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EPA issues demand for Midland dioxin sampling data


WEBWIRE

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 today issued a request for information to the city of Midland, Mich., for all dioxin sampling data taken within the city in 2006 and 2007.

The city of Midland has information that would give EPA a more complete picture of Dow Chemical Co.’s dioxin contamination in that area. EPA has also sent information requests to two other entities that hold relevant information.

“It appears that the data is obscured by an unusual double blind system that EPA has been unable to obtain voluntarily from the city of Midland,” said EPA Region 5 Superfund Division Director Richard Karl. “The city holds the key to the data and we’re requiring them to provide it.”

Today’s request is part of a larger investigation of dioxin contamination in the Midland area. In mid-August, EPA issued two requests to Dow asking for information on off-site and on-site dioxin sampling conducted by Dow and more extensive data on numerous other hazardous materials produced at the Dow Midland plant.

Dow began a dioxin cleanup in three hot spots of the Tittabawassee River as a result of EPA orders in late June. Those cleanups are expected to be completed this year and set the stage for additional work downriver.

The Dow facility is a 1,900-acre chemical manufacturing plant located in Midland, Mich. Dioxins and furans were byproducts from the manufacture of chlorine-based products. Past waste disposal practices, fugitive emissions and incineration at Dow have resulted in on- and off-site dioxin and furan contamination.



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