CARD 11-16-20 Superfund Resolution for Gelman/Danaher Toxic 1,4 Dioxane Plume

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Resolution, That CARD (COALITION FOR ACTION ON REMEDIATION OF DIOXANE) supports that the Gelman Site be designated as a USEPA Superfund Site, adopted at a regular meeting of CARD held on November 10, 2020; Full Voting CARD Members Adopted November 16, 2020

Resolution proposed by Vince Caruso and supported by Dan Bicknell

Whereas, The Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane (CARD) is a partnership of local governments and citizens that look at strategies to address the groundwater contamination from the industrial solvent 1,4-dioxane, released by Gelman Sciences, Inc. The groundwater contamination has expanded in Washtenaw County to an area over three miles long and one mile wide .

Whereas , Thousands of residents of Ann Arbor Charter Township, Scio Township, Washtenaw County, and The City of Ann Arbor have been working for more than 30 years to protect the surface waters and ground waters of the State from actual contamination, and the continuing threat of additional contamination, by 1,4-dioxane (dioxane) originating at the PALL Life Sciences, Inc/Gelman Sciences, Inc. (Gelman) Wagner Road facility, now owned by Danaher, and to achieve effective containment and proper treatment of waters already impacted by the contamination;

Whereas, The Michigan Department of Environmental, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE) has not been able to satisfy requests by local governments and community groups for a protective and effective remedy for this dioxane contamination, which continues to spread;

Whereas, For many years the EGLE has demonstrated lax enforcement of laws intended to protect the State’s waters from the dioxane contamination and has dismissed input from local governments and community groups into the cleanup process;

Whereas , The Gelman Site dioxane plume currently is at least four miles long and one mile wide and continues to expand with no effective off-site hydraulic control;

Whereas , The EGLE has not been able to secure in court a Gelman Site remedy which is protective of public health and the State’s natural resources;

Whereas, Since the Consent Judgment was entered in 1992, the EGLE has fostered a groundwater remedy at the Gelman Site that does not employ current remedial technologies to contain or eliminate the off-site spread of the dioxane plume into pristine natural resources;

Whereas , Since the Consent Judgment was entered, the EGLE has fostered a groundwater remedy at the Gelman Site which has allowed and will allow the dioxane plume to migrate into individual residential wells supplying drinking water for hundreds of people;

Whereas , Under EGLE management the establishment of a Prohibition Zone has been implemented instead of active groundwater extraction and treatment, thereby, manifesting a “dilution is the solution to pollution” remedy which allows the dioxane plume to expand and further degrade the State’s groundwater resources;

Whereas, The Gelman Site dioxane plume seems to have now migrated to the near-surface shallow groundwater on Ann Arbor's west-side , potentially exposing homeowner and businesses to potentially toxic exposures;

Whereas , The EGLE has been unable to obtain in court a monitoring well network that is capable of observing the extent and magnitude of the dioxane plume or predicting with sufficient accuracy the areas, direction and rate of expansion of the dioxane plume;

Whereas , The EGLE has not provided proper oversight of PLS as required in the Consent Judgment and has not enforced the Consent Judgment requirements in court against PLS;

Whereas, The EGLE has not been able to obtain a proposed 4 th Amended Consent Judgment terms and conditions favorable to the community and protective of public health and the environment;

Whereas , In 2017, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) completed a Preliminary Assessment of the Gelman Site and determined that the Gelman Site does qualify to continue the designation process to become a USEPA Superfund Site.

Whereas , The USEPA Superfund Program has a proven track record of obtaining Administrative Orders which require Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) to protect the public health and the natural resources with the PRPs conducting and paying for the remediation under USEPA oversight;

Whereas , The USEPA can issue a federal Administrative Order under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (aka Superfund Act) to Gelman with favorable USEPA terms and conditions for the proper remediation of the Gelman Site;

Whereas , The USEPA will require halting of the dioxane plume migration and effective groundwater extraction and treatment to remediate the aquifer to drinking water criterion;

Whereas , The USEPA will require a monitoring well network that will establish the full extent and magnitude of the dioxane plume;

Whereas , The USEPA will require that Gelman pay for residential well sampling and dioxane analysis at homes immediately down-gradient of the dioxane plume;

Whereas , The USEPA will require the use of state-of-the-art dioxane analytical methods and protocols;

Whereas , The USEPA has the technical, administrative and legal resources to provide high quality oversight of Gelman in the remediation of the Gelman Site and the backing of the US Department of Justice and USEPA Regional Counsel to enforce the Administrative Order;

Whereas , The USEPA offers Community Grants to support public input into the Superfund Site cleanup process; and

Whereas, The EGLE’s continuing delays and mismanagement of this vast groundwater contamination plume has caused significant adverse impacts to the community.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS RESOLVED, That CARD supports that the Gelman Site be designated as a USEPA Superfund Site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and that the USEPA be the lead agency;

RESOLVED , That CARD supports the Governor sending a Concurrence Letter to USEPA for the continuation of the National Priorities List designation process to have the Gelman Site designated as a USEPA Superfund Site;

RESOLVED , That CARD authorizes its Secretary to support the designation of the Gelman Site as a USEPA Superfund Site; and

RESOLVED , That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners and its delegation to the Michigan Legislature, the Governor of the State of Michigan, the Director of EGLE, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, Michigan’s U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, the City of Ann Arbor City Council, Scio Township Board of Trustees and Ann Arbor Charter Township Board of Trustees.