Lone Tree Council and TRW
Dioxin Update
April 7th 2006 #65
Sediment Plume
Please take the time to go to the TRW website (click on Where Is It? on the left column) and look at the satellite photo ( fall of 2005) of the Saginaw Bay. The picture is most disturbing. Water levels are low making the sediment from the Saginaw River highly visible as it reaches far out into the bay. It is nothing short of outrageous that dioxin laden sediments have been permitted to reach Lake Huron for decades while EPA, DEQ and Dow confer and negotiate. How long is long enough? The question needs to be asked over and over and over. This is Lake Huron at the end of this pipeline. Our Lake Huron…….. Our water resource……… One billion people in the world are without safe drinking water…………we should not take this bountiful gift for granted. A letter was sent to EPA Region V and DEQ asking them to address measures which can be taken to address the movement of sediments to the Saginaw Bay. You can also view the satellite photo on the Great Lakes Town Hall Forum.
This is a great site and an opportunity to read and interact with residents from all around the Great Lakes basin.
1983 Document Revealing
Final Report on The Impact of Pollutants on the Tittabawassee River
by Rossman, Rice and Simmons January 1983.
A great deal of sampling for chemicals in the Tittabawassee River was done in the early 1980’s according to the above study done by the U of M Great Lakes Research Division under contract with the US Environmental Protection Agency. It’s lengthy and detailed but these two comments are most interesting:
Page 82: 1,000 samples of chlorinated compounds were collected from the Tittabawassee River
Page 159: “ Because contaminants are usually found in association with fine grained sediments and because these accumulate randomly with time in a river as dynamic as the Tittabawassee River, a study of the soils deposited by the river on its floodplain is recommended…….”
This report was released in January 1983 one year after the National Institute of Health verified Dow’s rat study on the toxicity of dioxin which demonstrated dioxin to be the most potent animal carcinogen to date. Not surprising that in June of 1983, Dow CEO, Paul Orifece announced Dow’s commitment to a 3 million dollar health study to put people’s minds at ease about the toxicity of dioxin. It was also in 1983, after Congressional hearings, that a high ranking EPA official was fired for permitting Dow Chemical to edit the Great Lakes dioxin study being done by EPA. Dow objected to language about the toxicity of dioxin and to the company being identified as the source of dioxin. Sound familiar?
No doubt the knowledge of dioxins in the Tittabawassee River revealed in the Rossman et al report and speculation about their presence in the floodplain soils led to the 1987 consent order granting Dow immunity for their releases of dioxin to the T-river. Dow was granted immunity and the public got a boat dock in exchange.
We are not much further ahead after all these years. Dioxin has been moving, migrating along the T-river, Saginaw River and out to Lake Huron while EPA, the State of Michigan and Dow Chemical continue to posture and spare in excess of 23 years.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA)
Negotiated in the Framework Agreement between Dow and DEQ the NRDA process will be utilized to address Dow’s responsibility. The overall intent of the assessment regulations is to determine appropriate restoration and compensation for injuries to natural resources. ( EPA) In the case of Dow’s dioxin contamination this would include both rivers and the Saginaw Bay. The NRDA process is used a great deal of the time across the country. There have been successes and failures with the process.
Last month the “Trustees” in the NRDA signed a “Confidentiality Agreement” among themselves to permit open and transparent discussions within the group. It is understood that this is a typical activity within the NRDA process. However, given the long, long history associated with this contamination, including, lack of transparency, private negotiations and political intimidation we need to remain vigilant. Thanks to our friends at the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor we will have access to an expert on the NRDA process. You can read the Confidentiality Agreement on the TRW website.
Tittabawassee River
High water event along the Tittabawassee River
Go to the TRW web site, click on current news to view great pictures of last month's flooding of the Tittabawassee River. Once again, dioxin contaminated sediments are being moved and shifted around like chairs on the deck of the Titanic.
Part XI.A.1 of the Hazardous Waste Management Facility Operating License for The Dow Chemical Company’s Midland Plant states:
the Chief of the Waste and Hazardous Materials Division has an obligation to implement actions “... to protect the public health, safety, welfare, or the environment, and includes, but is not limited to... cleanup, removal, remediation... containment, isolation.
None of these "actions" by MDEQ are incumbent on Dow's Work Plans or acquiescence. It's time that MDEQ require Dow to remove "hot spots" when they are found and stabilize river banks where high concentrations exist.
An email from one resident commenting on the river wall at Freeland Festival Park:
"Here's Dow's Sound Science on where our children should play." The wall is, in fact, a settling pond for dioxin…………. It catches and slows the river flow, enough to let the sediment drop out, all over the park. The park caught LESS dioxin when they just let the river flow through it unimpeded.
SAGINAW RIVER
Dow Submits Conceptual Work Plans
Below are the links for the transmittal letter
and the conceptual plan that was submitted by Dow for the Upper Saginaw
River starting at the confluence with the Tittabawassee River to the 6th
Street Bridge ( 5.5 miles)
http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-whm-hwp-GeoMorph-Scoping-Study-Upper-Sag-River-cov-letter.pdf
http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-whm-hwp-GeoMorph-Scoping-Study-Upper-Sag-River.pdf
Saginaw River Dredge Project
In a March 14th Saginaw News article, Saginaw County Public Works Director, Jim Koski assured everyone,” By this time next week, we’ll have a very good agreement.” This in reference to the operational management plan ( OMP) for the dredged materials slated to be disposed of in Frankenlust and Zilwaukee Twp. Mr. Koski can start construction on May 11th but he cannot put any dredge spoils in the site until he has an OMP. Issuance of the OMP is being delayed because of the inherent and significant environmental issues associated with placing contaminated dredge spoils in the floodplain of the Saginaw River. Secondly the cost to implement even modest improvements is very high………….which is why all the agencies are NOW talking with Dow Chemical.
NEXT DIOXIN UPDATE WILL BE COMMITTED TO THE DREDGE DISPOSAL FACILTIY AND THE VERY POOR PLANNING DONE BY MR. KOSKI AND THE CORP OF ENGINEERS
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
Source: Lone Tree Council / TRW
For additional articles like this one, go to the Tittabawassee River Watch web site www.trwnews.net. for complete coverage of the Tittabawassee River Dow Chemical dioxin contamination saga.. The source organization's web site link is listed above. The Newspaper / Media page of our site contains an extensive archive of media articles dating back to January 2002. The Newspaper / Media page may be accessed by scrolling down to the bottom of the CONTENTS section and clicking on the Newspaper/Media link.