The Bay City-based environmental group Lone Tree Council is claiming the Dow Chemical Company plans  to send dioxin-contaminated waste to a dredged materials storage facility under construction along the Saginaw River, and that the facility isn't designed for toxic waste disposal.

Dow spokesman John Musser disputes  those claims, saying the Environmental Protection Agency and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality have an interest in the facility being built for whatever kind of materials need to be stored there. Musser suggested a lawsuit the Lone Tree Council has filed to stop construction of the facility is part of the reason the group is making the statements.

Lone Tree Council representatives held a news conference at the Saginaw County Courthouse today, saying they recieved the information from E-P-A documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. They say dioxin-contaminated sludge should be disposed of in a licensed hazardous waste facility .

The Lone Tree Council is encouraging Saginaw County residents to contact county commissioners and ask them to reverse their support for the facility.