Budget could hinder cleanup
 Saturday, May 05, 2007
JUSTIN ENGELTHE SAGINAW NEWS

Michigan's economic problems could slow down efforts to clean up three hot spots along the Tittabawassee River, officials say.

Department of Environmental Quality Deputy Director Jim Sygo said it may take longer for his agency to issue permits if the state cuts his staff.

Sygo said he doesn't know of plans to make such cuts but wouldn't rule it out as a possibility.

"Let your legislators know you want (cleanup) to be a high priority," Sygo told about 50 people attending Thursday's quarterly Dow Chemical Co. and DEQ dioxin community meeting at Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw Township.

Dow has announced plans to remove soil from dioxin hot spots. Sygo said he hopes work concludes in the summer or fall.

While not all details are final, Dow intends to hire an independent contractor to remove contaminated soil.

Dow spokesman John C. Musser said two of the three cleanups will cost a combined $5 million -- if the state approves the permits.

He said officials don't know enough yet to estimate the cost of the third cleanup.

Dow-hired Ann Arbor Technical Services workers discovered the three spots within a six-mile stretch of the Tittabawassee River between Midland's Tridge and Imerman Park in Saginaw Township.

Workers measured the toxins in one place at 87,000 parts per trillion. Crews found it on Dow property, from a spot slightly more than a mile south of Smith's Crossing, in soil 6 inches to 1 foot beneath the riverbed.

Nearby samples measured 100 to 1,000 parts per trillion.

Michigan's residential contact limit for dioxin in soil is 90 parts per trillion. The state average is seven parts per trillion.

Removal methods include hydraulic dredging.

Ann Arbor Technical Services Project Manager Peter Simon said the depth where workers found another sample -- measuring 69,000 parts per trillion -- indicates contamination likely occurred nearly a century ago. v

Justin Engel is a staff writer. You may reach him at 776-9691.
 

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