Saginaw river sytem dioxin levels

[Hamilton Reef]

The Saginaw River system needs cleanup first for human health issues and for the sport fishery including the future GLS muskie program for the Saginaw Bay. This is much like the Fox River in Wisconsin which has had a long cleanup debate and court orders which will help their GLS program. The problems of chemical companies and paper mills are very similar. Both industries are big polluters that are long overdue to clean up their past. Even the Kalamazoo River can't get its crumbling dams out to help the fishery because of the PCBs and pollutants. The following article covers some of this debate well.

Was PCB pollution LEGAL in the past?
We often hear people say, “It’s not fair to make the paper industry pay to clean up the PCBs in the Fox River and Green Bay. The companies didn’t break any laws and it was legal at the time to discharge PCBs.” This has been said so many times, many people believe it’s true. But it’s not true, for several reasons:
http://www.foxriverwatch.com/pcb_pcbs_legal_issues.html

Enforcement Orders, Finally
The U.S. EPA and Wisconsin DNR issued orders yesterday requiring six paper companies with mills along the Fox River to site a sediment disposal landfill, prepare the area, site on-shore treatment areas, and to obtain all needed equipment next year. They are also being ordered to start, in 2009, dredging PCB contaminated sediments out of the last 7 miles of the Fox River between the DePere Dam and the mouth of the river. This is 3 years later than the 2006 start promised in the 2003 version of the Fox River cleanup plan.
Someone in government has finally acknowledged publicly that their glorified "voluntary, cooperative approach" isn't working and decades of negotiations with the paper industries aren't going to produce the hoped-for final settlement and division of costs needed to start the cleanup. ( In the most recent effort, the polluters were given until October 1 to reach an agreement and 6 weeks later the governments are finally following through.)
http://www.foxriverwatch.com/enforcemen ... mment.html

[Lureless]

Thanks for posting I have been looking for something like this for a class I teach.

Mike

[Steve Horton]

Dioxin is anything but natural. In Veitnam it was used as a defoliant known as Agent Orange. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong here but it is a byproduct of the production of DDT? It has been proven to cause cancer in animals and humans. Now tell me it didn't cause numerous cancers and other afflictions to our troops for years to come just like there was no holocaust, and we never landed on the moon.
Ever hear of a little place called Love Canal? I think Dioxins and other chemicals there caused numerous misscarriages and birth defects before they figured out what was going on. How about a little known harbor in Lake Ontario just outside of a nuke plant were the sediment is so toxic that NOTHING will live there. Its a mixture of biphenyls, metals and slighlty radioactive sediments. They can't remediate that one. There's no safe process designed to do so as of yet. Does that mean we don't try to clean up the sites we can? No way. Thats all I'm going to say about it, I'm done. Scrappy I'm sure your a great guy but we will have to agree to disagree on this one and leave it at that. Sorry for the rant and I meant nothing personal. Don't want to get caught up in the winternet trap. I made these comments with the intent of expressing my point of view on these issues without any personal, political or professional gain, only to help people.

[Scrappy]

Bravo Kevin!

[Hamilton Reef]

Dioxin hot spot cleanup to begin

Divers will use an underwater vacuum to remove dioxin-contaminated sediment in the Saginaw River.

Todd Konechne, a project leader with Dow, said sediment removal work could begin as early as this week. "This is a very targeted emergency removal that we're going to be completing in the coming weeks," he said.

http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm ... 2542&rfi=6

[Duke]

Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau
Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know
Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand
To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands

There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words?

When you've finished with the mop then you can stop
And look at what you've done
The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen
And the work it was fun

There's nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words

Well the many hands began to scan around for the next plateau
Some said it was in Greenland and some say Mexico
Others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood
But those were all just guesses, wouldn't help you if they could

-Curt Kirkwood

[Scrappy]

I give up. Now we are likening the Dioxin in the Saginaw River to Agent Orange. Yes, Dioxins are in agent orange...by the way they are also coming out of the tail pipe of your car. Has anyone ever mentioned to the masses that dose makes the poison. To suggest that the Dioxins at the levels at which they have been found (even in the hotspot) in the Saginaw River are somehow in the same class as that of agent organge, Love Cannal pollution or anywhere close to the problem PCB's are highlights the fact that folks buy into sensationalism in the press.

Yes, chemical and paper companies are evil. We live to destroy the earth to make a profit. It's a conspiracy to ruin the world for our kids so we can make some money (sarcasm very much intended). It's too bad that about 90% of every man made object in your eye shot sitting at your computer was contributed to by both the chemical or paper industries. I long for the good old days when man lived in caves, sported fig leaves and slept on the floor.

Steve, I wasn't trying to make this personal either. However, I'm a proud Dow Chemical employee and I can tell you with 100% certainty Dow is one of the most environmentally responsible chemical companies in the world and to watch as the EPA, MDEQ and Lone Tree Counsil blow this issue out of proportion in the press makes me ill.

[Scrappy]

By the way, again I must stress I am speaking for myself and my words in no way should be contributed to my employer nor do I have any more information about this issue other than what I get from public available sources. Having said that I want to stress that Dow has gone out of its way to address the MDEQ and EPA's conserns about Dioxins in the River. When this hot spot was discovered Dow quickly came to an agreement with the EPA to address it on an expedited basis and is doing so. What Dow has stressed is that the governmental authorities and general public should not be running around like chickens with their heads cut off making Dow remediate the river without facts to back up the need to do so. To date, I am unaware of any studies that show that there is any increased documented health risks or effects on humans in the Titt and Saginaw River water sheds as a result of the Dioxins that have been there a very long time...i.e., if the Dioxins were that dangerous shouldn't there be some documented health effects notable by now? Likewise, there is zero data that I'm aware of that suggests that Dioxin levels in the fish and wildlife sampled in the watershed are at levels that are potentially dangerous to health. Are consumption advisories being issued to be overly cautious, yes. Is there any data to suggest consuming fish and wild life from the area is a health risk to anyone, not that I'm aware of. Do heavy metals and PCBs need to be cleaned up in the Fox River, probably so. Do the Dioxin's in the Saginaw River justify such broad based clean up efforts? Not that I'm aware of but if someone can point me to a scientific study (not somebody's opinion in the press) that confirms that leaving the Dioxins in-situ in the river posses a significant health risk to man and animals then maybe I'll be persuaded to the other side of this argument.

Hamilton Reef says: "The Saginaw River system needs cleanup first for human health issues and for the sport fishery including the future GLS muskie program for the Saginaw Bay." I hate to quote Will on this since he usually drives me nuts when he breaks this out but how about some science instead of feelings on this issue.

[Hamilton Reef]

The riparian residents of the Tittabbawassee River and Saginaw Bay Watershed Council learned a long ago that it is a waste of time debating environment. The DEQ file on Dow weighs several pounds and DOW has had a long history of covering up their past. For more details contact the DEQ and SBWC directly.

[Steve Horton]

Scrappy,

I see where you are coming from with this. But your original posts lead me to believe that you don't think that persistent chemicals in the environment are a problem and I see from your last post that is not so. That is why I mentioned Love Canal. Please, man, don't put me into the category of people who hate big business, the logging industry or Dow. These companies are the product of free market and progress in this country providing jobs and products to make our nation what it is. No argument there. Maybe you are correct in this case with the Saginaw that sensationalism has made this cleanup seem bigger than it is. So what? If a company discharged the toxic substance, or slag, or simply just sand into a trout stream covering all the gravel, then should that company which made billions in profits from its actions not clean it up? Wow. Is it a punishment to do so or is it simply acknowledgement of responsibility? I don't know that Dow did it deliberately or tried to cover it up, I doubt it, but don't really care. You said mark your words, the cleanup will cause more problems. They are marked. Time will tell, they are cleaning it up as we speak uhhhh .........type. Ok, for real this time, I've said enough. Duke, nice poem. Touching.

[Scrappy]

I can't help myself so I have to add one more thing. Steve, you are correct, I am certainly NOT against pollution being cleaned up and I think you at least understand a bit where I'm coming from. Again, I didn't mean for this post to be personal as to anyone but since I spend more time at work then I do fishing or home with my wife I feel a little defensive when my employer's good name is attacked.

For others monitoring this link, what I do question is whether or not it is fair to use today's standards and technology to judge what was done in the past and then say business should be punished today for doing what wasn't fully understood scientifically or was not illegal at the time (yes, I debate the post Hamilton previously posted for any number of legal reasons which I will not put my lawyer hat on to debate here). If this were about current releases or intentional pollution in conflict with their EPA discharge permits I'd be the first to say business should clean that up and be punished. But that is not the case here. So, the question in my mind is, should Dow's current employees and shareholders be punished for unintended actions taken by our grandfathers and great grandfathers? Shouldn't it be the government that cleans this stuff up? No people say because that is my tax money and big business should clean up its own mess. Well, hey, news flash everyone, quit complaining that there are fewer and fewer jobs for American, prices for goods are too high, we are heading into a recession and that big business is taking the show over seas. Sure they are, they can't afford to do business here because the general public thinks we are a charity (see tort litigation and envirionmentalists). Want big business to clean up the mess, ok, we can do that. Then our profits go down, consumer prices go up and jobs get eliminated. This is a capitalistic society folks, businesses work for a profit, they aren't charities. If you make the climate such that business can't make money they will either go someplace else where they can or close the door, either way the economy and hard working Americans suffer. Think about that the next time you are quick to call for expensive, remedial clean-ups without scientific evidence to support the necessity of doing so other than the fact that some self proclaimed environmentalist (driving a big car, living in a nice house and sipping lattes out of a syrofoam container), doesn't like the fact that the "pollution" has been there since before they were born.

[Duke]

Actually its a Meat Puppets song that was performed by Nirvana for their Unplugged album. I'm not a total grungie, but Nirvana was good! I like the song, I take it to be the unspoken battle cry of the extremist environmentalists- and by that I only the types who typify the "Who needs action when you've got words". Certainly not painting all environmentalists with that broad brush, but there is that element, as there are black sheep in any group.

[Will Schultz]

Actually its a Meat Puppets song that was performed by Nirvana for their Unplugged album. I'm not a total grungie, but Nirvana was good!

[Hamilton Reef]

Dow divers sucking up the muck

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/i ... thispage=1

12/04/07 AMY PAYNE THE SAGINAW NEWS

The dredging equipment hauling up sediment from the Saginaw River near Wickes Park isn't that different from a household vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment, Dow Chemical Co. officials say.

Six members of a Dow dive team are strapping on drysuits and taking a dip in near-freezing water this week to suck up contaminated soil with a hydraulic dredger, ''a vacuum cleaner sort of thing, if you will,'' Dow spokesman John C. Musser said.

The dredger can vacuum 80 to 120 cubic yards of sediment every day, Musser said.

A diver will spend an hour or two at a time vacuuming the riverbed as the other five members on a barge monitor the air feeding down the diver's umbilical cable and other equipment, project leader Todd Konechne said.

''One of the divers on the barge will be suited, ready to go, at all times,'' Konechne said.

The crew is racing the winter frost to dredge up

800 cubic yards of material, he said. That's enough matter to fill nearly 161,579 gallon-size containers.

''The river was essentially frozen completely over Saturday morning,'' Konechne said.

The diving crew, however, won't notice the icy water much, he said. The thermal drysuits prevent the water from entering.

''Once he's under the water, he's in a heated suit,'' Konechne said. ''Whether the water is 32 degrees or 42 degrees, there's very little impact on him.''

Each diver will wave the end of a 6-inch hose over a roped-off grid covering 14,000 square feet of the river, shaving off the top 18 inches of soil.

''They essentially have an outline down there of what they're going to remove,'' he said.

A pump pushes the slurry -- a mixture of water and dirt too fluid to qualify as mud -- to filtration and ''dewatering'' machines on the shore, which dry the soil.

''The large particle-sized material is stripped from the slurry,'' Konechne said. ''And it gets recirculated through this process several times to remove as much of the sediment as possible.''

The contaminants are found more in the soil than the water, he said.

''This contamination has an affinity for solids,'' he said. ''By filtering the water and removing the sediment and solids, we can take the contaminants out of the water as well.''

From there, trucks take the dry sediment to Dow's landfill on Salzburg Road in Midland County.

''We're taking it out of play,'' Konechne said. ''If it's in our landfill, nobody's going to be coming into contact with the material, no wildlife is going to come into contact with the material.''

Winter weather prohibits more sampling in the Saginaw River, Konechne said, but Dow researchers hope to resume the process in the spring.

''Our intent is to complete the sediment and floodplain soil sampling in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers by next year,'' he said.

Similar dredging projects in the Tittabawassee River have hauled up 20,000 to 30,000 cubic yards of material, Konechne said.

Preliminary testing on the area near Wickes Park returned a dioxin sample measuring 1.6 million parts per trillion -- a level nearly 20 times higher than any recorded in America, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

However, further tests on the original sample of surface soil registered levels ranging from 7,000 parts per trillion to a little more than 18,000 parts per trillion, Dow officials said.

Officials at the Michigan Department of Community Health were concerned enough about the preliminary finding that they extended a fish consumption advisory already in effect for the Tittabawassee River to include the entire Saginaw River and a portion of Saginaw Bay.

The advisory, in place until further notice, warns against eating carp, catfish and white bass -- fish that feed near the riverbed where contaminants are buried -- and alerts women of child-bearing age and children against eating certain types of other fish.

For more information on dioxin, visit www.michigan.gov/deqdioxin.

Amy Payne is a staff writer for The Saginaw News. You may reach her at 776-9687.

[Hamilton Reef]

Engineer: Dow data was bad
Employee claims she was demoted after questioning test results on Tittabawassee River.

Dow Chemical Co. knowingly submitted bad data about chemical levels in the Tittabawassee River to state environmental regulators, a company insider alleges in a whistleblower lawsuit.

Priscilla Denney, a Dow engineer who says she was responsible for validating Dow's data about levels of dioxin and other chemicals before it was sent to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, alleges in a lawsuit filed in Saginaw County Circuit Court that she was demoted after raising concerns about the data.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 1409/METRO