EPA criticizes cleanup plan

Wednesday, December 11, 2002

ANDY GRIMM

THE SAGINAW NEWS

Federal environmental officials have issued 31 pages of comments -- most of them negative -- on an agreement between the state and Dow Chemical Co. that would dramatically ease standards for dioxin cleanup in Midland.

The critique from the Environmental Protection Agency includes objections to 41 provisions in the proposed agreement, including the mathematical model used to determine the "safe" level of dioxin contamination.

The EPA's comments are more lengthy and critical than normal, said Jim Sygo, chief of the state Department of Environmental Quality's remediation division.

"(The EPA) is flyspecking the document because of all the attention (it) is getting in mid-Michigan," Sygo said.

The proposed pact, negotiated by the DEQ and Dow, would set the contamination level for dioxin cleanup to 831 parts per trillion from the state's screening level of 90 parts per trillion.

Many of the objections mirror complaints in a lawsuit filed last week by a coalition of residents and environmental groups seeking to block approval of the agreement.

If the pact gains approval, a judge will have the final say when attorneys for the DEQ, Dow and the environmentalists meet in Ingham County Circuit Court on Monday, Jan. 6.

DEQ officials say they will respond to the critique, as well as comments from residents and other state and federal agencies, before signing the settlement, but still plan to sign before the end of the year.

"We certainly aren't intending on signing this soon. If it happens, it will be very late in December," Sygo said.

"If we don't make the changes requested, we'll have a reason why we don't, and that will all be part of the administrative record if we end up in court on Jan. 6."

EPA spokeswoman Karen Thompson would not discuss the comments with The Saginaw News. "We don't comment on comments," she said.

The EPA's review will help the environmentalists' case, said Chris Bzdok, a Traverse City attorney representing the coalition group.

"This shows that we are not the only ones who have a problem with this document," Bzdok said, although he acknowledged that he had not read the document in detail.

Dow officials anticipate the agreement, called a consent order, will pass with only minor changes, said Neil Hawkins, environment, health and safety officer.

Soil testing completed so far in Midland has found levels of dioxin greater than 831 parts per trillion that would require a cleanup, Sygo said, but noted that the 831 standard probably will drop if the DEQ makes several changes to the mathematical equations used to formulate the number.

The consent order, which Dow and the DEQ have negotiated for nearly a decade, has received mostly favorable reviews from residents and civic leaders in Midland, where Dow's Michigan Operations complex has more than 3,000 employees.

Residents who live south of Midland, where tests conducted along the Tittabawassee River have found levels of dioxin as high as 7,500 parts per trillion, are concerned that the format of the Midland consent order will influence how cleanup might proceed downstream. t

Andy Grimm is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach him at 776-9688.