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More town hall meetings to be held

(ABC12 Image)

By Matt Franklin

Bay City — (08/17/05)--The dioxin cleanup process continues across Mid Michigan.

Wednesday evening, officials with Dow Chemical and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality gave residents a progress report on there efforts.

Only a handful of people turned out for the meeting at the Double Tree Hotel in Bay City.

Officials from both sides discussed action that being taken to clean up the upper Saginaw and Titabawassee rivers and the areas around them.

Participation may have been low, but interest in dioxin cleanup remains high.

Residents and environmental groups discussed the cleanup efforts with representatives from Dow and the DEQ in the first of three town hall meetings in Mid Michigan.

Just recently, soil samples taken from Saginaw County's Imerman Park and Midland County's Smiths Crossing posted dangerously high levels of dioxin -- exceeding federal standards.

Dow officials say they don't know how widespread the contamination stretches, but say steps were taken to protect the environment and residents who live nearby.

Dow says they are cleaning some homes along the river, posting signs at parks and conducting numerous tests, honoring the framework for cleanup established months ago.

DEQ officials say they are impressed by Dow's efforts to resolving the dioxin matter.

The next two meetings will take place in Midland at the Holiday Inn and at the Horizons Conference Center in Saginaw. Those meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and run until 8:30 p.m.

Last Updated: Aug 17, 2005