Citizen Forum
- What are your fellow citizens concerns? The opinions & comments
expressed below are not necessarily those of TRW members. If you would like to
submit a comment to the FORUM , email them to forum@trwnews.net
Comments should be brief and to the point on the forum page. All
postings on the FORUM page will remain anonymous. If you have a lot to say and want
your name associated with your article, we will post them in the EDITORIAL
page of this site. Send editorials to editorial@trwnews.net
PLEASE do not send your comments in attachments to your email (because of the
threat of viruses, we will not open them). Thanks for your understanding.
-
- Current Forum comment topics include:
- Health Real Estate Legal/Punitive Actions State Agencies Political Dow Chemical Miscellaneous
New
Support Our Troops
 | HELLO MY NAME IS SPC-AVERILL DAVID D. I AM A RESIDENT OF FREELAND AND LOVE THE
COMMUNITY. CURRENTLY I AM DEPLOYED WITH F.CO.425TH INF. (ABN)(LRS) FIGHTING THE WAR ON
TERROR IN TAL AFAR IRAQ. I WOULD LIKE TO WISH A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO THE FREELAND COMMUNITY
AND ESPECIALLY ALL OF THE GREAT PEOPLE AT PAT'S FOOD CENTER. I SHOULD BE ARRIVING BACK IN
FREELAND SOME TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY. MY E-MAIL ADDRESS IS david.averill@us.army.mil if anyone wishes to
say hello. GOD BLESS YOU FREELAND AND GOD BLESS AMERICA. AN AMERICAN SOLDIER SERVING
PROUDLY, SPC-AVERILL, DAVID D. |
| New
080805 I lived in the Saginaw bay
area for most of my life. I currently live in Louisville, KY.
My comment is this: I moved away from the Saginaw are 14 years ago. While i
was living up there I had repeated breathing problems, headaches all the
time and developed some unusual digestive problems. The doctors kept telling
me it was allergies. I joked around and blamed it on the water. No joke now-
I feel a hundred times better than i did when i lived up there. Most of my
symptoms are gone, but I wonder what the long term effect will be on me. My
father died from cancer and he worked at Dow Corning. I firmly believe that
not only Dow Chemical, but also Dow Corning are poisoning the community up
there. My sister has been surveyed and is probably going to allow soil
samples and blood testing to be done. My family still lives up there and I'm
VERY concerned about all of them. Has anybody ever looked at the high rate
of non Hodgkin's lymphoma cases among Dow Chemical and Corning workers and
the surrounding community. I can name 3 people right now that died from it
and all 3 worked for one or the other. One was a 25 year old man just
entering the prime of his life. How sad! He never even got to see his baby
be born!
Dow needs to be held responsible for everybody's welfare up there! |
| You are doing wonderful
work. Thank you for keeping us informed and updated on the watershed issues. Working in
healthcare, i have seen firsthand the results of so-called "safe" substances
only to discover the true results years later. It is a tragedy that each of us must be at
risk for the benefit of few. Please keep on with your actions and know that you have
support that is beyond your immediate scope of awareness 082503 |
| TRW must keep the citizens of the Tittabawassee flood plain informed on the dangerous
dioxins contaminating their property |
| Dow should fund Health insurance for residents afflicted with health problems now known
to be caused by dioxin exposure. Provide same insurance for any current resident who
develops dioxin related health issues in the future. |
| What about all of the families that lived in the flood plain and moved elsewhere.
What kind of health problems are they experiencing? |
| Stop Dow from participating in any dioxin related Health Study |
| Encourage the development of a Health Study which excludes Dow participation except for
funding |
| Who in Saginaw had Tittabawassee River sediment dumped in their yard by landscapers?
Did they use it for a sandbox? Any unusual illnesses at these residences? |
| My thanks to the Lone Tree Council and the Tittabawassee River Watch groups for all of
their hard work and commitment to the people of the Saginaw area.
My son spent his early years living on South Center Road, playing in the back yard,
fishing in the creek and playing in the dirt. I always wonder what problems will
the exposure to these chemicals bring to my son in the coming
years?
Again thank you to the dedicated people in the above named groups who do try to make a
difference and answer questions for us all. |
| What homes sell for in relation to the asking price is interesting, but if the asking
prices are less than they would be without the contamination, then the survey results are
essentially meaningless. They would really need to compare sales prices for
comparable properties with dioxin contamination, to those without contamination.
However, that is much more difficult to do, so that is probably why they just looked at
asking prices. But, under Dow's survey,
if a property would normally be worth $150,000, but it was listed and sold for
$100,000, they would show that as "proof" that the values aren't being affected
since it sold for the asking price. That is simply not a valid comparison. Jack
Smiley (Michigan Real Estate Broker) |
| Realignment of property taxes to reflect zero property values until issue
resolved. |
| Dow should buy up property in contaminated flood plain and fence it all off. |
| Do I have to test my property or inform a potential buyer of the contamination?
Saginaw County Department of Public Health says no. Will they pay may legal fees and
other damages if I follow their direction and I am later sued? |
Direct quote from the Saginaw County Department of Public Health web site as of
11/3/2002. Note this web site is out of date and content is heavily influenced by
Dow propaganda.
"If you plan to sell your house
in the future and any part of your property has been flooded in the past, it will not be
necessary to disclose dioxin contamination of your property in accordance with the Sellers
Disclosure Act unless you know that your property is contaminated with dioxin as a result
of soil sample analysis."
| Consider this real estate transaction scenario: You have just hosted open house
and a potential buyer and his family are very interested. They love the house and
the river front property. The kids are really excited about the back yard and the
river. Your have to tell them: I have to advise you that the property by the
river is contaminated with high levels of dioxin and that the MDEQ warns children should
not play in soil or sediment that is known to contain elevated levels of dioxins. Do
you get the sale? Is your property now worthless? Think I am kidding, read
this: MDA
Food, farming gardening guidelines minimizing dioxin exposure (pdf) |
| Prevent Dow Chemical from escaping responsibility for the cleanup |
| Punitive damages against Dow for their concerted effort to manipulate and deceive the
citizens of the Tittabawassee Flood plain for the past XX? years. This deceit has
resulted in many past, current and future health problems. The loss of property use,
and destruction of property values is of great concern. People are afraid to go into
their yards, visiting friends are afraid to drink the water, anti-anxiety pills are being
prescribed, blood pressures are rising, people may have actually died because of
this. Most of property owners purchased land on the river for the peace and
solitude it offers. All this has been stolen from us. |
MDEQ
| |
| Poor Dow could they whine
anymore? I guess Dow didn't like what they heard so they try to take the emphasis off
their pollution and focus on a few swear words. How transparent. I'll tell you what has no
place in public discourse------- stonewalling, spinning and lying to the public. Ah yes,
Dow Chemical the shining exmaple of ethics and responsibility. What a joke. My hats
off to TRW, Lone Tree Group and every citizen who cared enough to defend their
property, their health and the river. Dow clean it up! (09/24/03
|
| Dow-- Why do you keep saying you have begun corrective actions in the
cleanup of dioxin in the floodplain, when all you have done is put in
handwashing stations in parks that people are reluctant to use. In my
work, cleanup means REMOVING the contaminated residue. (09/04/03) |
| Dow, how many children and adults must suffer? How many politicians do
you have to buy to keep soothing your conscience. Profits above all
else, are you feeling omnipotent? (09/03/03) |
| Dow has always known where, when and how much dioxin was
released into the surrounding area. They will never shut the plant down completely because
they do not want to have to clean up the area. Why is a plant that size still operating
with such a small workforce? Because they cannot give up any land without expunging all
chemicals from the area, and they will not spend the money to do that. (Midland Daily News
08/12/03) |
| Dow grow the heck up, stop trying to harm the
very same neighbors you claim you care about. Do the right thing! Your company did the
damage, now it is time to fix it. (Midland Daily News 07/16/03)
|
|
| GLAD TO SEE YOU RESIDENTS
TAKING THIS INTO YOUR HANDS. DOW HAS MONEY TO BURN AND AN EXHAUSTIVE COVEN OF LAWYERS.
KNOW THEIR HISTORY WELL. VERY SAD THAT THERE IS NO PUBLIC VOICE OUT THERE
DEFENDING YOUR RIGHT TO BE HEARD AND TO LIVE SAFELY ON THE RIVER. POLITICIANS ARE USELESS,
SPINELESS DON'T COUNT ON THEM TO HELP YOU OUT. MAYBE IF YOU GIVE THEM MONEY,LIKE DOW, THEY
WILL LISTEN TO YOU. THIS DIOXIN IS NASTY STUFF. FIGHT FOR YOUR PROPERTY AND GOD GIVEN
RIGHT TO LIVE ON A CLEAN RIVER.
I WILL PRAY FOR YOU EVERDAY.
|
Miscellaneous
| The Writer's Almanac for Friday, March 23, 2007
Listen
http://www.elabs7.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=fj6,2pxl,dv,hbok,b5qm,falz,ai0o
How to listen
http://www.elabs7.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=fj6,2pxl,dv,kld6,9t5k,falz,ai0o
Poem: "Saturdays" by Rosie King, from Sweetwater, Saltwater. © Hummingbird
Press.
Saturdays
A whiff of eggs and bacon,
my red plaid shirt with snaps, blue jeans that
zip up the side—I'm running downstairs,
my mother's laughing, still in her apron,
on her tiptoes for the picnic basket.
My father's calling from the basement stairs,
already pulling his high-tops on,
my brothers scrambling in the hall closet for theirs.
I grab my toast—strawberry jam—
We're going!
We're on the running board
into the velvety back of the old blue Chrysler,
past the putting greens, the cemetery, over
the Tittabawassee on its bumpy bridge,
to the straight gravel road by fields and woods, and on
to the turn at last—the new green sign
to our farm! Split rail fences, first apple trees,
past Shad and Mary's paint-peeled shack,
up the little hill by the root cellar
here's the farm bell on its post, the yellow-brick house,
the old red barns, the silvery silo—
forty acres, pine woods beyond—
the sweet dry smell of hay, the steamy
stench of manure, and now, for us, the white-plumed
whinnies of horses.
|
Powered byIP2Location.com
|
Tittabawassee
River Watch www.trwnews.net
