10/10/07 EPA gives Dow 60 days to negotiate cleanup settlement of rivers and Saginaw Bay

CONTACT: Mick Hans, 312-353-5050, hans.mick@epa.gov Anne Rowan, 312-353-9391,
 rowan.anne@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 07-OPA175

EPA to Dow Chemical: 60 day clock to negotiate on Tittabawassee River system
 cleanup starts today

CHICAGO (Oct. 10, 2007) - At a meeting today in Chicago, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
 Region 5 formally notified Dow Chemical that it has a limited opportunity to negotiate with the
Agency on a settlement to conduct an investigation, a study and interim response actions for
 dioxin contamination in the Tittabawassee River system. The Midland, Mich., company has until
 Oct. 17 to decide whether it will negotiate.

The targeted area begins upstream of Dow's Midland Plant and may extend downstream to the
 Saginaw River, its floodplains and portions of Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron.

EPA has the authority to call for negotiations under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act, or Superfund. Superfund specifies the process in which a remedial
 investigation/ feasibility study (RI/FS), cleanup removal actions and remedy design must be conducted.

"The Superfund law provides a strong mechanism to continue necessary actions to comprehensively
 and definitively address the issue of dioxin contamination in the river system," said Ralph Dollhopf,
 associate director of EPA's Regional Superfund Division. "The work begun this summer to address
three hot spots in the Tittabawassee River is also being performed under Superfund authority."

Dow's expected RI/FS effort must evaluate the nature and extent of hazardous substances, pollutants
 or contaminants from the site and assess the risks they present to human health and the environment.
 It must also provide enough data to develop and evaluate a range of cleanup options.

If the company agrees begin negotiations, Dow will have until Dec. 10 to present EPA with a good faith
 offer demonstrating its willingness to conduct or finance an RI/FS and design a remedy. EPA may
choose to extend negotiations until Jan. 9, 2008, if appropriate.

Top EPA and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials are meeting today in Lansing
 to discuss their respective roles throughout this process.

Dow's Midland facility is a 1,900-acre chemical manufacturing plant. Dioxins and furans were
byproducts from the manufacture of chlorine-based products. Past waste disposal practices,
fugitive emissions and incineration at Dow have resulted in on- and off-site dioxin and furan contamination.
 

Source: EPA

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.