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05/13/08 State releases new
wild game dioxin advisories
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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.
Click here to view the entire article
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
860-3510John 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
www.trwnews.net to track the responseLetter to delegation attached:
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.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/04/24/stephen-johnson-gonzales/
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 have
once 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.
http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/05/02/dow-dioxin-scandals/
Source:
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
| 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.
Additional information can be found at
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/02/epa-politicization-gonzo/
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
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."
----
Make no mistake good people of the Saginaw Bay Watershed, Mary Gade was a great asset to the region and to the Saginaw Bay Watershed.
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 investigative story 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.
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
Click here to view the entire Dioxin Update
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".
Instead of heeding the advice of his own DEQ’s research documenting the need for a slurry wall, the Lt. Governor chose to rely on a study paid for by the Dow Chemical Company and done by a Dow contractor without peer-review, DEQ, or public comment. It is the position of residents and environmentalists that Dow will insist they be held to no more stringent standards should they construct a site on the Tittabawassee
River. The precedent is huge.
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.”
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/grtlakes/
Click here to view the entire Dioxin Update
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?
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
Click here to view the entire Dioxin Update
04/30/08
Another Dow delay, asks Supreme Court
to overrule Appeals Court decision
Dow filed its
motion for leave to appeal to 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 here to review all the details of the case since it was
filed in March of 2003
04/29/08
Lone Tree
Council / TRW Dioxin Update
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
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.
| 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. |
Lend your name in support of Lake Huron and the Michigan's largest watershed by signing on at the following link:If you want to add your organization to the above list please contact me michdave@aol.comShare this petition with your list serve, friends and family today
Lone Tree Council
P.O. 1251, Bay City, Michigan 48706
(Fighting for environmental justice since 1978)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michelle Hurd Riddick (989) 799-3313
Cell: 989-980-0982
Terry Miller 989-686-6386
April 23, 2008 Cell: 989-450-8097
Rita Jack 517-484-2372 x12
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.
|
Sign the petition, click on this link http://www.ecocenter.org/takeaction/dowpetition.php |
| |
|
04/23/08
Eat fish?
"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?
Consider the following from our friends at NWF:
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