Dow Cleans Up Saginaw River

Bloomberg.com: U.S.:

"Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, and U.S. environmental officials have begun emergency removal of a previously unknown ``dioxin hot spot'' on the Saginaw River in Michigan.

The hot spot, found by the company a half-mile (o.8 kilometer) below the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee rivers, has a level of dioxin 50 times higher than the highest amount previously discovered on the Saginaw, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement. It is also 15 times higher than any dioxin levels found at hot spots in the Tittabawassee River, the EPA said.

The emergency removal of the hot spot qualifies for a ``Superfund'' order, the EPA said. Such an order quickly allows the dredging of the hot spot before winter arrives, Dow Chemical spokesman John Musser said in an interview."