River cleanup deal could be near
By Tony Lascari tlascari@mdn.net Midland Daily News
Published: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 2:53 PM EDT

A plan to address The Dow Chemical Co.’s contamination in local waterways could be signed by Dow next month and then put up for a 30-day public comment period by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced Monday that negotiations which ended last week will likely result in a proposed agreement to address dioxins and other contamination in the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay.

If an agreement is put in place, officials have said action would begin quickly to address areas of contamination that are a priority. The proposed agreement still needs internal review by senior management at EPA, MDEQ and Dow.

Details of the proposed agreement have not been released, but the EPA and MDEQ will not finalize an agreement with Dow until after public input has been considered. Assuming Dow signs the proposed agreement by Oct. 15, the EPA and MDEQ would start a 30-day public comment period and host a public meeting in early November.

“In June, EPA outlined our non-negotiables to the community at a public meeting and we have held firm,” said EPA Region 5 Acting Regional Administrator Bharat Mathur. “EPA listened to the community before the negotiations began and we won’t sign off on any cleanup agreement before public concerns have been discussed and considered.”

Dow spokeswoman Mary Draves said negotiators believe they’ve reached an agreement, but senior leadership is reviewing the proposal.

“We’re committed to a resolution,” Draves said. “We’re doing that review, following that process.”

The negotiations this summer were not about cleanup options or the level at which cleanup would occur. Topics included how to use existing data in plans for future work, a schedule for Dow’s investigation work, how to organize the rivers and bay into components for work, how to define appropriate types of work for the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay, how to coordinate with the MDEQ, the role of the Nature Resource Trustees and more.

After the public review of the proposed agreement, EPA and MDEQ officials will decide if changes are needed, which could reopen the negotiations. The EPA has worked to create an unprecedented level of transparency as part of the process of negotiating with Dow following criticism from local groups about closed-door meetings.

“Cleaning up the Tittabawassee and Saginaw river systems is crucial and the public will soon have an opportunity to review the proposed negotiated agreement,” MDEQ Director Steven Chester said. “We are looking forward to hearing from the public during the upcoming comment period and getting their insights and opinions on this proposed agreement.”

In other news, applications for membership on the Community Advisory Group are due by Oct. 16. The group of 15-25 local residents will advise the EPA through the cleanup process. For information or an application, visit www.epa.gov/region5/sites/dowchemical/ or call the EPA’s Jeff Kelley at (312) 353-1159.
 

http://ourmidland.com/articles/2009/09/30/local_news/doc4ac25291a812c801706190.txt

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