GL05 Fish Advisory Dow Dioxin

Water Environment - Lakes, Rivers, Oceans, Aquifers, Groundwater - Water (h2o) Environmental Issues: Conservation, Sustainability, Preservation, and Ecology

Dow Chemical's dioxin contamination from its world headquarters in Midland, MI. For decades Dow Chemical has used the Tittabawassee River for a sewer. In geographic proportions this site is enormous. 52 miles of river , the Tittabawassee and Saginaw leading out to Lake Huron, thousands of acres of floodplain and properties through several communities. A study done by the Michigan Department of Community Health highlights the environmental justice issue of this contamination. The less educated people are, people of color, migrant workers and indigent residents are more likely to eat the fish from these waters as well as eating the fish most contaminated. In the summer of 2006 Lone Tree Council and a number of state wide groups and citizens petitioned the federal government (CDC) for a Health Consultation. We are awaiting a determination. The MDCH Fish Consumption Study can be viewed at
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/FCS_Final_rpt_061407_199288_7.pdf