EPA, MDEQ, meetings and more
Regarding the administrative order on consent (AOC). As documents are finalized by Environmental Stewardship Concepts ( Dr. deFur) they will be uploaded to the following site. Dr. deFur was retained by Lone Tree Council to assist our organization and the community to digest, comprehend and comment on the current efforts by the regulatory agencies to compel an eventual cleanup.
This latest round of work plans and expected outcomes is the functional equivalent of what Dow agreed to do in 2003. Not sure what Dow’s signature merits or what it’s worth six years later. It’s just a different agency different regulatory framework. Hopefully fewer politics and heftier enforcement will make this latest effort by EPA the last heave-ho before we move to a cleanup phase. We just don’t want to hear the next shoe drop.
Lone Tree Council requested a 30-day extension on the pubic comment period for the work negotiated between EPA, DEQ and Dow Chemical. The documents are detailed and there are many questions to be formulated. We appreciate EPA granting the extension, which will take us to December 17th.
The only public meeting on the AOC will be held on Thursday November 5th at 7 p.m. at Saginaw Valley State University’s Curtiss Hall (Campus map (PDF)), Banquet Rooms A&B. After a presentation by EPA and MDEQ staff there will be time to answer questions and then to submit oral comments. BUT WAIT MDEQ will hold a meeting to provide an update on the Dow corrective action work that has been ongoing over the summer and fall. This session will be in banquet room C and will start at 6 p.m.
We look forward to EPA and MDEQ explaining the fate and details of Dow’s corrective action obligations under their RCRA license (see paragraph 2, RCRA is what Dow agreed to in 2003).
Michelle Hurd Riddick
