September 15, 2004

Today Lt. Governor John D. Cherry and Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester met with Dow Chemical Company, the city of Midland, Senator Tony Stamas, and Representative John Moolenaar as part of the ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive plan to address the dioxin issue in that region of the state. During the meeting, a target date of October 31, 2004 was selected to finalize discussions on a strategy to address dioxin in Midland and along the Tittabawassee River floodplain, the Saginaw River, and the Saginaw Bay. All sides agree that the discussions continue to be productive and are hopeful resolution can be reached by the targeted deadline.

"By setting an October 31st deadline, we are providing an endpoint to the discussion phase of this project and moving towards our goal of seeing actual results," said Lt. Governor Cherry. "My hope is that the deadline provides everyone involved with an incentive to aggressively work together to reach a consensus on the appropriate course for corrective action."

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised September 15, 2004 by Pat Watson