Lone Tree Council and TRW Update
May 9th 2006 #68
www.trwnews.net
 
Federal Court ruling today
 
Today in Federal Court, Judge Bernard Friedman denied Lone Tree Council and Environment Michigan's request for a restraining order to stop construction of the DMDF in Zilwuakee and Frankenlust Twp until such time as an environmental impact statement was completed. We didn't prevail today but will pursue our request with the court for an EIS. In the meantime Saginaw County's Jim Koski and the Corp of Engineers will proceed with construction of the slurry pit to warehouse Dow's dioxin while the taxpayer's foot the bill.
Stay tuned....the fat lady has yet to sing.
 
About Environment Michigan
 
Environment Michigan is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Their professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for Michigan's environment. Environment Michigan is the new home of PIRGIM's (Public Interest Research Group in Michigan) environmental work. Environment Michigan draws on 30 years of success in tackling our state's top environmental problems. Please visit their web site below to learn more about EM.
www.environmentmichigan.org
 
 
Dow Class Action Lawsuit Update from Kathy Henry
 
Dow's delayed reply brief to plaintiff's reply brief to Dow's initial delayed brief to the Court of Appeals on whether Judge Borrello erred in certifying our class action has finally been submitted this week.  One would have thought it would have had substantial new revelations considering they needed so much time to work on it.  Wrong.  Same song and dance, nothing that wasn't already argued in the circuit court, and if I remember correctly, Dow even kept it under 20 pages this time.  I'm sure the judges appreciated that, and it bought Dow another 2 weeks.  Two weeks here, a month there, no wonder these things take so long.
 
 
In the mean time, "Friends of the court", or Amici, have requested to enter the case with Amicus brief's in support of the polluters. Plaintiff's have objected to this, because the coalition of potential polluters have nothing to add, their arguments are totally politically motivated, and have no relevance to the review of a procedural issue in the appeals court.  Some of the Amici included in this list are:
 
The Product Liability Advisory Council,  The Defense Research Institute, The Michigan Defense Trial Counsel,  The United States Chamber of Commerce,  The American Tort Reform Association,  The Chlorine Chemistry Council, and the National Association of Manufacturers.
 
It does seem odd that they should have a say in whether Judge Borrello erred in certifying us a class action.  Like everything else seems these days, it's not about the people anymore.  It's all about big business. To hell with the people.
 
This is my take on what is happening.  I am certainly no lawyer, and try to keep up with these briefs as best I can.  Stay tuned, we should hear more soon.....
 
Kathy Henry
 
DEQ DOW MEETING May 10th 2006
 
The Department of Environmental Quality and The Dow Chemical Company are hosting the next quarterly Midland/Saginaw/Bay City (Tri-Cities) Dioxin Community Meeting on Wednesday, May 10, 2006, at the Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw.  This meeting is open to the public.  The press release and agenda for the meeting are available at: 

http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135--142116--,00.html   and

 http://www.deq.state.mi.us/documents/deq-whm-05-10-06CommunityMeetingAgenda.pdf  

Supporting materials to be discussed at the meeting are available at the following locations:

 http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3304_21234-115743--,00.html  and

 http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3312_4118_4240-53424--,00.html
This meeting has also been announced in the local newspapers.  Please share this notice with others who might be interested in attending this meeting.  If you should have any questions, please contact me.


Cheryl Howe
Environmental Engineering Specialist
Hazardous Waste Management Unit
Hazardous Waste Section
517-373-9881/517-373-4797 Fax

 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
Please continue to pass this update along to friends and family.
 
Regards,
 
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
 

Source:

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.