Dow: Midland dioxin levels exceed state's action level in places

[RustTown]

I'd always wondered about how polluted parts of Midland were, but never looked into it. These companies, through their negligence, essentially treat their neighbors as Guinea Pigs. Does anyone have any history of pollution in the area, or other incidents?

Dow: Midland dioxin levels exceed state's action level in places

MIDLAND - Recent testing for dioxin pollution in soils in the city exceed the state's allowable level in many places, but results came in as expected, Dow Chemical Co. said.

About 55 percent of samples were above the state's action level of 90 parts per trillion for residential property, but none showed more than 1,000 parts per trillion, the Midland Daily News reported Thursday.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...EWS01/703230377

[dtown]

Isnt DOW responsible for paying the cost for dredging the Titabawassee River within a certain amount of time? I read somewhere that they have to take up like 5 or 6 feet(I believe) of river bed because of all the pollutants they put into it.

[wolverine]

This is good news, the levels are much lower than what I had heard previously, although I'm sure they range in some places.

Pollution is bad, but I think people are more concerned about some sort of accident occuring.

Does anyone know where Dow's radioactive burning occurs? I wasn't sure if the incinerators were in Saginaw or Midland County

[Rybak 187]

This article talks about the cleanup of the dioxin in the river.

[RustTown]

Jeeze, the bad news just keeps on coming. The title is definitely and exaggeration as this is found in only one part of the river, but this is bad:

EPA: Dioxin in Saginaw River worst ever

SAGINAW - A find of toxic dioxin in one spot of the Saginaw River could be the most concentrated ever found, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist involved in cleanup efforts downstream from Dow Chemical Co. facilities in Midland.

Link

[wolverine]

Oh well. As long as it doesn't contaminate drinking water, or cause people to die from eating mutant catfish, I'm not worried. At least the problem is getting taken care of (hopefully soon)

[dunveth]

Do people in Michigan eat catfish? I never heard of it until I moved south.

[wolverine]

Yes. There's been constant warnings though that people should not be eating the catfish out of the Saginaw river, specifically because of high contamination levels.

[dtown]

I wouldnt even touch a fish from the Saginaw River, your not even supposed to eat catfish from the Flint River, and thats not nearly as polluted. Hopefully this dioxin contamination on that scale isnt too widespread.

[RustTown]

Heck, just about every major Michigan river that runs through urban areas (in fact, all around the country, really) have a limit on how much fish you're supposed to eat from the river. The same goes for Lansing, Grand Rapids, etc...It's funny because every town thinks they have the worst polluted river. Looks like, unfortunately, the worst has been found. It makes mad to think how these companies were allowed to treat our river's like sewers.

Dunveth, Catfish are a popular fish in Michigan, and particularly after the Great Migration out of the South up to the Midwest.

[Rybak 187]

This article does not sound good for Dow.

[wolverine]

Blah blah wrong data this and that. The fact is, the rivers have dioxin and it needs to be cleaned up. I'm not sure why the population outside of parties involved would care whether its 1.6 or 1.4 million parts per trillion. I'd like to see the river cleaned up to mandated state levels regardless of how high it is.

[RustTown]

Dow, like most any big business that has polluted their environment to a ridiculous degree, will (and has) put this off for as long as they can. Hopefully, it is information like this that will put some serious pressure on them, and I'd like to see more public and private sector pressure put on them to be much, much better corporate citizens and stewards of the environment. There is really not excuse for this whatsoever.

Dioxin is more toxic than most industrial waste, which is exactly why they test it in parts per trillion instead of parts per billion, so this is a very urgent issue.

[dunveth]

I grew up in Midland, and the air at that time (much better now) was so bad, that you could poke a hole through any screen with a bare finger even if you were only five years old. (Personal experience.) My sister and I have serious allergy issues, though nether my parents, nor any other relatives have them. I blame polystyrene laced air ...