Citizens Outraged by Lax Enforcement
of Environmental Laws
Dow Chemical
Co. and Continental Aluminum
receive special treatment from State officials
|
For
Immediate Release:
October 11, 2002
|
Contact:
James Clift - (517) 487-9539
Lisa Wozniak - (734) 327-7154
|
LANSING --Carrying
more than 2,500 postcards from Michigan residents outraged
over pollution and government failures at Dow Chemical and
Continental Aluminum, environmentalists, and residents living
near the two companies, delivered a strong message to Governor
Engler to crack down on corporate polluters who are poisoning
Michigan communities.
"Michigan's residents know
that water is our most fundamental and precious resource.
At every turn, the Engler administration has weakened the
protections that prevent the sort of catastrophes we've witnessed
lately with Dow in Midland and Continental Aluminum in Oakland
County," said Lisa Wozniak, Great Lakes Regional Director
for the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.
Enforcement of environmental
laws is a top priority for Michigan citizens . Nevertheless,
state officials have failed to enforce Michigan's most basic
environmental laws, allowing criminals to pollute with relative
impunity. Delivery of the postcards was timed to send a message
to state officials who have the ability to do further damage,
or correct past mistakes, during the last 80 days of the Engler
administration.
First in Detroit, and then Lyon
Township residents were victimized by Continental Aluminum's
troubling history of pollution and the state's failure to
get tough with a corporate polluter who is listed among the
worst in the nation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
From 1990 to 1997, Continental Aluminum (then located in Detroit)
was the target of 153 complaints from residents impacted by
air pollution and other problems connected to the company.
Instead of taking tough enforcement action, the Engler administration
assisted in relocating Continental Aluminum to Lyon Township-even
pushing through a $5.5 million tax-exempt bond to pay for
their move.
The DEQ has cited the company
for pollution violations six times since the company relocated
to the township in 1998 but has yet to revoke its emissions
permit. In 2001, a Detroit News investigation found Continental
relocated from Detroit after concealing its pollution record
in Wayne County. The investigation revealed that the company
failed to inform Lyon Township officials about a $50,000 settlement
paid to Wayne County for air pollution problems.
For more than a year, Dow Chemical
and the State of Michigan have known that the Tittabawassee
River is one of the most dioxin-polluted rivers in the nation.
But rather than tell homeowners and other residents about
the dangerously high levels of cancer-causing dioxin flowing
through their communities, the state sided with the industry
and kept public health information hidden from the public.
"One can not find a clearer
case of corporate irresponsibility combined with government
complicity. The Engler Administration together with Dow Chemical
knew that dioxin had seeped into families' backyards, schoolyards
and other areas within the community and they chose not to
inform the residents," said James Clift, Policy Director
for the Michigan Environmental Council. "We call on Governor
Engler and his administration to reverse this shameful record
on protecting public health."
The League of Conservation Voters
Education Fund was founded in 1985 to promote active and responsible
citizenship in addressing our nation's environmental challenges.
For more information, visit www.voteenvironment.org.
The Michigan Environmental Council
is a coalition of over 60 environmental and public health
groups from across the state. For more information, visit
http://www.mecprotects.org.
