Residents on another contaminated river want Dow to buy their houses

Residents along the dioxin-contaminated Tittabawassee River downstream from Midland say they wish that Dow Chemical would follow the example of Enbridge and buy their homes so that they can move to less contaminated areas. Enbridge, the company whose oil pipeline spilled a million gallons of crude into the Kalamazoo River last week, has announced that [...]

Tests indicate city water supplies are free of Dow dioxin; neighborhood recontaminated

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tested Saginaw Bay-area municipal water supplies and found them free of toxic dioxin, but the soil in a residential area 22 miles downstream from Dow’s Midland complex has been recontaminated with dioxin and the plan for the long-term work of actually removing the contamination from the Saginaw River watershed is, after 30 years, still in its earliest stages.

Dow-funded U-M dioxin study criticized for bias

For the last six years, University of Michigan research funded by Dow Chemical has figured prominently in public discussions over what to do about the dioxin contamination caused by the company in the Saginaw River watershed. Federal and state environmental agencies have warned that U-M’s Dioxin Exposure Study has failed to answer crucial questions and that its results are being misinterpreted.

Despite this, the U-M’s lead researcher on the project — a man some environmental health scientists say should not be seen as an objective because of his track record of working for industry interests — is actively insisting his study should shape regulatory action on dioxin.

Furan results ‘unusable’ in EPA’s Saginaw-area water sampling

In June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed to test the municipal water systems for Saginaw, Midland and Bay City for a range of contaminants. The move, as Michigan Messenger reported, was a response to citizen concerns that navigational dredging in the Saginaw River could stir up dioxin-contaminated sediments that could contaminate city water supplies that draw from Saginaw Bay. Dioxins and furans from Dow Chemical’s Midland plant are known to have contaminated the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers and the bay.

As Dow dioxin negotiations wrap up, EPA doesn’t anticipate relocations

It’s been four months since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated new dealings with Dow Chemical over the handling of dioxin contamination in Michigan’s Saginaw River watershed and the agency says it expects its closed-door cleanup framework negotiations with the company to conclude by Friday.

Dioxin exposure in Saginaw neighborhood has eased, but threats persist

SAGINAW — Residents of one city neighborhood have been exposed to health-damaging levels of dioxin, and although the contamination has been removed though a cleanup effort required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, future flooding is likely to recontaminate the area.

Both sides put positive spin on Michigan Supreme Court’s Dow class-action ruling

Attorneys representing Dow Chemical and residents of the dioxin-contaminated Tittabawassee River floodplain are emphasizing the positives they see in a Michigan Supreme Court ruling handed down Friday night that announced a new standard for class-action suits and referred the case against Dow back to the circuit court for further consideration.

Mich. Supreme Court expected to rule on Dow contamination class action

In 2002, owners of land along the dioxin-contaminated Tittabawassee River were warned by the state to limit their childrens’ outdoor play because of the health risks associated with chemical contamination that has migrated downstream from Dow Chemical’s Midland facility. This week, six years after those landowners filed a class action case against Dow seeking compensation for property damage, the Michigan Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether the case may proceed as a class action.

Under EPA pressure, Dow agrees to pay for fish advisory signs

Dow Chemical has agreed to pay $10,000 so that the state of Michigan can post updated fish consumption advisory signs along the chemically contaminated Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers, warnings that the Midland-based company has balked at paying for previously.

EPA officials pledge transparency with long-term dioxin cleanup plans

SAGINAW — At a community meeting on dioxin contamination in the Saginaw River watershed, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials Wednesday night committed to sampling local municipal water systems for dioxin and posting up-to-date fish consumption advisory signs — two key and immediate community concerns that have been examined in depth by Michigan Messenger.