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ENVIRONMENT
Some 142 residents living downriver from Dow Chemical's Midland, Mich., plant have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking damages and a medical monitoring program because of high dioxins levels in soil near their homes. The litigants live along the Tittabawassee River and floodplain, some 20 miles below the plant. Last year, the state notified residents that soil samples with dioxins levels of 7,261 ppt were found in the area. The state's standard is 90 ppt for residential soil. The state urged residents to take precautions, such as wearing face masks when mowing lawns and showering after doing yard work, says Kathy Henry, who lives on the river. "We want to leave," Henry says. "We don't want to continue to be exposed, but no one will buy our house." The extent of and responsibility for dioxins contamination has long been debated by state and company officials and residents living downstream from the 100-year-old plant. "The suit," resident Betty Damore says, "seems the only way we can say to Dow that you'd better address the problem." Dow officials question if the high dioxins levels are from its operations, noting that many other facilities have discharged to the river over the years. They want more sampling, as well as a health study. They also say property values have not declined. Henry counters, "Dow's role seems pretty obvious," pointing to samples showing dioxins levels of 2 ppt upstream from the plant and 3,400 ppt at a park below the plant. The court filing echoes past dioxins litigation at Times Beach, Mo., and Love Canal, N.Y. An estimated 2,000 households could be affected by the suit's outcome, says Jan P. Helder, the residents' attorney. Dow officials predict a long legal fight. A preliminary hearing is set for later this month. |
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