United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
For more information
You can view documents related to
the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw
River & Bay Contamination Site in
information repositories set up by
EPA and MDEQ. The repositories
are located in the Grace A. Dow
Memorial Library, 1710 W. St.
Andrews St., Midland; the Hoyt
Main Library, 505 Janes Ave.,
Saginaw; and the Alice and Jack
Wirt Public Library, 500 Center
Ave., Bay City.
Information office
On June 23, EPA will open a
community information office in
the Saginaw County Courthouse,
111 S. Michigan Ave., Saginaw.
Initial hours will be Tuesday
through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(closed from noon to 1 p.m.). Check
the Web site for more information.
Go on the Web
EPA dioxin investigation:
http://www.epa.gov/region5/sites/
dowchemical
MDEQ dioxin information:
http://www.michigan.gov/deqdioxin
Sign up for the listserv
If you'd like to be emailed site
updates, send a blank message to:
dow_dioxin-subscribe@lists.epa.gov
Contacts
These EPA community involvement
coordinators can answer questions:
Patricia Krause
312-886-9506
krause.patricia@epa.gov
Don de Blasio
312-886-4360
deblasio.don@epa.gov
Region 5 toll free:
800-621-8431, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30
p.m., weekdays
At MDEQ contact:
Cheryl Howe
517-373-9881
howec@michigan.gov
Superfund Process and
Negotiations at the Dow Site
Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River & Bay Contamination Site
Midland/Saginaw/Bay City Region, Michigan June 2009
EPA follows an established step-by-step process to determine the best way to
clean up a Superfund site and protect human health and the environment. EPA
prefers that those individuals and/or companies considered responsible for the
contamination (potentially responsible parties, or PRPs) clean up a Superfund site.
EPA ensures this by negotiating binding, enforceable settlement agreements with
PRPs. If no agreement is reached, EPA can either issue an order compelling the
PRPs to perform the work or EPA can pay for the work and recover the costs later.
MDEQ and EPA are working collaboratively together as partners to ensure that
all contamination is addressed. MDEQ has been participating and will continue to
participate in these negotiations.
Currently, EPA and MDEQ are negotiating with Dow to conduct the following
work:
Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS)
The RI/FS phase of the process determines the nature and extent of
contamination at the site, develops cleanup options — such as dredging,
capping, etc. — for addressing the contamination, and evaluates and compares
the performance and costs of the various cleanup options. As an RI/FS is under
way, EPA may identify serious immediate threats to the environment or to the
people who live or work around a site based on the data being gathered. EPA
would then consider whether a removal action should be conducted as an early
cleanup at the site.
Based on cleanup options developed in the feasibility study phase, EPA will
develop a "proposed plan" for cleaning up the site. The proposed plan discusses
all the options developed and presents EPA's preferred approach. EPA will
issue a public notice and hold a public hearing so interested members of the
community can comment on the plan. After considering all comments, EPA
then releases a "record of decision" which explains which cleanup alternatives
will be used at a site and responds to public comments received.
Remedial Design (RD)
The RD phase of the process includes preparing for the cleanup at the site. It is
during this phase that the engineering plans are developed for implementing
the cleanup option EPA selected in the ROD.
At this site, EPA and MDEQ prefer that Dow do the work of investigating
contamination building upon the investigatory work that Dow has already
conducted under RCRA authorities (RI), developing clean up options (FS) and
designing selected remedies (RD) in the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River and
Saginaw Bay.
EPA is negotiating an "administrative order on consent" or AOC with Dow that
outlines the work that is to be done. An AOC is a legal document that would
formalize an agreement between EPA and Dow to conduct the work at the site. The
initial AOC provided to Dow is based on model settlement agreements and will be
modified to fit the circumstances at the site. Even though EPA may agree to modify
the settlement agreement initially provided to Dow, EPA will not sign any final
agreement that is not in the public interest or is inconsistent with the Superfund
or RCRA process and law. EPA and MDEQ will hold a public meeting to discuss the
details of any proposed order while it is in draft form. Any such draft order will be
subject to formal public review and comment.
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So what topics are under discussion between EPA and Dow at this site?
The following is a list of topics under discussion as well as those topics that are not being discussed.
Topics That Are Not Being Negotiated in
This Order (but will be considered later in
an open and transparent public process)
• Cleanup options, including sediment disposal
locations, cleanup technologies such as dredging,
capping, etc. and relocation
• Cleanup levels
Topics That Are Non-Negotiable (part of
EPA's "bottom line")
• The geographic extent of site (Dow will
investigate wherever contamination has come to
be located)
• The scope of the work (the AOC must cover
remedial investigation, feasibility studies and
remedial design)
• Public comment on the AOC prior to signature by
the Agencies
• EPA's right to list the site on the NPL
• Evaluating contamination on high-use properties
along the rivers
• Evaluating the movement of highly contaminated
sediments
• A CERCLA order would not terminate RCRA
corrective action obligations
Topics That Are Being Negotiated
The following is a list of the more significant topics that
are the subject of Superfund negotiations. Other, more
minor, topics may also be discussed. To list every single
topic would lead to too long a list.
General Provisions
• How to integrate existing data into Dow's
characterization work under the order
• The schedule for Dow's investigation work and
reports under the order
• How to organize the rivers and bay into
manageable components for conducting work
• How to define the appropriate types of
investigations to be completed for Saginaw River
and Saginaw Bay
• How to integrate the current RCRA "contaminants
of interest" list into future Superfund
investigatory work
• The "technical assistance plan" (provides funding
to representative of the community to hire
technical advisors)
• The coordination between EPA and MDEQ under
the order
• How to foster consistency in meeting RCRA
license and CERCLA obligations
• Natural Resource Trustees' role under the order
Monetary Provisions
• How and when Dow will reimburse EPA for
cleanup costs to date
Legal Provisions
• EPA's authority to issue the order
• How to resolve disputes under the order
Enforcement
• When EPA can take over work if Dow does not
perform adequately
• The amount of stipulated penalties if Dow violates
the order
• Dow must ensure that adequate funds to complete
the work under the order
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