Dow must take responsibility for dioxin contamination and clean it up or face long-term liabilities and reputation damage, according to a shareholders’ resolution introduced by the Sisters of Mercy, Detroit Regional Community Charitable Trust.

The resolution, “Agenda Item 4,” will be put to a vote today at Dow’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Midland. It recounts a litany of troubling dioxin developments:

Dioxin contamination at 1.6 million parts per trillion was found in the watershed — the state acceptable limit is 90 ppt. The contamination extends 50 miles from Dow’s Midland plant, and the Environmental Protection Agency has invoked emergency powers to force cleanup; a company-funded study found that area residents have elevated blood levels of dioxin; state agencies have warned area residents that eating local fish and game can dramatically increase dioxin exposure; Dow is facing a class-action lawsuit by residents of the Tittabawassee flood plain who allege that dioxin from Dow has threatened their health and lowered property values and who seek damages that could total $100 million.

Continued – “A National Academy of Science review reaffirmed dioxin’s toxicity as a known human carcinogen,” the resolution states. “According to the report, ‘There does not appear be a safe “threshold” for dioxin’s carcinogenic effects’ … and Dioxin has been called the `new lead’ because its effects on children can include impairments in basic functions, and because exposure is widespread.”

The resolution asks the Board of Directors to issue a detailed report by April 2009 on the “pace and effectiveness” of environmental remediation undertaken by Dow around its Midland headquarters and downstream.

Dow’s Board of Directors has unanimously recommended a “no” vote on the resolution.

The Board said that the request for a new report on cleanup activities is based on “arguments that are inaccurate, misleading, out of context or ill-informed.”

“Our current proposed Work Plans target a 2010 completion date for resolving the mid-Michigan furan and dioxin situation,” the Board said, and existing communications “are adequate to apprise the public and interested stockholders of Dow’s progress in the process.”

“Dow believes this proposal is unnecessary, that it would divert Company resources and deliver no benefit to stockholders.”

Sharon Graganta, spokeswoman for the Sisters of Mercy in Detroit, said that a similar resolution introduced by the organization last year received 23 percent of the votes cast at the shareholders meeting.