08/26/2010 - Senate Passes Changes to Part 201

On August 17, 2010, the Michigan Senate passed changes to Part 201 under which the Pall/Gelman 1,4-Dioxane Cleanup is administered. We at SRSW and CARD are very concerned what the Senate's changes to Part 201 would mean for the Pall/Gelman 1,4-dioxane groundwater contamination cleanup. It seems like another ploy to transfer the costs and risks to the public... just like the gutting of the Polluter Pay Law did in the mid-1990's. Will Pall/Gelman be allowed to walk away from its cleanup of its dioxane? ... dioxane that may be heading to Barton Pond, where Ann Arbor gets 80% of its water.

The Michigan House still has the say as to whether the changes should be approved, but the timing leaves little time to assess the potential damages to our area's water quality.