Lone Tree Council and TRW
Dioxin Update
October 16th 2006 #76
EPA documents, FOIA and access to
information
Lone Tree Council historically has relied on
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to obtain documents from various units
of government and regulatory agencies. Over the year we have filed dozens
of FOIA requests. In August and September we received documents from Region
V EPA with regard to Dow Chemical's contamination of our watershed
community. This was in response to a FOIA filed in July. There are numerous
documents and e-mails and we are in the process of putting them in some
semblance of order and sequence so they make sense. It may take a while
but as we pull information together we will put the documents out to the
public, media and put them up on the TRW web site.
About Dow's use of the Dredge
Site
A few weeks ago Lone Tree Council released
EPA documents obtained under the FOIA that showed Dow Chemical's interest in
use of the dredge site in Zilwaukee Twp.............. this site as you know
is owned by Saginaw County taxpayers.
In a recent Saginaw New's article ( link
below) Commissioner Ken Horn complained that Lone Tree Council was getting
information ahead of commissioners and legislators. That's not our
problem. If any person, commissioner, reporter or legislator wants to know
what's going on file a FOIA, pick up the phone or send an e-mail to the
appropriate agency. For the most part they are receptive. I suspect
Commissioner Horn knows that. I would submit what he's really upset about is
like many others he didn't know about Dow's negotiations for use of the
dredge site until Lone Tree released the documents. Did he have a right to
be upset? Yes. But his frustration is misplaced. Commissioner Horn should
ask Mr. Koski, the Saginaw County Public Works Commissioner, why he didn't
inform the commissioners of Dow's interest in the site. Maybe Commissioner
Horn could file a FOIA and see how many meetings Mr. Koski has attended with
Dow, their attorneys and lobbyists............starting with a December 14th
meeting in Lansing.
Perhaps Commissioner Horn was upset because
the first time he heard about Dow's investment in this site was when Lone
Tree Council released the documents and Dow admitted it gave money toward
the project. Mr. Koski knew about Dow's interest,,,,,,,,,why didn't
Commissioner Horn? Not enough sunlight I suspect.
Lone Tree Council, like any other citizen
or group, maintains the right to assert our interests, gather information
and participate from an informed position. It is unfortunate that
Commissioner Horn would take issue with the public's right to know or their
access to information. This is a public project and Commissioner Horn is
asking the taxpayers to take liability for this site.
We do disagree with the choice of this site
for contaminated navigational dredgings but we have never doubted the
intentions of the Board of Commissioners that this site be used only for
navigational spoils. We still believe this to be the intent of the board.
What you didn't learn from the
media about the slurry pit
Most of the time news articles surrounding
the slurry pit are framed as if it is only Lone Tree Council objecting to this
site. It makes for good tit-for tat reporting but it is not the whole truth. You
have two communities, Frankenlust and Zilwaukee who vehemently oppose this
project being foisted on them. Citizens from these communities along with their
local elected officials oppose this site and each has done legal battle with
Saginaw County over this site and will continue to do so.
Why the objection:
- This is the only disposal site of kind
in the state that did not under go a rigorous environmental study.
- This site will hold navigational
dredgings from the Saginaw River contaminated by Dow Chemical's dioxin
- This site is unlined, in the floodplain
of the Saginaw River and it has no water treatment
- This site was under 6 feet of water in
1986
- This site eliminates valuable flood
storage capacity
- This site is next to a game preserve
- This site is being constructed without
an approved Operational Management Plan
- To date, fugitive dust, attractive
nuisance, wildlife contamination, standing water and rotting organics have
not been addressed
- Resuspention of contaminants in the
water column sending them down river and into the bay during the dredging
process has not been addressed
- This site was rejected in the past due
to frequently flooding and prevailing westerly winds- dynamics which have
not changed
- There is no threshold for the level of
dioxin concentrations that can go into this site. (this is huge)
This is just a sample of the problems with
this site but the list is pretty compelling. Yet we the taxpayers of Saginaw
County are taking on the liability for this site. Without a threshold you can
bet Dow will be asking for the same consideration when they want to dispose of
their contaminated river dredgings should anyone ever hold Dow to the law. The
precedent set by this project is a bad one for our watershed and the Great
Lakes.
As past Chair of the Saginaw County Solid
Waste Planning Committee I can tell you with certainty that this site is not
designed to the specifications of a household waste landfill (Type II)
UM
Dioxin Exposure Study
David Linhardt, a Chemical Engineer formerly
employed by Dow, has a new web site devoted entirely to the University of
Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study. A comprehensive analysis of the U/M study,
including information not discussed in the U/M report, can be found on a new
web site
www.MI-Dioxins.com The web site
will only carry information related to the U/M dioxin blood serum report.
Petitioned Health Consultation
Saginaw River
Things are moving on the ATSDR Health
Consultation along the Saginaw River. A meeting between DEQ, USFWS and MDCH
to discuss soil and fish contaminant data has taken place so we are told.
First steps include writing a first version of the Saginaw River Fish
Consumption Health Consultation, basically laying out the data and the
problem. Agencies seem hopeful that additional fish sampling will occur in
the spring.
The Long Shadow
Anyone who has a copy of Long Shadow please
let me know. We have had several requests for copies by colleges,
universities and others. Would like to get them back and replenish our
library.
Next DEQ Dow Community
Meeting
The Department of Environmental Quality
and The Dow Chemical Company
will host the next Tri-Cities Dioxin Community Meeting at 6:30 p.m. on
Wednesday, November 8, 2006, at the Horizons Conference Center,
6200
State Street, Saginaw The DEQ, Dow, and Dow contractor staff will be
available a half hour before and after the meeting for questions and
discussion.
A press release and agenda will be available prior to the November 8
meeting.
Please share this notice with others who might be interested in
attending this meeting or forward their e-mail addresses to Cheryl
Howe, MDEQ for inclusion on the distribution list. howec@michigan.gov
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As always please forward this e-mail and
share the information.
Best Regards,
Michelle Hurd Riddick
Lone Tree Council
GO TIGERS!