Citizens ask for Federal Probe into Major
Dioxin Cover-up in Michigan

Dioxin Levels 80 Times Above State Standards Found in Floodplain at Confluence of Tittabawasee and Saginaw Rivers

DEQ Director Blocks Further Testing, and Seeks Suppression of Health Assessment Calling for Aggressive Action

For Immediate Release: January 31, 2002

Contacts: Dave Dempsey- (517) 487-9539 Michelle Hurd-Riddick- (989) 799-3313

SAGINAW -- Documents obtained by environmental groups show the state has found dioxin levels 80 times state cleanup standards near parks and residential areas in a floodplain south of the City of Saginaw, but state DEQ Director Russell Harding has blocked further testing and is suppressing a state health assessment that the groups believe calls for aggressive state action to deal with the threat.

Harding has also overridden DEQ staff and ordered them to weaken the state's cleanup standard for dioxins in new rules the agency is promulgating. In a document obtained by the environmental groups, a DEQ staffer said the Harding decision did not "reflect the best available information" and another staffer said the level should be toughened, not weakened, based on emerging science.

The Michigan Environmental Council, Environmental Health Watch, Lone Tree Council and the Ecology Center called Harding's behavior "outrageous" and called for him to "get out of the way" and permit public servants to do their job to protect public health and the environment. The groups wrote key members of Congress and the assistant administrator of a federal toxic substances agency demanding a probe of Harding's actions. The state's failure to fully inform the public so that citizens can take action to protect their own health is "unconscionable," said the groups.

"The evidence points to Harding repeatedly delaying staff efforts to discover the extent of the dioxin problem," said Midland resident Diane Hebert, director of Environmental Health Watch. "In my mind that is a cover-up."

Levels of dioxin ranged from 39 to more than 7200 parts per trillion in the flood plain near Saginaw. The state's current residential cleanup standard is 90 parts per trillion. The levels found in some areas of the flood plain exceed a federal action standard of 1 part per billion set by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). By comparison, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in October 2001 that it will relocate some residents of Pensacola, Florida whose residential soil levels reached or exceeded 200 parts per trillion. No followup sampling has been done or cleanup plan developed in residential areas of Midland where dioxin levels exceed state cleanup standards, despite repeated requests for this from environmental groups.

Specifically, the groups are now calling for:

"It is simply unconscionable that the state has sat on these results," said Lone Tree Council member Michelle Hurd-Riddick "Children could have already been harmed by their inaction."

Soil levels in Midland in public parks and schools ranged from .01ppb to .210 ppb TEQ (10 to 210 ppt) and averaged 0.05 ppb TEQ.

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Dioxin Facts Uncovered by Environmental Groups

The new revelations stem from DEQ documents unearthed through a Freedom of Information Act request. Direct quotes from the documents:

High Dioxin Levels

August, 2001 GreenPoint-Tittabawassee River Dioxin Study Area Phase I Sampling Study Report, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

"Soil samples collected by the General Motors Corporation (GM) as part of a wetland mitigation project identified elevated levels of dioxin and dibenzofuran compounds (hereinafter referred to as "dioxin") in a farm field located in the Tittabawasee River floodplain near its confluence with the Saginaw River. The samples, collected during April of 2000, identified concentrations of dioxin as high as 2,199 parts per trillion (ppt) toxic equivalence factor units (TEF). The dioxin concentrations were almost twenty-five (25) times the residential direct contact criteria of 90 ppt established under the provisions of Part 201 [of NREPA]. Concern over the public health and environmental implications of the GM sample results prompted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Response Division to develop and implement a soil sampling an assessment program in the Tittawbawasee River flood plain. During the period from December 2000 to June 2001 the ERD collected soil samples from five locations in the Tittabawasee River floodplain between Center Road in Saginaw Township, Saginaw County, and the Saginaw River confluence. A total of thirty-four samples were collected at depths ranging from to twelve (12)inches below the surface. Analytical results identified concentrations ranging from 39 to 7,261 ppt. Only five of the thirty-four samples contained TEF concentrations less than the Part 201 residential direct contact criteria of 90 ppt TEF (RDCC)."

"Dioxin concentrations are consistently found above the Part 201 RDCC, and have been identified as high as eighty (80) times the RDCC. Upstream of the Phase I sample area, active human use of the floodplain increases. Numerous residential properties are located within the floodplain, the majority located within the Shields area and Saginaw Township. Some agriculture operations are also located within the floodplain, as are some public parklands."

Blocking Further Testing in the Area

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Staff memo dated November 9, 2001

"The deputies of the three departments all agreed we should proceed with Phase II. However, Art said he needed to touch base with the director and get back with me later to give me the go-ahead. Art called later and said Russ Harding did not want to proceed. Art said Russ wanted to "review the documentation" some more. I will be sending Art a GroupWise note asking him to clarify when we might get a final answer from Russ.

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Staff communication dated November 14, 2001

"Well it is almost time for Thanksgiving turkey which means it is getting late in the season. We are still hoping for approval before freeze up. Any news from the Director yet?"

"Harding apparently does not want us to proceed. I am trying to influence that attitude."

Michigan Department of Community Health Staff memorandum dated November 27, 2001:

"Yes, we were aware...that Director Harding has not OKed the additional sampling in the T. River flood plain."

Weakening Dioxin Standards

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Staff Memo dated November 28, 2001:

"Just wanted to let you know that Director Harding made the decision yesterday to place in the 201 Rules the dioxin criteria that reflect the revised generic exposure assumptions (150 ppt for residential and 740 ppt for industrial) - he felt it was most reasonable to calculate the criteria in the same manner as all other criteria are calculated. Since dioxin is NOT like all other hazardous substances in that the toxicity data do not reflect the best available information, I think we should reconvene the TSG subcommittee, dust off and get ready to finalize the dioxin tox assessment so that we can be ready to generate revised criteria."

Staff E-mail dated November 20, 2001:

"THE MORE I THINK ABOUT IT THE MORE UNCOMFORTABLE I GET. ALTHOUGH I AGREE IN PRINCIPLE THAT THE CRITERIA FOR ALL HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES SHOULD INCORPORATE THE SAME GENERIC EXPOSURE ASSUMPTIONS, DIOXIN IS SO UNIQUE AND OF SUCH SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN THAT MAKING IT AN EXCEPTION IS REASONABLE. MORE IMPORTANTLY, KNOWING THE CRITERIA WILL ULTIMATELY DECREASE BASED ON AN UPDATED TOXICITY ASSESSMENT AND BEING ABLE TO MAKE ALL THE REVISIONS AT THE SAME TIME, MAKES A VERY STRONG CASE TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT CRITERIA."

"INCORPORATING THE REVISED GENERIC EXPOSURE ASSUMPTIONS WITHOUT REVISING THE TOXICITY ENDPOINTS WILL RESULT IN CRITERIA THAT ARE NOT PROTECTIVE OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ARE NOT BASED ON THE "BEST AVAILABLE INFORMATION."