The city of Midland, Michigan, was finally making headway on a toxic cleanup in their city’s rivers. But last week, floodwaters overwhelmed two dams and chased 11,000 people from homes. Now officials fear some of the cleanup progress may have washed away.
Midland’s Dow Chemical Company plant began operating in 1897. Today, it produces silicones used in home and personal care products and electronics.
In the early 1900s, company officials dumped toxic waste into the river. Later, they burned it. Air pollution from the fires settled into riverbanks and floodplains for decades.
The Tittabawassee River flows past the Dow plant and eventually meets the Saginaw River. The waterway continues into Lake Huron’s Saginaw Bay. The 50-mile stretch is tainted with highly toxic compounds. Researchers say the chemicals can damage reproductive and immune systems and cause cancer.
Regulators and company officials are hoping the swollen rivers haven’t damaged repaired spots—or swept pollutants farther downstream. Dow says it will inspect each cleanup location as floodwaters recede and sample for new contamination.
The projects “held up remarkably well” during a 2017 flood “and we are confident that we will see a similar outcome this time,” spokesman Kyle Bandlow says.
But experts believe having zero chemical leaks is unlikely after last week’s flood. “There’s no reason to expect that everything would remain in the same place after a massive flood like this,” says University of Michigan professor Allen Burton. “No scientist out there would predict that will happen.” (Just imagine, then, what kinds of changes might have occurred due to the worldwide flooding of Noah’s time!)
Erik Olson is a toxic chemicals specialist. He’s seen floods cover hazardous waste sites—and then carry contaminated wastes long distances.
“You can think you’ve contained toxic chemicals to a limited area, but a flood can scour that up and move it,” Olson says. “We saw that with Katrina. What happened there is exactly what we’re worrying about happening in Midland.”
Since 2007, workers have removed thousands of cubic yards of contaminated deposits from the river. More cleanup is planned along 21 miles of floodplains.
But, says Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, “The long-term threats to the health and safety of the community are significant, given what we know is in the river.”
(Floodwater reaches the bottom of a stop sign on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, in Midland, Michigan. Katy Kildee/Midland Daily News via AP)
