Title
Resolution Urging the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to Set Responsible Cleanup Criteria for the 1,4 Dioxane Plume, Based on EPA Standards
Body
Whereas, Thousands of residents of The City of Ann Arbor and neighboring municipalities including Scio Township, Ann Arbor Township, have been working for over 20 years for the protection of the surface and ground waters of the State from the continuing threat and actual contamination from 1, 4-dioxane contamination originating at the Pall/Gelman Sciences, Inc. ("PGSI") Wagner Road facility, and for effective containment and proper treatment of waters already impacted by the contamination;
Whereas, The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) establishes generic cleanup criteria for hazardous substances under the authority of Part 201 of the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act, that are intended to be protective of human health and the environment from a variety of exposure pathways;
Whereas, These criteria are used by MDEQ in enforcement actions against polluters and other liable parties;
Whereas, The current MDEQ 1,4-dioxane generic residential drinking water cleanup criterion was set a number of years ago at 85 parts per billion (ppb) to result in a one-in-a-hundred-thousand (1 in 100,000) residual cancer risk;
Whereas, In 2010, US EPA published a toxicological review of 1,4-dioxane recommending a steeper cancer slope factor, effectively lowering the drinking water residual cancer risk levels to 35 ppb for 1 in 10,000 and 3.5 ppb for 1 in 100,000;
Whereas, The US EPA has categorized 1,4-dioxane as a non-threshold carcinogen;
Whereas, California and Illinois lowered their drinking water guidance levels to 1 ppb, while Massachusetts set its guidance at 0.3 ppb;
Whereas, The MDEQ missed its self-imposed deadline of December 2012 to set new standards or cleanup criteria for 1,4-dioxane, which were to be based on the EPA toxicological revie...
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