Granholm not likely to sign homeowner bill

Cheryl Wade, Midland Daily News 12/09/2005

Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s press secretary said the "Homeowner Fairness Act" is on its way to Granholm’s desk "in not the best position" to be signed.

The measure, passed by the state legislature, would require properties suspected of being contaminated to be tested individually to confirm a problem exists. It was introduced after the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told homeowners along the Tittabawassee River in Midland and Saginaw counties their land was polluted with dioxin from the nearby Dow Chemical Co. plant.

"We share the concerns of the DEQ," said Granholm’s press secretary, Liz Boyd. "We really believe that this legislation is bad for the environment, bad for the economy and bad for the state."

Boyd said after Granholm receives the legislation, she will have 14 days to make her decision. Boyd said the governor believes the act would add significantly to the cost of cleanup at sites and cause cleanup to take more time, not less, to complete.

But Midland City Manager Karl Tomion, who has worked for the act’s passage, recalled how more than 1,500 local residents sent a message to the governor that the DEQ "wasn’t competently managing the dioxin issue." Granholm, he said, had assured lawmakers she would resolve the cleanup problem. Instead, she turned it over to the DEQ, then Lt. Gov. John Cherry, and it hasn’t been resolved.

 "Now, I think the decision rests specifically with the governor," Tomion said. "The fight is going to go on," he added. "We’re ready to work with the governor" but clearly it’s not going to happen through the DEQ and its director, he said. Advertisement

©Midland Daily News 2005

Reader Opinions:

Michael Johnson Dec, 09 2005 I think (know) this has got to be the first time I approve of something Ms. Granholm has done right since being in office, sad but true.
 

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