx and Ruth for voting against
the resolutions and in support of community right to know.
04/04/08
Don't blame the environmentalists
Letter to the Editor, Saginaw News
Regarding the Chamber of Commerce president's My View, ''River cleanup lies
in facts not emotion,'' trying to make the environmental community out to be the
fall guy in the dioxin controversy is absurd.
Are the chamber and its membership aware that more than 300 residents signed on
to be represented in the class action against Dow Chemical Co. for putting
dioxin on our properties and altering how many of us use and view our property
and the river outside our door?
We talk with the regulatory agencies, and we attend the meetings. Many of us,
frustrated as we are at times with the snail's pace on cleanup, realize that Dow
has created most of the delays. The chamber just wants to manipulate this issue,
change the focus and make it look like a handful of people are out to villainize
Dow. Frankly, Dow is its own worst enemy; creating delays, running from agency
to agency, university to university to avoid responsibility.
It's time for the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of
Environmental Quality to write Dow's cleanup plan for them. Dow has shown itself
to be irresponsible with its contamination as well as its willingness to clean
it up.
The chamber president stated the ''no individual has been ill due to the effects
of furans/dioxin in the Tittabawassee River.'' In the absence of any health
study or epidemiological study, I have no clue what he is basing his information
on. It does, however, call into question his other statement about the chamber
basing its positions on ''expert scientific studies.'' I am here to tell you
there have been no studies done to date to draw the conclusions that he puts
forth.
As a registered nurse, mother and river resident, I am not willing to be
placated by Dow's philanthropy nor am I going to be critical of the
''environmentalists'' for their commitment to our community and this river. I
applaud them.
EPA, MDEQ to sample Saginaw residential area for dioxin
contamination
(Chicago- Apr. 2, 2008) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5 and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality have
begun screening a residential neighborhood in Saginaw Mich., for
dioxin-contaminated soil.
An estimated 10 residential properties in an area along the
Tittabawassee River will be sampled. Small plugs from up to 36
inches below surface level will be sent for laboratory
analysis.
Analysis may take two to three weeks. Once the data is
returned, EPA and MDEQ, along with Michigan Department of
Community Health, will consider a range of options, including
more comprehensive sampling in the area and possible cleanup
actions.
"Residential soil contamination is a serious matter," said
Associate Superfund Director Ralph Dollhopf. "At this time of
year, children are playing outside again and families are
planning gardens. If action is needed, this project will ramp
up very quickly."
The investigation aims to determine the extent of dioxin
contamination present in the neighborhood. The project was
prompted by Dow Chemical Co.'s February 2008 disclosure to the
agencies of an elevated dioxin level found in a residential soil
sample collected by Dow in November 2007. Under the company's
Michigan operating license, MDEQ required Dow to conduct certain
soil and embankment sampling along the Middle Branch of the
Tittabawassee River.
Dow's Midland facility is a 1,900-acre chemical manufacturing
plant. Dioxins and furans are byproducts from the manufacture
of chlorine-based products. Past waste disposal practices,
emissions and incineration at Dow have resulted in on and
off-site dioxin and furan contamination.
04/01/08 Lone Tree
Council Letter to Saginaw Board of Commissioners
To: Saginaw County Board of Commissioners
From: Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
Re: Resolution B
April 1, 2008
Dear Saginaw County Commissioners,
Attached please find two documents for your edification on the Dow
Chemical/dioxin issue as it relates to regulatory authority.
This cleanup is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a
federal program of the EPA. EPA granted authority to MDEQ to oversee Dow’s
corrective action obligations under RCRA for the company’s dioxin contamination
in the Saginaw Bay Watershed. MDEQ negotiated the terms of the RCRA corrective
action over several years with Dow, culminating in the two entities signing the
document in June of 2003, DEQ Director Chester, on behalf of the state and Susan
Carrington on Dow Chemical’s behalf. Because RCRA is a federal program EPA has
always had and continues to have oversight.
Make no mistake--- there is no ambiguity about how cleanup should proceed.
Part 111 of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act is clear in Dow’s license.
There is no ambiguity as to what is required for investigation, public health
protection, interim or final response. This corrective action license is a legal
binding contract between Dow Chemical and the people of Michigan. Not only does
it state how activities will be conducted, it states they will be conducted in
an open public process, perhaps the one item Dow dislikes the most. That the
Board of Commissioners would support with a resolution Dow Chemical’s desire for
closed-door negotiations and the company’s efforts to abandon a legal binding
contract because they no longer want to play by the rules is beyond the pale.
Again, there is no ambiguity in Dow’s RCRA responsibility. Any delay in
resolving the dioxin "situation" is the direct result of the company’s efforts
to skirt the responsibility of their corrective action license by creating
needless delays and interjecting specious arguments and groundless debate into
the process.
Your passage of Resolution B calling on EPA to resume lead negotiations with
Dow sends three clear messages to the people of Saginaw County:
1. Dow does not need to play by the rules or the laws of the land
2. It’s OK for negotiations to take place behind closed doors over this
public resource
3. Dow does not have to honor their contract signed in June 2003
EPA ordered Dow into negotiations under CERCLA last fall and ended them in
January after a thirty-day extension. These negotiations were private, the
discussions known only to the respective parties. EPA stated that they were
disappointed but that Dow failed to deliver on substantive issues like public
health protection, a pretty important detail. This was the third time in six
years Dow has negotiated privately with regulators— creating delays, derailing
timelines and always, always to no avail. That nothing substantive came from
recent negotiations should surprise no one. Lone Tree Council objected to all of
these closed-door negotiations and we will continue to do so.
I would submit that your job as elected officials is to support the laws of
this state and to reject any negotiations that do not guarantee transparency. As
elected officials you have the responsibility to ensure the business of the
people is transparent and that the people who own these resources are assured a
voice and a place at the table. Given the geographic size of the contamination
and the unprecedented concentrations of dioxin in this county, one would think
the Board of Commissioners would want to be fully apprised of how public health
measures and response activities are being negotiated. Closed-door negotiations
leave you, the elected representatives and your local health department out of
the information loop. Your support for Resolution B essentially denies the
elected representatives of this county access to information.
Many of your districts border these rivers. The impacted residents living and
raising their families on contaminated property and the disproportionate number
of minorities consuming the most highly contaminated fish from these waters are
the most legitimate stakeholders. Who is their voice in a closed-door
negotiation? We all own these natural resources and we are all stakeholders. No
one should be in the dark on this very important issue. Every citizen is
entitled to information so they can participate as equals in the one of the
worst contaminations in this state’s history. This isn’t just about Dow and a
quick resolution. This is about public health, property, restoration and the
quality of Lake Huron. It’s about how this county chooses to conduct the
people’s business.
I did contact MDEQ and EPA and was informed that to the best of their
knowledge no one from the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners had contacted
them for input on Dow activities, the regulatory process or their perspective on
how activities are progressing. Your support for Resolution B without gathering
the facts or deliberating is bothersome at best.
Contrary to the language put forth in Resolution B, MDEQ is moving this
process along and EPA is actively involved. Consistent with past practice Dow is
the only obstacle to progress. Perhaps you would find the courage to call into
question all the delays created by Dow Chemical. MDEQ with EPA’s support has
issued dozens of Notices of Deficiencies to this recalcitrant company over the
past five years; the first one being in December of 2003 and the most recent
this past December. I would be most happy to compile the list for you.
As for the timely and final resolution being called for in Resolution B, it
has always been within Dow’s power to bring this cleanup to fruition. In 2003
when Dow and DEQ signed the RCRA corrective action license Dow proclaimed it was
the path forward. Again in 2005 after 8 months behind closed doors the public
was told the resulting FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT was the " path forward" to resolve
this issue. In 2007 upon entering negotiations with EPA, the public was once
again told about Dow’s desire to settle this issue and move forward. Again they
dropped the ball. Now in 2008 Dow is shopping around to create more delays and
tossing aside their legal and binding obligations under RCRA. Is it the position
of the board that Dow does not have to honor their contract?
This February, Dow visited EPA headquarters in an effort to re-enter
negotiations with Region V. EPA headquarters told Dow they were confident in the
State of Michigan retaining the lead on this corrective action with back up from
Region V when things began to bog down. It worked very well last year on Reach
D, JK, O and Wickes Park. The sampling required by MDEQ under RCRA authority and
the authority of EPA under CERCLA accelerated cleanup on these various reaches.
As stated in the attached letter from MDEQ and EPA more work was accomplished
last year with the two agencies working together than in the previous 30 years.
Perhaps it would be advantageous to invite both agencies in for a committee of
the whole meeting where you could ask their opinion, face to face and really
find out what’s going on.
Resolution B states:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,That it is of great importance to
the future of Saginaw County and this region to determine an agreed upon single
path forward that will result in a protective, timely and final resolution of
the dioxin and furan situation in Saginaw County and surrounding communities….
However, upholding the democratic process is more important then an expedited
clean- up. Dow’s RCRA corrective action license is the agreed upon, single path
forward to a timely and final resolution to this issue. Commissioner Wurtzel
admonished the board to "get some guts" but we are long past the need for
ambiguous resolutions and hyperbole. The boards vote to support closing the door
on transparency was anything but gutsy.
I hope in the future you will attend the quarterly meetings of the DEQ where
all the stakeholders are gathered and engage Dow, the agencies and your
community. Dioxin " situation" is a tepid and comfortable description coined
early on by Dow. In reality, this " situation" is one of the largest geographic
contaminations in the country. The highest levels of dioxin in the nation are in
our waters. Every man, woman and child who hunts in or live on these
contaminated floodplains, recreates, swims or fishes in these rivers or Bay
deserves to be acknowledged as a stakeholder in seeking resolution to this
contamination. Those who subsist on these fish deserve a voice too.
To Commissioners Woods, Fox and Ruth we thank you for your support for an
open process and your support for the right of the people to know what’s going
on in their communities.
LIVING
DOWNSTREAM FROM DOW CHEMICAL .jpg)
The
Saginaw Bay is the largest watershed in Michigan. More than 50
miles of its rivers that empty into Lake Huron are threatened by
dioxin and other highly hazardous chemicals. Federal and state
laws require Dow Chemical Company, the responsible party, to
clean up the contamination. However, pressure to resolve this
issue behind closed doors is mounting. Public participation in
an open transparent process is the best way to assure cleanup
will be comprehensive and will restore the region to health. 
