More than two dozen residents of the Tittabawassee River floodplain in Saginaw County are suing Dow Chemical Company over dioxin contamination. Residents are seeking to get class action status for the litigation, filed this spring, on behalf of 2,000 residents and property owners in the floodplain.

Along with Lone Tree Council, Ecology Center and Midland resident Diane Hebert, MEC fought last year to make public state data showing high levels of dioxin downstream of Dow. Dioxin is one of the most potent toxins known to science.

"The time has come to free these residents from the poisonous traps that were once their homes," attorneys for the plaintiffs said. "The time has come to provide the medical monitoring necessary to determine whether the residents have been afflicted by dioxin's diseases." A spokesperson for Dow condemned the comments as "alarmist" and said property values have not been affected.

Michigan's Wetland Program: 2003

Wetland Permit Applications Processed by DEQ*: 1,844
Wetland acreage impact requested: 450 acres
Wetland acreage impact permitted: 326 acres (72% of amount requested)
Mitigation required for altered wetlands: 452 acres
Projects affecting 1 acre of wetland: 48

*A single permit for Michigan Peat Company in Sandusky is exempted from these totals because it is unusual. The permit authorized long-term impacts to 1,034 acres of wetland. It also required restoration of 1,274 acres of wetland and donation of the site to the Michigan DNR after five years. The permit resolves a complaint the state filed against the company for peat mining in wetlands without a permit.