Comprehensive information about the dioxin contamination of the Tittabawassee River and it's floodplain located in Saginaw Bay watershed of Michigan http://www.trwnews.net Sun, 3 May 2009 15:56:30 -0400 Sun, 3 May 2009 15:29:33 -0400 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.0) http://www.feedforall.com http://www.trwnews.net/rss/ccwsign_ss.jpg http://www.trwnews.net Clean it up NOW !! 144 104 Michigan DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the department still had concerns about the project and how company supporters in communities near the Dow plant in Midland had interpreted the results

"There's a common misperception out there about what this report says. Example: "At public meetings, people will say that the U-M study showed there's no problem with the dioxin," McCann said. "

One of the issues is that Garabrant's team did not assess the health of the people it examined

Kern also contended the study may have included too few subjects representing groups with the highest exposures to dioxin contamination from the Dow plant, a complaint echoed by the DEQ and the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Only about 14 of the roughly 900 people who provided blood samples lived in areas with the most highly contaminated soil, said Linda Dykema, manager of the community health department's toxicology section.

Also lacking were statistics on dioxin levels for people who regularly eat bottom-feeding fish such as catfish and white bass, which are known to carry particularly high concentrations of toxins, Dykema said.

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Visit www.trwnews.net for details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 8BBA45D6-D974-48CC-B6D5-84253B6899ED Sun, 3 May 2009 15:29:33 -0400
The letter is signed by dozens of organizations from across the country representing communities impacted by Dioxin including:

· Community-based and environmental justice organizations; · Indigenous groups; · Health-impacted groups; and · Organizations concerned about Agent Orange. We urge the EPA to cancel the Science Advisory Board’s review of EPA’s Dioxin Reassessment, release this long awaited report, and move ahead in setting dioxin policies that will protect the health of the our communities and the American people.

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Visit www.trwnews.net for details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 5DF7160D-D364-46BF-A89A-4E8ACB8DF683 Sun, 3 May 2009 09:44:34 -0400 April 30 , 2009

Below is the announcement for the upcoming DEQ Dioxin Meeting. Please note the change in location. Also please share this far and wide. It is my understanding that there will be no announcement in the local papers. Dow Chemical apparently has declined to take part in the meeting or pay for the ads in the local papers.

Michelle Hurd Riddick Lone Tree Council


DOW DEQ Quarterly Meeting The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is hosting the next quarterly Midland/Saginaw/Bay City (Tri-Cities) Dioxin Community Meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, in Lecture Theater G160 at Delta College, 1961 Delta Road, University Center. Please note the new location for this meeting. Agency staff will be available one-half hour before the meeting and one-half hour after the formal portion of the meeting for individual discussion with the public.

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Visit www.trwnews.net for details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 017D3DFD-7896-4510-8C36-2839403A158B Sun, 3 May 2009 09:41:04 -0400 The Lone Tree Council has created a short but succinct TV commercial that really puts Dow's dioxin contamination of our watershed in perspective. It began airing on local Charter cable TV stations yesterday. Not sure how long it will remain available on line, check it out while it's hot. <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for a link to the ad. http://www.trwnews.net 4D07E1D5-E8C0-427F-837C-489C44AF684E Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:45:54 -0400
Officials said the new process would involve treating the contaminated area like a Superfund site but not adding it to the National Priorities list as a Superfund site.

EPA officials said that this approach would speed clean-up by sidestepping the bureaucracy involved in designating an area a “Superfund site.

Critics argue that the Superfund Alternative Site process is advisory rather than regulatory.

They say that the move would protect Dow stockholders from economic fallout associated with owning a Superfund site, but would derail the existing cleanup process and limit public involvement and oversight of the process.

Gade called the effort to initiate a new cleanup plan on a site with an existing RCRA process "highly unusual" and said that EPA policies since the ’80s have recommended pursuing cleanup through an RCRA process whenever possible.

She took the step of traveling to Saginaw to personally question the EPA’s plan at a public meeting where it was presented last week and urged concerned citizens to keep a spotlight on negotiations over dioxin cleanup.

People need to be insisting that their government officials from Gov. (Jennifer) Granholm to President Obama to the head of DEQ (state Department of Environmental Quality) and EPA do their jobs so they get the protection they deserve, she said in a telephone interview with Michigan Messenger.

For additional details including FOIA documents visit www.trwnews.net]]> http://www.trwnews.net C18D189E-AD9B-4DE4-ACB5-EEE0875404AD Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:34:50 -0500 P.O. 1251, Bay City, Michigan 48706
(Fighting for environmental justice since 1978)

December 18, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Terry Miller (989) 686-6386,  (989) 450-8097 cell
Michelle Hurd Riddick (989) 793-3313, (989) 327-0854 cell
Scott Edwards Waterkeeper Alliance (914) 356-6909

Groups Charge EPA is Poised to Cut Deal With Dow Chemical In Waning Days of Bush Administration

National and regional environmental organizations strongly objected today to closed door negotiations to reach an agreement on the largest dioxin contaminated site in the country. Dow Chemical, the world's largest chemical company, has contaminated more than 50 miles of river downstream from the company's global headquarters in Michigan. In a letter sent to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, groups including Waterkeeper Alliance, the Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan’s Sierra Club, Clean Water Action and the League of Conservation Voters allege the proposed process could result in an agreement that reduces the protectiveness of the cleanup, weakens the government's hand in requiring timely action, curtails public input and reduces government transparency and accountability.

"Every single one of our nation's environmental laws was built on a foundation of transparency and public participation," stated Waterkeeper Alliance Chairman, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. "EPA's attempt to circumvent that fundamental approach is an attack on the very cornerstone of our democracy."
The EPA and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) launched the private negotiating session with Dow with the intent of negotiating an agreement under the non-regulatory Superfund Alternatives Sites (SAS) program. This would change the way the cleanup would be administered. Currently the site is administered through requirements in an existing State hazardous waste permit.

"The best disinfectant is always sunlight," said Lana Pollack, Director of the Michigan Environmental Council". This is public health issue and the public has a right to be at the table.

More than a year ago, the EPA rejected an agreement negotiated using the same proposed framework. At the time, the EPA stepped away from those negotiations. The Agency said at the time, "EPA does not believe that the deal Dow is offering goes far enough," and "Key issues that are paramount for protecting human health and the environment remain unresolved. EPA simply will not accept any deal that is not comprehensive." After rejection of the proposal by then Region V EPA Administrator Mary Gade and other actions related to the cleanup, Mary Gade was terminated from her job.

"We are concerned that an agreement negotiated behind closed doors, with an Administration who's regulatory philosophy has been notably pro-polluter, does not bode well for the protection of our the Great Lakes," said Michelle Hurd Riddick of the Lone Tree Council. "We fear they are picking up where they left off now that Mary Gade is gone."

The SAS is a non-regulatory program that has never gone through a public process of rulemaking, nor has the program been evaluated for effectiveness in achieving cleanup. Many SAS sites are languishing without action. The SAS process circumvents some of the requirements of the federal Administrative Procedures Act, and other public input provisions of the Superfund law, thereby essentially eliminating a public role in a major cleanup impacting the commons in the region.

This spring, EPA Region V and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality lauded the accomplishments made in 2007 as the most progress made in 30 years. Yet the SAS proposal would derail the existing process, replacing it with yet another process. EPA has not made a compelling case for the SAS process. In their comments ( letter attached) to EPA Administrator Johnson, the signatories state: " There is no need for this mid-stream switch from an existing, clean up process under a workable, enforceable RCRA corrective action permit to an unnecessary, potentially detrimental SAS approach that could lead to time delays and less extensive and less protective clean up"

Dow Chemical's contamination site stretches more than 50 miles from the Company's global headquarters to Saginaw Bay, one of the largest watersheds in the Great Lakes. The contamination is dominated by dioxins, a family of chemicals that are toxic in tiny amounts, and have been found in every species tested in the watershed, including residents of the area. Fish consumption warnings stretch into Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes. Dioxin can disrupt vital functions at infinitesimally small amounts, and has been linked to immune system suppression, diabetes, endometriosis, cancer, birth defects, and a host of other health problems.

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Visit Tittabawassee River Watch   for additional details including letter to Administrator Johnson.]]> http://www.trwnews.net 4BEB9D3C-EAC6-449D-8778-43891C25019C Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:24:53 -0500 EPA Region V issued a Special Notice today to Dow Chemical by which the company, Region V and MDEQ will go behind closed doors for the third time in three years to negotiate a cleanup under the Superfund Alternative Site agreement process (SAS) to address Dow's dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay of Lake Huron.  The SAS process is only a 'guidance' which does not require CLOSED DOORS. Dow has long wanted to deal with EPA exclusively-- read the article below. The SAS is moving forward without any explanation on the fate of the  viable RCRA corrective action license which is in place. It goes without saying that Dow always wants to go behind closed doors. Unfortunately voices in defense of transparency are silent when it comes to Dow and closed doors always create the much coveted delays that Dow has relied on for decades. No objections from MDEQ about the lack of transparency. <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for our response http://www.trwnews.net 705406C4-5E3E-4AE0-9FFA-9E0BAAC19DB9 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:51:44 -0500 The Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry (ATSDR) has dropped key measures from its guidelines for analyzing dioxin levels at waste sites, a move that activists and state regulators say will limit regulatory confusion and bolster efforts to force cleanups at levels stricter than EPA's current cleanup target. The ATSDR action could help environmentalists in Michigan, who petitioned for the change in 2006, in their effort to force Dow Chemical company to clean up to stricter levels a massive dioxin contaminated site around its Midland, MI, facility. Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net F46F8461-5CA1-42C2-BDA1-BFA1E4CD302C Sun, 9 Nov 2008 10:28:02 -0500 A peer reviewed study just published in Environmental Health states "High levels of dioxin in soils were observed in the city of Midland and the Tittabawassee River 100-year floodplain. After adjusting for age, we observed high breast cancer incidence rates and detected the presence of spatial clusters in the city of Midland, the confluence area of the Tittabawassee, and Saginaw Rivers. After accounting for spatiotemporal variations, we observed a spatial cluster of breast cancer incidence in Midland between 1985 and 1993. The odds ratio further suggests a statistically significant (alpha = 0.05) increased breast cancer rate as women get older, and a higher disease burden in Midland and the surrounding areas in close proximity to the dioxin contaminated areas. " Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net 7A252F42-A5CA-41B4-A4EB-5965AA9F453D Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:17:29 -0400 CREW, Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington has posted thousands of pages of EPA documents pertaining to Dow Chemical’s dioxin contamination in the Saginaw Bay watershed. The documents were in response to a Freedom of Information request CREW filed with EPA when Mary Gade, Regional Administrator at Region V was terminated by Steven Johnson the head of EPA because she was holding the chemical giant accountable refusing to play their game and running interference with their persistent end run to EPA headquarters to garner favor--- ( read the documents). No doubt in my mind that Mary Gade had to go she was interfering with Dow’s plans which you can bet are still being pursued--behind closed doors. Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net 184769DD-E604-4CDD-B709-A383F4886100 Wed, 3 Sep 2008 07:37:33 -0400 The Environmental Protection Agency is telling its pollution enforcement officials not to talk with congressional investigators, reporters and even the agency's own inspector general, according to an internal e-mail provided to The Associated Press. The June 16 message instructs 11 managers in the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, the branch of the agency charged with making sure environmental laws are followed, to remind their staff members to keep quiet. "If you are contacted directly by the IG's office or GAO requesting information of any kind ... please do not respond to questions or make any statements," reads the e-mail sent by Robbi Farrell, the division's chief of staff. Instead, staff members should forward inquiries to a designated EPA representative, the memo says. .... <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net 795ED8B0-E6B3-4E51-8017-D319A0E2C1B6 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:51:30 -0400 A recent article states "An MDEQ official says Michigan opted for the 1000 ppt cleanup level -- instead of its own more stringent 90 ppt cleanup level -- because the amount of land in the Midland area that would have been considered contaminated at that level is too great to possibly remediate in the interim" ...<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net A6C6C1E0-C1E6-43CB-9434-A786006B99D5 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:49:46 -0400 Authors of recent study conclude, " these findings suggest that maternal exposure to dioxins such as TCCD in the environment produces damaging effects on the thyroid function of their babies "far apart in time from the initial exposure." <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net 51CBD2E7-4BB8-48FC-A86E-1CF0B6205FBB Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:53:15 -0400
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.

Visit www.trwnews.net for the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 17A52D15-CE8E-484E-B6A1-C966404EA755 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:37:35 -0400


The following is a speech by Dave Dempsey given at the   30th Anniversary of Lone Tree Council & Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination

  June 8, 2008

Let me say one thing right away:

It’s good to be home. So good.

Michigan will always be my home, no matter what my address is at any given time. I love this place on Earth. And you know why? Not just because I was born and spent most of my life here but because Michigan is like no place else. In so many ways, it’s better than any place. I know sometimes that’s hard to remember  especially when the economy is down and those in positions of power don’t seem to have a clue but it’s true.

Michigan is special.

I am a major cheerleader for this state. Not its political leadership class, or its overbearing special interests. But just about everything else.

Whenever I come back here, I’m reminded of a Native American elder that Gary Snyder quotes in The Practice of the Wild:

You know, I think if people stay somewhere long enough -- even white people -- the spirits will begin to speak to them.  It’s the power of the spirits coming up from the land.  The spirits and the old powers aren’t lost, they just need people to be around long enough and the spirits will begin to influence them.

Whenever I’m here, I feel the spirits of Michigan. I can even sense them when I’m looking at photographs of my beloved home state.

I had a chance recently to write a foreword to a book of beautiful photographs of Michigan. It’s called Of Woods and Waters. The photographers are Ron Leonetti and Christopher Jordan. The book will be published by Indiana University Press this fall. I was asked to look at the photographs, talking to the photographers, and set forth a few thoughts.

I found myself thinking of the gorgeous landscape of Michigan and comparing it to the people of Michigan. Here’s what came to mind:

Michigan is tough and muscular. Like the men and women of the Motor City who put Americans on wheels, wild Michigan is powerful. Its Great Lakes waves sometimes thunder against the shore. Its towering forests sometimes roar in the wind. Tempered but not defeated by time, its cliffs, waterfalls, moraines and alvar persist in beauty that is often craggy and stern.

Michigan is vulnerable. Two of the state’s natural icons illustrate this. The Kirtland’s warbler, a 6-inch-tall bird whose almost exclusive summer breeding ground for 40 years has been the jack pine forests of northern Lower Michigan, at one time numbered only in the hundreds and is still vulnerable to extinction. The dwarf lake iris, a petite, subtly beautiful wildflower 90% of whose global population occurs close to Michigan’s Great Lakes shorelines, is now the official state wildflower. It, too, faces an uncertain future in its case of climate change and continuing human development of its attractive habitat. The settlers of the 1800s surveyed mammoth forests and thought Michigan’s natural wealth inexhaustible, only to liquidate the overwhelming majority of it in two generations. Today it is impossible to think of even the scenes of grandeur in this book as invulnerable to the hand of humankind.

Most of all, Michigan is resilient. Throughout its more than 170-year history, Michigan has weathered catastrophe again and again but recovered. The year of its birth, 1837, was the year of a national economic panic that bankrupted Michigan government. The Great Depression paralyzed the automobile industry. In the early 1980s the state’s unemployment rate topped 17%. But each time its people awaited and contributed to new prosperity.

Similarly, after the last glaciation ended approximately 10,000 years ago, the crust of Michigan and adjacent areas, formerly depressed from the weight of the ice sheets, rebounded. Today Michigan’s waters, renewed by more than a generation of strict pollution controls, are visibly healthier than they were, signaling that natural processes can heal if they are just given the chance to work.

Tough – vulnerable – resilient. I’m old enough now to think that’s not only a good way for a state like Michigan to be, it’s a necessary and good way for a human being to be. I look around this room and see many tough, vulnerable, and resilient people. Like Terry Miller. Like Michelle Hurd Riddick. Like Kay Cumbow. Like Ann Hunt.

People who are tough enough to go toe to toe with those who would pillage Michigan’s natural beauty and our own communities, and leave a wasteland behind. People who are vulnerable enough to feel deeply  and maybe even weep now and then over how we treat  – the majesty and grandeur of their favorite places, forests, rivers, lakes and fields.

Most of all, people who are resilient enough never to surrender.  Never to surrender to those with vast wealth and the ear of the news media and government officials who try to exploit, rather than conserve. The people in this room, like Michigan, are resilient. You may lose a battle or two but you get up the next morning and you defend what you love all over again.

So it is an honor to be invited to here to speak to you, to listen to you, and to learn from you. And to celebrate 30 years of greatness – great action and passion and commitment – by the people of Lone Tree Council and Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination. I salute you. I thank you. And even more, I love you for what you stand for, and what you do.

It’s great to have a chance to celebrate with you.

One of the few benefits of moving away from Michigan – other than gaining a fiancée whom I’ll marry in less than two weeks (in Michigan) – is that you get a little perspective. The biases that became wallpaper while I lived here are now gone. The friends and adversaries I used to know are seen in starker perspective, with more compassion and less judgment. And – the state of things in Michigan, my Michigan, is startlingly apparent.

And when it comes to conservation, environmental protection, and public health, what is the state of things?

I asked a couple of friends working at the grassroots here in Michigan (who for obvious reasons shall remain nameless) what they see. Here are some of the more memorable observations.

It appears the emphasis from our state government and governor is JOBS, JOBS, JOBS with little recognition about how our most valued treasure is the state’s wealth of natural resources....specifically our diverse water resources. Rather than keep her campaign pledge to protect natural resources, the Governor has been soft on Nestle and other corporations who have their own plans for using Michigan's natural resources.

And from another, even more succinctly:

The Granholm administration is in the grip of corporate power. Her attitude is arrogant: going anywhere and ‘doing anything’ to bring jobs to Michigan, and she says this with no sense of irony. There's a terrible cost to not just natural resources but to communities of color.

To any of you in this room who are diehard supporters of Governor Granholm, I apologize. I was one once. I actively worked for her in 2002. And, to be fair, she is a vast improvement over her predecessor, who did his best to ravage all the things that made Michigan a great state.

But I expected a lot more of her. And obviously I’m not alone in that sentiment. I didn’t come here, though, to criticize the Governor. What I did come here to do is to analyze and diagnose a problem that I see far more clearly than I did when I lived and worked her  the degree to which powerful giant moneyed interests are wrecking Michigan. I also came here to give you some ideas, and encouragement, about turning that around.

I would be wasting your time if I recited in detail all of the examples of corporate misbehavior related to Michigan’s environment in recent years. And I won’t even bother to go into the horror story of how our biggest manufacturer  the auto industry  fought our community in the 1990s when we sought stricter fuel efficiency standards. It would be the death knell for jobs in Michigan if we forced them to make something besides gas-gulping SUVs, they said. Now we have $4 a gallon gasoline and that industry is fighting for its life.

There are plenty of other examples.

Like Meijer, which didn’t get exactly the big box store approval it wanted from Acme Township, near Traverse City. To fix that, the company broke campaign finance laws and secretly funded a recall campaign against the trustees who opposed the Meijer big box. Now the company has been hit with the biggest campaign finance fine in the history of the state.

Like Whirlpool, which through allies in and out of government is seeking to convert a public park on Lake Michigan in Benton Harbor into a country club for the rich. To do that, they seek to break a 90-year-old covenant between the family that donated the land and the city. The family wanted it to be a public park forever in honor of their beloved deceased daughter, Jean Klock. Whirlpool wants it to be an amenity for the wealthy.

Or like Dow. The company whose advertising and environmental stewardship just don’t match up. The company that imposes a fiscal and health tax on every resident of the Saginaw Bay watershed, externalizing the costs of its toxic pollution onto the public. Instead of spending money on cleanup, Dow spends it on public relations, lobbying, community philanthropy and campaign contributions. It’s cheaper for them  it’s far more expensive for the rest of us.

What’s going on here? Is there anything we can learn from these examples?

The common denominator in all these cases is the money and power brought to the table by those who want to exploit, rather than conserve the best of Michigan.  And the all-too-predictable weakness and lack of vision on the part of those who are charged with protecting the public trust.

I’m being charitable, actually. I don’t know if it’s weakness and lack of vision by people in government I’m describing  in some cases it’s active collusion. We deserve better from our public officials.

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.

We will never have clean air, water and land in this state until we diminish the role that special interest money plays in electing and re-electing the Governor and legislators. Whenever Dow Chemical Company dislikes a decision that may be coming out of our DEQ, it can go right to a politician who will do whatever it asks to delay or deny that decision. One of the reasons the politicians respond is because companies can shower them with campaign contributions and other support.

          There’s only one way to solve that. Our community must make campaign finance reform a priority. We must join forces with our public interest constituencies and clean up the corrupt mess that allows Dow and others to buy money and access, and distort decisions. This has to be a major mission of ours in the next few years. My preferred solution is public financing – but I’m not wedded to any one idea. I just know we must curb the corrupting influence of special interest money.

Let’s fix Michigan’s judicial system.

In 1970, Michigan’s legislature passed the Environmental Protection Act and Gov. Milliken signed it into law. Last year, the Michigan Supreme Court repealed it. Were you paying attention?

Yes, it’s true. By a 5-4 vote, the state Supreme Court decided the 1970 legislature never really had the power to give any citizen standing to sue to prevent or stop damage to the air, water or other natural resources of the state. Basing their ruling on theories spun by the right-wing Federalist Society, the court majority took away one of the major tools we have had for almost two generations now to protect Michigan.

It is no accident that the court majority consists of justices appointed and elected with the help of special interest contributions from the corporations that seek to evade their environmental responsibilities, protect themselves from consequences resulting from their faulty products, and run roughshod over local governments. 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.

Let’s fix the environmental decision making system.

For almost 70 years, Michigan had one of the best conservation programs in the nation. Beginning in the 1920s, we built a 4 million acre state forest system, a 90-unit park system, and strong defenses against air and water pollution.

For the last 20 years we’ve often gone backwards in the laws, policies and practices that define Michigan conservation.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in those 20 years, we also effectively dismantled the system of public oversight and citizen decisionmaking that prevailed during the previous 70 years. A system of citizen commissions and public meetings in which you could speak your mind and heart on a controversial air or water permit decision, and see how the decisionmakers voted. A system that was open and transparent. Governor Engler ended all that with one stroke of the pen.

In 2002, candidate Jennifer Granholm promised to restore citizen oversight and transparency to the environmental decisionmaking process. Specifically, she pledged to our community that she would create a commission to oversee and make the key decisions affecting policies and permits issued by the Department of Environmental Quality.

Six years later, she hasn’t yet kept that promise. At first there were other priorities. Later she said it was because the legislature, controlled by the opposition party, would overrule her. But now that her party controls one house of the legislature, that’s not likely. So why hasn’t she kept the promise? And why aren’t we demanding she do so? It may seem a petty or technical thing to argue for a citizen commission for the DEQ. But just remember, sunshine is the best disinfectant. I urge you to move on this Governor’s promise now.

- Ask her to keep her promise to create a commission to oversee the DEQ.
- Ask her to appoint an environmental ombudsman to provide the same access to the decision making process that the state government’s many business ombudsman shops provide to corporations.
There is no reason why this can’t happen before Labor Day. It’s up to the Governor  and it’s up to us.

Let’s fix the economic system.

Now even I have to admit this is an ambitious undertaking. Fixing an economy is not like tinkering under the hood. It’s a mammoth job. But we need to start.

     We need to break the grip that giant corporations hold on our political process and our politicians. We need to do it not solely by opposing, but also by proposing. Here are a few notions:

     - We need to form an alliance with small business. You’ve probably all heard the news that small business is responsible for 80% of new jobs. We should reach out to small businesses and their representatives and talk about our common agenda, especially in those new and flourishing green business sectors.
     - We need to articulate a new economic vision for the state  most of all, we need to break the news to the news media and the public that good conservation does not mean a faltering economy. I find Michigan, more than other states, still in the thrall of those who argue that environmental protection slows the economy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In the 21st Century, the two can and must go hand-in-hand.

I asked a friend to put it in plain terms and here’s what he said:

We have the Great Lakes; Oh My God  -- the vital link of human-kind -- the lifeblood of life, industry/business and tourism/recreation; and we can’t find the political will to protect it; be innovative about it; be proud of it; and to love it!

Do you think they would appreciate it in Atlanta; or Phoenix?

We should be saying

‘Come to Michigan and the Great Lakes states -- We've got what you want;
-- Beautiful landscape;
-- Four great seasons;
-- Lots and lots of water; very few tornados; hardly any earthquakes; and no hurricanes; skiing, boating, hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and so much more.

But, listen up, if you come here you’re gonna respect it; and protect it; and yes, you're going to pay for it. We’re going the extra thousand miles to make sure what we do is right -- no shoddy development and the toughest environmental and land use regulations in the world.

Sounds like a pretty good program to me. I’d vote for him. But why in God’s name do we never hear this from anyone who actually practices politics in Michigan? Is it really that unthinkable in Michigan’s political culture to say, ‘As an elected official I will put protection of the state’s greatest asset  its natural resources and especially its water  before anything in my speeches, in my values and most importantly, in my votes? I hope I live long enough to see that happen here in Michigan.

Let’s talk now a little more about water, the Great Lakes, and Michigan’s future. In the Great Lakes Basin, we are stewards of nearly one-fifth of the world’s available surface fresh water.

That’s right  about 18% of the world’s surface fresh water – but only about 0.5% of the world’s population. We may have only about 1/200th of the globe’s people, but we have close to one-fifth of humankind’s responsibility for freshwater.

What responsibility do we have as Great Lakes stewards to all of humanity? How do we exercise that responsibility with care?

And where are we today when it comes to considering the husbandry of the lakes? I’m afraid we’re still mostly talking about whether the Sunbelt, or corporations, or wealthy foreign markets will get our water. And we’re still debating whether our laws or policies or practices will meet that goal. Those are legitimate issues, but they overlook the biggest consideration of all.

It’s called water scarcity, and it’s coming to a continent near you no matter what continent you live on.

You’ve probably heard the news. By the year 2025, it is predicted, one in three human beings will be affected by water scarcity.

Now I’d like to point to a few words in the pending Great Lakes compact that have a lot to do with global water scarcity. And practically nobody is talking about them.

          Those words are:  To use in a non-commercial project on a short-term basis for firefighting, humanitarian, or emergency response purposes.

They’re found in section 4.13, Exemptions, page 21 of the Great Lakes Compact. The half-sentence defines exemptions to the compact’s ban on water exports.

In other words  without any definition  the states are saying it is permissible to take water out of the Lakes on a short-term basis for humanitarian or emergency response purposes that are non-commercial.

Think about that a moment.

In 2005, when Katrina walloped New Orleans and the adjoining Gulf shore, the Great Lakes water commercialization industry smelled an opportunity. We all watched as helpless thousands of our fellow citizens lived in bestial conditions for days. In the late summer heat, elderly and vulnerable refugees slowly died awaiting medical attention, air-conditioning, food—and water. Major water bottlers were happy to pitch in, shipping planeloads and truckloads of water to address the suffering. Here in Michigan, Governor Granholm temporarily lifted a state ban on new bottled water exports in a symbolic gesture of humanity.

Would Michigan or any of the Great Lakes states have been as quick to relax a Great Lakes export restriction for sufferers in South America, Africa, or Asia?

Water scarcity abroad threatening human survival is likely to be a persistent theme of the twenty-first century. And such scarcity could last much longer than the post-Katrina weeks in which New Orleans residents languished. How will we respond? How much if any will we share? How long will it last? Who will decide?

We might want to start thinking about those questions. In fact, it’s our responsibility to do so.

To anyone who might object to sharing Great Lakes water with suffering or starving people elsewhere, I ask:

Why might it be unthinkable to give away Great Lakes water to the distressed  but fine to sell water to those who are not distressed?

Or how it can be ecologically unsound to ship 300 million gallons a year of water out of the Great Lakes in tanker trucks or vessels  but perfectly permissible to ship 300 million gallons a year of water out of the Great Lakes in 16-ounce plastic bottles? That’s the logic or illogic behind the Great Lakes compact. And I’m worried that it betrays a fatal gap in our thinking and feeling.

We have begun, I believe, to allow the Great Lakes to be converted to a product. And this we must never do.

          In treating water as the common heritage of mankind, we have plenty of law and plenty of poetry  some of it in court rulings  that stands behind us.

In a landmark public trust case, Collins v. Gerhardt, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 1926 that the rights of citizens to fish, swim, boat and enjoy public trust waters are protected by a high, solemn and perpetual trust, which it is the duty of the state to forever maintain.

This all stems from an ancient Roman code, and an equally venerable human belief, which holds that some natural resources are not ownable  they cannot in the end be private. They are the property of all humanity. It is called the public trust doctrine. And as the Michigan Supreme Court said in 1926, protecting this public trust is a high solemn and perpetual duty.

And yet here we are, 82 years later, and our governments are abdicating their police power and they are surrendering the public’s rights in the Great Lakes. For even if you don’t think there’s anything wrong with putting the public’s water into bottles and selling it, don’t you think the public should be asked to decide whether that’s OK?

But the public has not yet been asked that question  and large-scale commercial capture and sale of water is now happening in the Great Lakes Basin. Without any open debate, any law authorizing it, or any clear public affirmation that this is consistent with the public trust.

It’s absurd, and it should be stopped. We are giving humanity’s water to private interests, who are selling it at an outrageous profit and benefiting the public almost not at all.

The one thing we must not do as brothers and sisters of humankind is the one thing we have done so far this century – sanctioning the privatization of our water.

Do we really want water to be, literally, the oil of the 21st Century?

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?

If it does happen, it will be because people like all of you continued to fight to defend the greatest freshwater state on Earth. Because you were active. Because you emboldened those in office or seeking office to follow their heart, rather than pursue their political safety. To do what’s right by this and the next seven generations. You know, when I wrote Ruin and Recovery, I did so at a time when I had a crisis of confidence in my work as a Lansing-based advocate for the environment. I needed to step back and look at over 100 years of conservation history and see what was there, and try to make sense of it.

And you know what I found?

Hope.

I found people who, more than a century ago, with no conservation tradition backing them up, who organized, advocated and won the first victories in fish, wildlife and forest protection.

I found lone individuals who helped contribute to the national and state ban on DDT…the clean up of the Great Lakes, the passage of the same Environmental Protection Act that Clifford Taylor gutted. People with courage, intelligence and most of all, persistence – to protect this land we all so love.

If they could do it, so can we.

Throughout Michigan’s conservation history, it has been people like you – the citizens – who have led government to do the job of healing and restoring our Great Outdoors. And you will again.

So let me say once more:

It was an honor to be invited to here to speak to you, to listen to you, and to learn from you. And to celebrate 30 years of greatness – great action and passion and commitment – by the people of Lone Tree Council and Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination. I salute you. I thank you. And even more, I love you for what you stand for, and what you do.  

Dave Dempsey


Visit www.trwnews.net for the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net A611B473-7894-4E8C-B297-E342E7E9288D Mon, 9 Jun 2008 07:10:33 -0400
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.

Visit www.trwnews.net for the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net F6111BE9-6276-4284-A718-41132B622766 Sun, 1 Jun 2008 12:12:02 -0400
EPA Press Release
Release date: 05/28/2008
Contact Information: Kären Thompson, 312-353-8547, thompson.karen@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 08-OPA097

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.


Visit www.trwnews.net for the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 13EB7212-6867-47A5-B200-EE6AB03AEBFE Thu, 29 May 2008 07:22:47 -0400 LIVING DOWNSTREAM FROM DOW CHEMICAL <br /> Vincent Duffy<br /> May 19, 2008 <br /> <br /> 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. ... <br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net E1B938D1-F2DD-4CF1-8AF3-DD4F351F4492 Wed, 21 May 2008 08:06:54 -0400 According to Greg Holzman, chief medical executive of the Michigan Department of Community Health in Lansing.<br /> <br /> "... The University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study is a ground breaking 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.<br /> <br /> 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. ..."<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for the details http://www.trwnews.net 7F9887FE-1AF9-4BE9-AC3D-18878BD76538 Wed, 21 May 2008 08:02:15 -0400
-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.

Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 9C94B5A1-3A76-4867-8384-1827A1EF5629 Mon, 19 May 2008 08:09:34 -0400
Contact: Sanford Lewis Strategic Council on Corporate Accountability 413 549-7333

Midland, Michigan. 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.

Shareholders were responding to a resolution forwarded by the Sisters of Mercy challenging the company's potential liabilities associated with the slow pace of cleanup. The vote follows on the heels of a Congressional investigation into claims by the ousted EPA Regional Director that she was removed from office for requiring the company to remove contaminated sediments, and to further test for dioxin.

The resolution, which required the company to "issue a report to shareholders...summarizing the pace and effectiveness of the environmental remediation process being undertaken by Dow in the vicinity of and downstream from its Midland headquarters," garnered unusual support, "according to the preliminary count of votes reported by the company at the meeting. Shareholder resolutions requiring reports of this nature typically garner 3-10% of voting shares.

Shareholders may be concerned about potential ongoing liability from the company's handling of the more than 50-mile long contamination stretching from the company's headquarters to the Saginaw Bay. Fish and wildgame in the region are contaminated. A wildgame advisory in the region was extended last week to include additional species. Area residents have elevated levels of dioxin in their blood when compared with a comparison population. In a high profile move this past year, the company was required by the Environmental Protection Agency to remove highly contaminated "hot spots" from the river. Also in the last year, the highest level of dioxin ever measured in the country was found in the river.

Dow's response has been to downplay the hazards of dioxin, the toxic compound which characterizes the contamination. Dow has also sought to negotiate behind closed doors, outside of public scrutiny.

"We believe this vote for the second year in a row signals an interest in a more forthright approach to protect shareholder value," said Valerie Heinonen of the Sisters of Mercy Detroit, who filed the resolution on Midland contamination. "As shareholders, we are concerned that the continued delays in Dow's remediation of dioxin exposures near their flagship Midland facilities could lead to increased long-term liabilities. Dow's reluctance to address such a publicly documented contamination problem, especially in its own backyard, raises red flags about how the company deals with environmental and human health concerns more broadly." She continued, "we are concerned that they are investing more in public relations than in efforts to provide real solutions."

Protesters held banners outside the event saying "We are the human element," playing on Dow's multi-million dollar ad campaign.

"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."


Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net 924ED881-8DAA-485D-8A9A-596AFC934D6D Fri, 16 May 2008 07:56:04 -0400 As reported on WEYI TV, <br /> <br /> "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.<br /> <br /> 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. ..."<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details http://www.trwnews.net 02A3DCEF-4856-47FB-A7AB-393E694F2618 Tue, 13 May 2008 07:42:29 -0400
SAGINAW, MI

... united for the protection of our homes, health, and river from the effects of dioxin."

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 www.trwnews.net to track the response

Letter 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)

]]> http://www.trwnews.net 1B5BB8C0-4FDF-4C84-94CD-23E52ED4DA94 Wed, 7 May 2008 06:48:06 -0400 The MDEQ Dioxin Quarterly Meeting is this Wednesday May 7th at Horizon Conference Center beginning at 6:30.<br /> <br /> Agenda items for the meeting include:<br /> <br /> -A summary of Dow's 2007 sampling data for the middle Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River, and Saginaw Bay <br /> -A brief overview of the fish and wild game advisory By MDCH <br /> - A summary of the U.S. EPA' s recent residential sampling activities <br /> -A summary of the interim response activities that the DEQ is requiring Dow to conduct during the 2008 field season <br /> -Natural Resource Damage Assessment <br /> http://www.trwnews.net 06D40D6C-24F6-4679-BC52-8B5EAF14CE09 Tue, 6 May 2008 07:33:36 -0400 Lone Tree / TRW Dioxin update<br /> <br /> 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. <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> DETROIT NEWS: Dingell to probe why EPA official leaving job<br /> <br /> WALL STREET JOURNAL: EPA Regional Chief Resigns After Dispute http://www.trwnews.net FD88F8DF-651E-4DDB-B887-31C201997F29 Sun, 4 May 2008 08:44:25 -0400
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."

----   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  ]]> http://www.trwnews.net 778A92A4-800E-4E6C-95AB-51F0BE77F0F4 Fri, 2 May 2008 10:33:21 -0400 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. See the Dow Lawsuit page on www.trwnews.net for all the details of the case since it was filed in March of 2003 http://www.trwnews.net CEECFE07-0479-4BD5-9DEF-789CD2126EE1 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:08:53 -0400
Lone Tree Council

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.

Go to trwnews.net to link to the petition, view position paper, etc.]]> http://www.trwnews.net 8FD29F85-6150-4046-B4CA-C4A91AA561DA Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:02:03 -0400 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. <br /> <br /> Why are the MDEQ, the Lone Tree Council, and other concerned citizens stubbornly refusing to compromise?<br /> <br /> Consider the following from our friends at NWF: <br /> <br /> 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<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for 30 examples of concern with the ACE and the possible impact of these flawed practices on the Saginaw River Dredge Facility http://www.trwnews.net 845EF628-3FEC-4DE8-9692-4E6BF3917F53 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 08:55:13 -0400
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 containe

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]]> http://www.trwnews.net D0DD768A-D471-4219-BE69-CFD33CF26199 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:17:44 -0400 Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, hans.mick@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. OPA047 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.]]> http://www.trwnews.net F8D0DDBB-2501-4275-B432-24EADB817471 Thu, 3 Apr 2008 07:13:09 -0400 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.

Sincerely,
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council


Note: To view the referenced FOIA'd documents, visit www.trwnews.net]]> http://www.trwnews.net 394B3E52-EF98-4D3B-938A-C73564997C3D Wed, 2 Apr 2008 07:39:51 -0400
The CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has now made the information public on it's website, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/grtlakes/2007.html,.  Below are a few excerpts From Chapter 4 "Lake Huron" beginning at page 185 which pertain to the Dow Chemical contamination of the Tittabawassee River and it's impact on human health.

4.1.1.13 Tittabawassee River
The Dow Chemical Company plant in the city of Midland, Midland County, MI was the subject of an ATSDR health consultation that was triggered by community concerns regarding high levels of PCDDs in soil in the city of Midland and in fish in the nearby Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland. An additional concern arose when sampling of the Tittabawassee floodplain near the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers revealed high levels of dioxin contamination. The soil contamination issue was considered in the ATSDR health consultation on the Dow Chemical Co. site, presented in Section 4.1.1.12, which provides a description of the plant location and releases to the environment. The issue of contamination of the floodplain of the Tittabawassee River is considered in a separate 2002 ATSDR health consultation, summarized below. The Tittabawassee floodplain area that is potentially of concern extends from the City of Midland in Midland County to the City of Saginaw in Saginaw County. The sampling sites were within Saginaw County.

Category of Public Health Hazard:
This site was categorized as an Indeterminate Public Health Hazard (Category 3) because of the potential threat to human health from exposure to PCDDs and PCDFs and the lack of monitoring data for the residential area. Initial findings of a University of Michigan study, as reported by EPA (2006), are suggestive of an exposure-related elevated blood levels for dioxin in residents consuming fish from the area and in those participating in the area’s recreational activities (see Public Health Outcome data).

Contaminants of Concern in Completed Exposure Pathways:
Elevated dioxin TEQs (as high as 7,261 ppt, includes PCDDs and PCDFs) were found in soil samples from a floodplain area near the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers in Saginaw County, analyzed as part of a wetland mitigation project, and in other floodplain areas (golf course, wildlife refuge) upstream from the mitigation site. These levels were considered to be high enough to pose an urgent public health hazard if people were routinely exposed to soil at these locations, but ATSDR concluded that the level of exposure on these properties is not known, and was concerned regarding the lack of sampling on nearby residential properties. The only known source of dioxin contamination was the Dow Chemical Company plant upstream at Midland. ATSDR concluded that the contamination likely resulted from deposition of contaminated river sediments in the Tittabawassee River floodplain. As discussed in Section 4.1.1.12, fish in the Tittabawassee River below the city of Midland have elevated levels of PCDDs and PCBs. Based on the floodplain soil data together with the fish data, ATSDR concluded that dioxin contamination may be widespread throughout the Tittabawassee River watershed below Midland, but data were lacking on possible exposures. EPA reported (2006) that fish contamination by PCDDs and PCDFs, which have resulted in fish consumption advisories, represented a potential completed exposure pathway for residents of the area. EPA also reported that subsequent sampling found dioxin TEQs as high as 41,000 ppt within the first six miles downstream of the Dow plant. In addition, an initial investigation for other contaminants besides PCDDs and PCDFs is expected to be completed by 2007.

Demographics:
Twelve homes are located adjacent to the river less than half a mile upstream from the mitigation site where very high TEQs were detected. Numerous other residential properties are located within the floodplain upstream of the wetland mitigation site. 186 Do Not Cite or Quote

Public Health Outcome Data:
EPA reported (2006) that, in 2006, the University of Michigan conducted a dioxin exposure study which was funded by Dow. EPA further reported some of the key initial findings of the study as:
-Residents living in regions expected to have dioxin contamination (Midland/Saginaw) have higher concentrations of dioxins in their blood than do residents in a control area without dioxin contamination.
-Residents in areas with higher levels of dioxins in soil have a higher TEQ (total dioxin-like activity) in their blood.
-Populations consuming fish from the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River, and Saginaw Bay waterways have higher concentrations of dioxins in their blood than people who do not eat fish from these waterways.
-Populations participating in recreational activities in the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River, and Saginaw Bay have higher concentrations of dioxins in their blood than persons who do not participate.

Conclusions:
This site is contaminated with the IJC critical pollutants PCDDs and PCDFs, probably from releases from the Dow Chemical Company plant upstream at Midland, Midland County. The dioxin contamination, as reported by EPA (2006), is widespread throughout the Tittabawassee River watershed below Midland, but initial data were lacking on possible exposures. More recently (2006), EPA reported the availability of analytical sampling data combined with information on human activities in the watershed areas which indicate that statistically significant exposures to dioxin could be occurring, especially within populations who consume significant quantities of locally harvested fish and/or wild game. In addition, a wild game study for the flood plain of the Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland was conducted by Dow in 2004. State of Michigan health assessors have reviewed the wild game data and found that levels of dioxins in the wild game harvested in the floodplain for the study were up to 7 times higher than samples taken upstream of Midland in deer muscle meat, 118 times higher in deer liver, 66 times higher in turkey, and 40 times higher in squirrel. The assessors concluded that eating contaminated deer, turkey, or squirrel containing dioxin, at the levels found in the Dow wild game study, could result in adverse health effects.

]]> http://www.trwnews.net 2101976A-6F02-495F-845A-6CF468F60A71 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 10:51:29 -0400 The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied Dow Chemical's request for reconsideration in granting class action status for residents living in the Tittabawassee River floodplain for property damage due to their dioxin contamination.&nbsp;&nbsp;This was in response Dows Motion for Reconsideration filed February 14, 2008 regarding the Michigan State Appeals Court January 2008 decision to grant Class Action Certification to the Tittabawassee floodplain residents case against Dow Chemical.<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details of this case since it's inception in 2003. http://www.trwnews.net C79F651C-1483-416B-A0F1-4008706E6E84 Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:02:49 -0400 The Saginaw River

MDCH recently released the Petitioned Health Consultation on the Saginaw River and the Fish Consumption Survey for the Saginaw Bay Watershed. Both documents strongly identify/suggest the adverse impact on minorities consuming fish from the Saginaw River and make suggestions to further educate and involve the community in addressing what is obviously a public health hazard according to MDCH.  

The Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce

While there are many issues of more significance than the Chambers latest salvo at a regulatory agency or its defense of Dow's chronic bad behavior, statements cannot go unchallenged.  Terry Miller, Lone Tree Chair did a great job responding in a My View column in the Saginaw News. There is however no Saginaw News Internet link to Terry's response. Read this update for his response. Below are a few snippets. The Chamber is wrong and their statement a deliberate attempt to mislead. It's interesting that Mr. Eggers, President of ATK Peerless failed full disclosure and did not divulge the significant income garnered by his company as a contract employee for Dow Chemical doing work on priority one and two properties along the river contaminated with dioxin. There are no documents on the LTC web-site from the EPA or anyone else Perhaps Mrs. Horn would then ask Dow Chemical to honor their commitment to the people of this watershed by honoring the RCRA corrective action license signed by Ms. Sue Carrington on Dow’s behalf in June of 2003.  Unlike the Chamber of Commerce, EPA and DEQ  do  not see a healthy eco-system and a healthy economy as being mutually exclusive. In progressive communities with progressive thinkers that archaic thinking is no longer acceptable. The headlines and subsequent stories are not about the "release" of information but the content in the release. It’s what is revealed in these documents that so unnerves the Chamber of Commerce because it exposes the shenanigans of Dow Chemical. To suggest the public's access to information hinders negotiations one can only conclude the Chamber thinks the negotiations should be out of the public arena. We strongly disagree. Dow polluted this environment they don't own it. br />

Click here for the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net BB6D6F89-B3F3-4F3D-B972-33D37553AAB8 Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:21:19 -0500 02/10/08 The local poor cancer risk as high as 1 in 25 from eating Saginaw River fish <br /> <br /> At the dioxin public meeting this past Thursday held in Saginaw, a Health Consultation report was released by MDCH in a cooperative agreement with ATSDR evaluating Saginaw River dioxin exposures and health risk. <br /> <br /> There is a population here, the poor, uneducated Saginaw East side community who regularly fish and feed their families all species of fish from the Saginaw River including catfish and carp. When asked about the fish advisories, over 1/2 of these individuals did not even know there were advisories. MDCH consultation concluded that some Saginaw River fish eaters from this population could have an individual cancer risk as high as 1 in 25. <br /> <br /> A Dow supporter stood up and asked if this consultation had been peer reviewed. Stunning. Of course, this did not make the news the next day as the Shiver on the River fishing contest comes to a conclusion this weekend. <br /> <br /> And the Saginaw Chamber of commerce is up in arms about an accidental document released by EPA to The Lone Tree Council that paints Dow in a bad light, and is calling for an investigation. <br /> <br /> http://www.trwnews.net 74749519-CEE8-4AB0-9CC1-A5847DF6B7B0 Sun, 2 Mar 2008 12:30:14 -0500 Biotech Restorations  
        Trial on Tittabawassee removed 45% of dioxins and furans in 4 months
        Process uses existing bacteria in soil to breakdown the contaminants into inert substances
        Process treats the soil in place, however it needs to be plowed and watered.
        39 other projects around the world

Phase Separation Solutions

	Trial on Tittabawassee removed 99.8% of dioxins and furans
	Process uses a low temperature thermal desorption process where soils are removed and fed into a portable "extraction chamber" located on or near the treatment area.
	Process requires soils to be temporarily removed and fed into chamber. After treatment they can be returned to original location.
	8+ projects worldwide including potential residential areas near the Sydney Australia 2000 Olympics site

Click here for details]]> http://www.trwnews.net DD851F0C-8B13-4980-83DE-31D32067D88B Sun, 2 Mar 2008 12:14:50 -0500 <br /> "Based on the findings and reasons set forth above, the Court hereby orders<br /> that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Certification as a Class Action be and the same is<br /> hereby GRANTED"<br /> <br /> Michigan Court of Appeals opinion on Tittabawassee River residents lawsuit against Dow Chemical.<br /> <br /> Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details of this case since it's inception in 2003. http://www.trwnews.net 7B3528A3-732B-40CF-9158-A1E6E82C0AEB Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:22:25 -0500 <br /> We just added a new Freedom Act (FOIA) document page to our website.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that gives the public the right to make requests for federal agency records. <br /> <br /> All federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are required to disclose records unless the records are protected from disclosure by certain exemptions. The EPA FOIA Home page will guide you to information about the statute and give you information on submitting a request to the Agency.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /> <br /> We will post relevant documents on this page as time permits, check back often!<br /> http://www.trwnews.net 1EE05C52-6CC2-4CDD-9BDF-C0951E39893B Sun, 20 Jan 2008 08:26:42 -0500 Dow missed the EPA's cleanup 60 day negotiation deadline of December 10, 2007. The October 10, 2007 EPA press release , EPA to Dow Chemical: 60 day clock to negotiate on Tittabawassee River system cleanup starts today, stated "EPA may choose to extend negotiations until Jan. 9, 2008, if appropriate". Is anyone surprised? Dow always delays everything it can. <br /> <br /> What should concern everyone is that on the surface, this process closely resembles the pattern of the last "negotiation" in 2004 when the Governor Granholm stopped the transparent public process and went behind closed doors with Dow. Is this just another replay of 2004/2005? Should we substitute the abbreviation "DEQ" with "EPA" in the <a href="http://www.trwnews.net">timeline</a> below? Any one seen Dave Camp hanging around the EPA office lately? We hope not, however with negotiations behind closed doors again, only time will tell. http://www.trwnews.net E643CE0D-537F-475C-9383-3D898E88BC03 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:02:19 -0500 This issues topics:

-The Secret Memo
-Human Element lost locally but recognized in Michigan's leading newspapers
-Dow employee files for whistle blower protection
-Dow deadline tomorrow
-About that 1.6 million ppt in the Saginaw River
-The MSU Wildlife study
]]> http://www.trwnews.net 917A2170-87D2-41FE-924D-9E28E3D6DF08 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:04:22 -0500 EPA found state failed to stand up to chemical giant

December 7, 2007
BY TINA LAM, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

With the state's complicity, Dow Chemical Co. has delayed cleanup and misled the public about the dangers of dioxin it dumped decades ago into rivers downstream of its Midland plant, Environmental Protection Agency officials charged in a confidential August internal report.

The memo, obtained by the Free Press, also said Dow impeded state efforts to force a cleanup, concealed data and studies, tried to keep documents confidential that should have been made public and insisted on negotiating cleanup details with Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office, rather than staff of the state Department of Environmental Quality.

EPA officials said they could not discuss the memo because it is confidential.  ....]]> http://www.trwnews.net 7423495F-15ED-431F-A7B2-7125A870B4BE Fri, 7 Dec 2007 07:32:52 -0500
Employee claims she was demoted after questioning test results on Tittabawassee River

A Detroit News article today states that A Dow Engineer was demoted for questioning dioxin level sampling data submitted to the state.  The Engineer is now filing a whistle blower suit against Dow.

Project Enhancement Corp., the Germantown, Md., company hired to validate data from samples collected in August 2006, rejected the data that November because of "major technical non-compliance," Denney alleges in the lawsuit.  

The Engineer states she reported the flaws to her Dow supervisors, but Dow "submitted said bad data to the state on or about February 1, 2007
]]> http://www.trwnews.net 552E28F0-91FF-41CB-A27E-112A123911D3 Thu, 6 Dec 2007 07:03:14 -0500 <br /> A top government scientist says a toxic ''hot spot'' found in the Saginaw River near Wickes Park in Saginaw could represent the highest level of dioxin contamination ever recorded in the nation's river and lake systems. ....''We're still saying we can't find numbers anywhere close to this particular value,'' Clark said. ''We're looking at historical databases and I've sent out messages (to the scientific community), but nobody is saying (they've heard of a higher level).'' .... http://www.trwnews.net 3E07A399-39F5-4EEC-BAC2-E57996B91C86 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:54:20 -0500 Topics:

Front page headline Detroit News

Sky-high dioxin level taints river

Dow Chemical in violation of license again

MDEQ and MDCH it was determined the Direct Contact Criteria (DCC) Report is incomplete, has major deficiencies and substantial inaccuracies and is in violation of Dow's license.

Dow omitted information, asked for more meetings and submitted not a site specific number but a range! The range 890 ppt to 200,000,000 ppt

The Dow report supporting these absurd ranges makes considerable use of questionable reference material provided by the notorious Dennis Paustenbach (aka "Dr Evil"), a known industry hack famous for falsifying data to support corporate sponsors.  "It is abundantly clear that CDC's contractor, ChemRisk, does not have the necessary scientific or ethical integrity to engender public trust,"

Additional fish advisories on the Saginaw River

The MDCH says nobody should eat carp, catfish or white bass taken from anywhere in the Saginaw River. Women of childbearing age and kids under age 15 shouldn't eat smallmouth bass.

Freeland Festival Park dioxin on the move - where did it go?
This dioxin hot spot just picked up and moved down river onto someone else's property or perhaps further down river. Either way this mobile chemical compound is made accessible to fish, wildlife, people and Lake Huron.

Class Action in limbo
It's been two years this past month since the class action, Henry et al v Dow Chemical, was certified by Judge Borello and appealed by Dow Chemical. The case has been heard by the Michigan Court of Appeals but they have yet to hand down a decision.

Next DEQ / Dow quarterly meeting November 28

Visit www.trwnews.net for all the details]]> http://www.trwnews.net A733A62B-3C31-456E-891D-AE0187069038 Fri, 23 Nov 2007 11:55:39 -0500
Release date: 11/13/2007
Contact Information: Anne Rowan, 312 353-9391, rowan.anne@epa.gov