Thursday, March 17, 2005
By Jeff Kart BAY CITY TIMES WRITER
Citizens Against Toxic Substances, an environmental group that sprang up around plans to dredge the upper Saginaw River, is formally contesting a state permit issued to Saginaw County for the project.
T.J. Andrews, an attorney for CATS, has filed a petition for a contested case hearing with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in Lansing, calling on an administrative law judge to throw out the permit.
"We felt we didn't have any other choice," said Sue Cameron, a CATS spokeswoman and Zilwaukee Township resident.
The petition seeks to nullify a floodplain development permit recently issued to Saginaw County, which allows for the excavation and construction of a 281-acre confined disposal facility straddling Zilwaukee and Frankenlust townships.
The group is concerned that the spoils contain high levels of dioxins, and that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has not conducted a complete environmental impact statement - a step the group believes would reveal potential dangers of dioxin contamination in the air and water.
DEQ spokesman Robert McCann said the state has reviewed past environmental impact statements and conducted a less rigorous analysis of its own.
The state also has approved the "most stringent" water quality permit on record with the DEQ, McCann said. The permit was issued Wednesday.
Further studies will follow to determine whether the clay layer beneath the dump site is sufficient for keeping sludge-borne pollutants from leaching into the groundwater, he said.
"We remain confident that we have the tools to protect the health and environment of the area," McCann said.
The dredging project, covering an area from Bay City south to Saginaw, would clear out silt that has accumulated in the river shipping channel in recent decades.
The disposal site would be excavated and used to pile 3.1 million cubic yards of river mud during the next 20 years.
The petition means the DEQ will schedule a hearing on the matter, as allowed for in the permit, said CATS member Pat Bradt, Zilwaukee Township clerk. It could take up to six months, Bradt said.
Saginaw County Public Works Commissioner James A. Koski, a project organizer, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The case is pending before the DEQ Office of Administrative Hearings. No hearing date has been scheduled.
The Times News Service contributed to this report.
© 2005 Bay City Times
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