EPA calls Dow ‘amenable,’ plans to test more neighborhoods for dioxin

Ralph Dollhopf, regional associate director for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund division, said Dow was “amenable” during the first meeting between the company and the regulatory agency since EPA demanded cleanup of dioxin contamination at 10 Saginaw homes.

“Hopefully, Dow will be willing to enter into a consent arrangement to perform the cleanup work that EPA finds necessary” he said. “We have no reason to think they won’t cooperate.”

Dollhopf described the cleanup of the Riverside Boulevard homes as “time critical” and said the EPA wants to see it begin within the next few weeks.

This is the first time EPA has ordered Dow to clean up dioxin in a residential area near its Midland plant.

The agency decided to require action after preliminary test results began to show consistently high contamination levels, Dollhof said. Other neighborhoods in the area are also slated for dioxin sampling.

Dioxin has been spreading through the Saginaw Bay watershed for decades, and Wednesday’s movement toward cleanup is a result of testing ordered by EPA regional administrator Mary Gade, who earlier this month said she was forced from her job over efforts to pursue dioxin cleanup.

Michelle Hurd Riddick of Lone Tree Council said she is not surprised that the agency followed through with the process begun under Gade. “It would be pretty obvious if they started and stopped,” she said. “But this begs questions as to whether we will see something this aggressive happen again. I’d still like to know more about what is going on behind closed doors.”

Dow had no official comment on cleanup plans as of late Wednesday afternoon.