...in case you haven't been up Midland Road lately - you may think you're getting the 'disease' out but unfortunately, you're KILLING the patient!
Love, your friendly neighborhood realist.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Government does NOT belong in our backyards...
Let them in your backyard & the next thing you know they will be invading your kitchens and bedrooms!
These days people are cooking up methamphetamines in their kitchens. It's a proven fact: Drugs Kill! Does that mean government should be allowed access to all of our kitchens?
What's going on in bedrooms around the country? Well, duh! How do you think AIDS is passed on? It's a proven fact: Aids Kills! Do you see the government even ATTEMPTING to isolate those who actually HAVE the disease and are passing it on indiscrimately to other people? Does this mean government should be allowed in our bedrooms?
Tiny bits of dioxin build up in crevices and corners of a few floodplain backyards. So what? A Russian leader was fed massive quantities of dioxin. It is a proven fact: Dioxin Does NOT kill! Does this mean we should allow the government to invade our backyards?
Does this mean we should allow the government to DEMAND that Dow MUST disrupt an entire riverfront wildlife habitat? Do you think we actually CAN replace 100 year old trees & many many lesser sized vegetations? Seems like it will take at least 100 years. Do you think we should continue to allow extreme environmental wackos with an agenda to tell our government what to do and destroy our environment along the Tittabawassee River in the name of environmental protection?
What do YOU think is more dangerous to the river floodplain - small quantities of dioxins that have NOT moved in over a century? ...or total destruction of a beautiful natural habitat for all sorts of God's creatures?
These days people are cooking up methamphetamines in their kitchens. It's a proven fact: Drugs Kill! Does that mean government should be allowed access to all of our kitchens?
What's going on in bedrooms around the country? Well, duh! How do you think AIDS is passed on? It's a proven fact: Aids Kills! Do you see the government even ATTEMPTING to isolate those who actually HAVE the disease and are passing it on indiscrimately to other people? Does this mean government should be allowed in our bedrooms?
Tiny bits of dioxin build up in crevices and corners of a few floodplain backyards. So what? A Russian leader was fed massive quantities of dioxin. It is a proven fact: Dioxin Does NOT kill! Does this mean we should allow the government to invade our backyards?
Does this mean we should allow the government to DEMAND that Dow MUST disrupt an entire riverfront wildlife habitat? Do you think we actually CAN replace 100 year old trees & many many lesser sized vegetations? Seems like it will take at least 100 years. Do you think we should continue to allow extreme environmental wackos with an agenda to tell our government what to do and destroy our environment along the Tittabawassee River in the name of environmental protection?
What do YOU think is more dangerous to the river floodplain - small quantities of dioxins that have NOT moved in over a century? ...or total destruction of a beautiful natural habitat for all sorts of God's creatures?
Saturday, August 11, 2007
the latest dow/deq meeting
Here is a well-written review of the Dow/MDEQ meeting Thursday at Horizons. Í did not attend this meeting but i actually have something to discuss about this topic & will do it soon.... but..... right now i'm busy!
Shirley
Dow expects work on dioxin hotspots to be done this year
By Tony Lascari
08/10/2007
The Dow Chemical Co. expects interim remedial action cleanup at three dioxin-contaminated sites along the Tittabawassee River to be completed by the end of the year. Work that began earlier this summer at one contamination hot spot adjacent to Dow's Michigan Operations site, which is a historic source of the contamination, is expected to be finished in December, Dow On-Site Remediation Leader Steve Lucas said.
Construction of a facility to remove water from dredged sediment could be finished this month. "We're going to start hydraulic dredging immediately after it's done, so we're targeting the beginning of September," Lucas said.
The next project, just upstream from the Caldwell boat launch, will include the removal of soils in about 1,700 feet of the riverbank.
"This is really driven by the potential for erosion and the concerns that the contamination could be spread further by the erosion process," said Todd Konechne, Dow's project leader.
The area labeled as "Reach J/K" also would have a cap placed on the upper terrace area of the river, and a portion containing wetlands would be fenced, Konechne said. Site preparations began this week and excavation on the riverbank could begin Monday.
He said the site will receive fresh topsoil and be replanted with natural vegetation to restore it.
"This is actually a very important part of this project," he said, and the work is expected to be completed in mid-October.
The third project is in "Reach O" of the river, about six miles downstream of the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee rivers. The plan is to remove sediments in the river through excavation after removing water from the area.
Site preparations, including temporary road construction, are expected to begin Monday.
Dow will place contaminated materials from all three sites in the Dow Salzburg Landfill.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Dow agreed to the work in July after the EPA issued three administrative orders in June requiring action by the company this year.
Jim Augustine, with the EPA, said while the agency knew Dow was planning to begin the work, it wanted projects completed this year.
"The reason that the EPA stepped in at this time and issued the three orders was simply to establish completion dates -- deadlines -- and ensure cleanup work began on all three regions this year," he said. "The U.S. EPA believed that these three cleanups needed to be expedited and moved forward as quickly as possible."
The Lone Tree Council's Terry Miller said he applauds the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Dow's efforts to remove the dioxin-tainted soils. He said the council was "ecstatic" when it heard the EPA was stepping in to require action this year.
"It sounds like an extremely elaborate process, and we've been hoping for these removals for the length of time that we became aware that they were in the river," he said.
He questioned what impact the removal activities would have on the river system.
Peter Simon, with Dow contractor Ann Arbor Technical Services, said there are tradeoffs any time humans begin to alter the river system.
"There are absolutely consequences for any type of removal, and that's why you can't just jump into them," he said.
He said in the long-term, removing the contamination is expected to help relieve stresses on the river.
Further study of contamination in the river is under way by ATS, which is using a GeoMorph system to map the riverbed.
"In general, this provides us with insight into what Mother Nature has been doing in terms of erosion and deposition," he said.
The results of the study in the first six miles of the river have led to the cleanup efforts under way.
©Midland Daily News 2007
Shirley
Dow expects work on dioxin hotspots to be done this year
By Tony Lascari
08/10/2007
The Dow Chemical Co. expects interim remedial action cleanup at three dioxin-contaminated sites along the Tittabawassee River to be completed by the end of the year. Work that began earlier this summer at one contamination hot spot adjacent to Dow's Michigan Operations site, which is a historic source of the contamination, is expected to be finished in December, Dow On-Site Remediation Leader Steve Lucas said.
Construction of a facility to remove water from dredged sediment could be finished this month. "We're going to start hydraulic dredging immediately after it's done, so we're targeting the beginning of September," Lucas said.
The next project, just upstream from the Caldwell boat launch, will include the removal of soils in about 1,700 feet of the riverbank.
"This is really driven by the potential for erosion and the concerns that the contamination could be spread further by the erosion process," said Todd Konechne, Dow's project leader.
The area labeled as "Reach J/K" also would have a cap placed on the upper terrace area of the river, and a portion containing wetlands would be fenced, Konechne said. Site preparations began this week and excavation on the riverbank could begin Monday.
He said the site will receive fresh topsoil and be replanted with natural vegetation to restore it.
"This is actually a very important part of this project," he said, and the work is expected to be completed in mid-October.
The third project is in "Reach O" of the river, about six miles downstream of the confluence of the Chippewa and Tittabawassee rivers. The plan is to remove sediments in the river through excavation after removing water from the area.
Site preparations, including temporary road construction, are expected to begin Monday.
Dow will place contaminated materials from all three sites in the Dow Salzburg Landfill.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Dow agreed to the work in July after the EPA issued three administrative orders in June requiring action by the company this year.
Jim Augustine, with the EPA, said while the agency knew Dow was planning to begin the work, it wanted projects completed this year.
"The reason that the EPA stepped in at this time and issued the three orders was simply to establish completion dates -- deadlines -- and ensure cleanup work began on all three regions this year," he said. "The U.S. EPA believed that these three cleanups needed to be expedited and moved forward as quickly as possible."
The Lone Tree Council's Terry Miller said he applauds the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Dow's efforts to remove the dioxin-tainted soils. He said the council was "ecstatic" when it heard the EPA was stepping in to require action this year.
"It sounds like an extremely elaborate process, and we've been hoping for these removals for the length of time that we became aware that they were in the river," he said.
He questioned what impact the removal activities would have on the river system.
Peter Simon, with Dow contractor Ann Arbor Technical Services, said there are tradeoffs any time humans begin to alter the river system.
"There are absolutely consequences for any type of removal, and that's why you can't just jump into them," he said.
He said in the long-term, removing the contamination is expected to help relieve stresses on the river.
Further study of contamination in the river is under way by ATS, which is using a GeoMorph system to map the riverbed.
"In general, this provides us with insight into what Mother Nature has been doing in terms of erosion and deposition," he said.
The results of the study in the first six miles of the river have led to the cleanup efforts under way.
©Midland Daily News 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Get the Latest Info on Dioxin/Body Burden...
...from one of our most prestigious professors Dr. David Garabrant, with one of the most prestigious medical training facilities in the world, the University of Michigan. Dr. Garabrant will bring us up to date on the study by the team he headed up. Here are meeting details:
- Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, in Saginaw Michigan
- Tuesday, June 5, 2007
- 6:00 pm -8:00 pm
Let's get over there and give him the full support he deserves. At the last public meeting presented by Dow Chemical and MDEQ on Thursday, May 3, the Lonetree Gang's own leader, Terry Miller, struck out at Dr. Garabrant verbally, showing an unexpected mean streak. Such behavior seems to be a recurring event with Lonetree Council and their pack mentality.
Click here to read the U/M Press Release in it's entirety.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
I went to a meeting Thursday...
My friends & I call them 'dioxin meetings'. The chemical company and the state government regulatory people are working together to clean up a chemical they couldn't even find in such tiny amounts a century ago when it all started. I don't attend those meetings to make sure they're doing it right. They know what they are doing. I attend because I find it therapeutic! I attend because there's a gang of bullies who want to get something for nothing from the giant company. I attend because those bullies want to drag me and my neighbors along with them by claiming they represent all of us. I attend to represent me and the majority of my neighbors who feel like I do although they prefer Len and I to represent them publicly.
Midland Daily News reporter, Kathie Marchlewski gives an accurate account of the May 3 quarterly meeting presented by Dow & MDEQ in her article - Prep for river cleanup to start. Read it to know all about the meeting.
Here's what I saw at that meeting:
I like to call it 'Watering the Asparagus'
Midland Daily News reporter, Kathie Marchlewski gives an accurate account of the May 3 quarterly meeting presented by Dow & MDEQ in her article - Prep for river cleanup to start. Read it to know all about the meeting.
Here's what I saw at that meeting:
- a fairly full room, mostly people directly involved in getting the work done,
- well done presentations - given by competent, well trained professionals,
- an angry extremist environmental activist who decided to be exceptionally rude that day, and as usual, making sure to monopolize the comments and questions portion of the agenda with his prewritten scripts in hand.
- the usual delicious cookies.
About the Tittabawassee River: Freeland's Walleye Festival, held annually on the last weekend of April, was once again a success! I'd like to share a couple of articles about fishing on the Tittabawassee from the Midland Daily News:
- Fine time fishing in Freeland by Steve Griffin - 04/30/2007
- and Photos: Easier from the shore - 05/03/2007
- and just for the fun of it, this photo taken from my back deck in March.
I like to call it 'Watering the Asparagus'Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Don't Forget - MDEQ/Dow Meeting...
... 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 3, 2007 at the Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw. This meeting is open to the public. The press release and agenda for the meeting are available at:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135--167351--,00.html and
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-whm-hwp-dow-CommMeeting-agenda-05-03-07_194656_7.pdf
Supporting materials will be available at the following location prior to the meeting:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3312_4118_4240-53424--,00.html#Recent_Dow_Offsite_CA_Documents
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135--167351--,00.html and
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/deq/deq-whm-hwp-dow-CommMeeting-agenda-05-03-07_194656_7.pdf
Supporting materials will be available at the following location prior to the meeting:
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3312_4118_4240-53424--,00.html#Recent_Dow_Offsite_CA_Documents
Monday, April 23, 2007
Addendum to my 4:30 pm blog...
... was so involved in the dissertation I forgot to tell why Barber's article in the Saginaw News motivated me. I haven't done much blogging lately because it really bothered me that I could dislike a whole group because I distrust their leadership.
I don't dislike the whole group. I do feel sorrow that they were caught in the trap set by such professional activists. It occurred to me that Miller & Riddick were both around to get sucked into the Greenpeace propaganda machine 'way back when.... Why else would a simple highschool teacher get so involved in a hate campaign against one successful local business? Henry Dow did start his little company right here in mid-Michigan. Why else would a simple nurse speak so venomously of Dow Chemical in particular? She's even against MDEQ now that the 'culprit' and the 'regulator' are working together. Ya know, I don't even dislike them... I think the word is more like..... pity.
I don't dislike the whole group. I do feel sorrow that they were caught in the trap set by such professional activists. It occurred to me that Miller & Riddick were both around to get sucked into the Greenpeace propaganda machine 'way back when.... Why else would a simple highschool teacher get so involved in a hate campaign against one successful local business? Henry Dow did start his little company right here in mid-Michigan. Why else would a simple nurse speak so venomously of Dow Chemical in particular? She's even against MDEQ now that the 'culprit' and the 'regulator' are working together. Ya know, I don't even dislike them... I think the word is more like..... pity.
It's not about DEQ... It's not about Dow...
...It's about me. You may have noticed less updates here at TRVoice lately. I thought it was just because I'm too busy, but truth is I didn't feel motivated; wasn't sure what I wanted to write - or why.
Thanks to Barrie Barber, reporter for The Saginaw News & his big frontpage spread in Sunday's paper yesterday - Group won't back down from Dow - I come back rejuvenated. Barrie's series of articles was well written but perhaps he didn't go back far enough.
Perhaps there is a core to Lonetree beyond the nuclear plant fiasco. I speak now to my contemporaries. Remember when an international bunch of gangsters visited Midland - attempting to make trouble in the Tittabawassee River in the vicinity of Dow Chemical? Don't remember? How about if I mention the name Greenpeace? Ah! Now you remember! What were they doing in the river? Why has Greenpeace become persona non grata in the United States?
Look at the collage below. This is the face of Lonetree. This is the face of Greenpeace. This is the face of a bully and terrorist, for is it not terrorism when a bully frightens people into following his lead? Is it not a bit weird that the huge international organization named Greenpeace compares Bhopal, India to Midland, Michigan? Read all about it here at their website!
Click on my little poster to see if you know anybody in the photos. Yup, that's right. Some of them are from right here in mid-Michigan.
Thanks to Barrie Barber, reporter for The Saginaw News & his big frontpage spread in Sunday's paper yesterday - Group won't back down from Dow - I come back rejuvenated. Barrie's series of articles was well written but perhaps he didn't go back far enough.
Perhaps there is a core to Lonetree beyond the nuclear plant fiasco. I speak now to my contemporaries. Remember when an international bunch of gangsters visited Midland - attempting to make trouble in the Tittabawassee River in the vicinity of Dow Chemical? Don't remember? How about if I mention the name Greenpeace? Ah! Now you remember! What were they doing in the river? Why has Greenpeace become persona non grata in the United States?
Look at the collage below. This is the face of Lonetree. This is the face of Greenpeace. This is the face of a bully and terrorist, for is it not terrorism when a bully frightens people into following his lead? Is it not a bit weird that the huge international organization named Greenpeace compares Bhopal, India to Midland, Michigan? Read all about it here at their website!
Click on my little poster to see if you know anybody in the photos. Yup, that's right. Some of them are from right here in mid-Michigan.
Whoa! Now is that terrorist tactics - comparing dead babies with perfectly healthy American children? Recognize the little blonde poster child? Well, I don't but... That's right folks... Greenpeace's poster children in 2003 were little Ruby from Bhopal and little Paul from the Lonetree pack of litigants/terrorists right here in the good ol' U.S. of A! Watch out for the bullies, people... they wear many masks.
Friday, March 30, 2007
I heard on the news yesterday...
...that the Tittabawassee River is currently contaminated because of an over flow of sewage in Saginaw County. This is a whole lot scarier to most residents than the historic dioxin that has been in the soil here & there for approximately 100 years!
I have lots of gems - just no time to share them... but like Ahrnold, 'I'll be back!'
I have lots of gems - just no time to share them... but like Ahrnold, 'I'll be back!'
Monday, February 05, 2007
Len tells it like it is
once again in the Saginaw News.
Kudos to Len Heinzman... even I couldn't have said it as well as he did in his latest letter to the editor in the Saginaw News!!!
'Those people' involved with the Lonetree Council just keep proving their lack of credibility with constant chants to spend government money for their frivolous complaints and lawsuits. True to form, they do not listen to reason... evidenced by their continued mantra to get Dow whether they deserve it or not. It's obvious that facts are meaningless to 'those people' when they pay no heed to the fact that some things are best left alone.
Don't forget the next quarterly Midland/Saginaw/Bay City (Tri-Cities) Dioxin Community Meeting on Thursday, February 8, at the Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw. The meeting is open to the public and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Click here to read the entire DEQ press release.
...and you can find the agenda here.
Looking forward to this meeting. You never know what to expect when extremists get excited. Remember June 28, 2005? It was the meeting to discuss what kind of meetings would be most beneficial to the public. Lonetree Council members and followers showed their pack mentality when one man told me to sit down and be quiet - and was followed by a drumroll of repeats by the whole litigiously greedy gang across the room! This does not show up in the written transcript... at least not verbatim, but I'm sure there is a taped version! When those people reacted that way, trying to deny me my freedom of speech, they showed their true colors. I knew my involvement was effective! That was pack mentality at it's best. To refresh your minds, you might want to read the transcript again.
I've also had individual members of that group 'advise' me. One woman told me I should stop 'bragging' about my good health. I've received anonymous mail... and a few other minor incidents... Shows what kind of people are in that group!
Hmmm! Maybe I WILL get a license to carry. ;-) Have a nice day.
Kudos to Len Heinzman... even I couldn't have said it as well as he did in his latest letter to the editor in the Saginaw News!!!
'Those people' involved with the Lonetree Council just keep proving their lack of credibility with constant chants to spend government money for their frivolous complaints and lawsuits. True to form, they do not listen to reason... evidenced by their continued mantra to get Dow whether they deserve it or not. It's obvious that facts are meaningless to 'those people' when they pay no heed to the fact that some things are best left alone.
Don't forget the next quarterly Midland/Saginaw/Bay City (Tri-Cities) Dioxin Community Meeting on Thursday, February 8, at the Horizons Conference Center, 6200 State Street, Saginaw. The meeting is open to the public and will run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Click here to read the entire DEQ press release.
...and you can find the agenda here.
Looking forward to this meeting. You never know what to expect when extremists get excited. Remember June 28, 2005? It was the meeting to discuss what kind of meetings would be most beneficial to the public. Lonetree Council members and followers showed their pack mentality when one man told me to sit down and be quiet - and was followed by a drumroll of repeats by the whole litigiously greedy gang across the room! This does not show up in the written transcript... at least not verbatim, but I'm sure there is a taped version! When those people reacted that way, trying to deny me my freedom of speech, they showed their true colors. I knew my involvement was effective! That was pack mentality at it's best. To refresh your minds, you might want to read the transcript again.
I've also had individual members of that group 'advise' me. One woman told me I should stop 'bragging' about my good health. I've received anonymous mail... and a few other minor incidents... Shows what kind of people are in that group!
Hmmm! Maybe I WILL get a license to carry. ;-) Have a nice day.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
A few facts and some truth also included...
"The truth is more important than the facts."
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
Hmmm! Makes sense to me! Here are links to some of the latest facts about dioxin in the Tittabawassee River floodplain:
- Tittabawassee River Sampling Identifies Areas for Interim Clean-up Action, MDEQ Contact: Robert McCann (517) 241-7397 - January 11, 2007. This information also advises us of the next public information session presented by Dow and MDEQ - 'The public will have an opportunity to ask questions about short and long-term actions that will be developed during the February 8, 2007 Tri-Cities Community Meeting at The Horizons Center in Saginaw Township from 7-9pm'
- River cleanup could begin this month, Midland Daily News, 01/11/2007. This reporter does a remarkable job of presenting the facts without trying to insert her personal opinions.
- Hot spots may demand action, The Saginaw News, 01/12/2007. This reporter included viewpoints from our own Len Heinzman, but wow! - the quote from a guy further downriver sure hits on the dramatic! '...said he and his family have endured "an unusual amount" of illnesses over the years and points to a contaminated river as the potential culprit. "With these kinds of levels, anybody in this area should be concerned. It makes you think. I used to fish down there." '
What do I think? It is a fact that 87,000 parts per trillion is a really really high concentration of dioxin. The Dow people will clean it up asap... I know because they said so.
It is true that the University of Michigan study showed that living along the Tittabawassee River does not significantly increase dioxin in our bodies; eating too much fat does!
It is true and it is a fact that extremist environmentalists are so tunnel-visioned that they would have the precautionary principle applied to all things scientific.
It is a fact that one of the tri-cities' area antagonists supports the precautionary principle, especially regarding dioxins in the environment.... evidenced by his recently published letter to the editor of the Saginaw News. Dr. Neill Varner responded with his own letter to the editor titled Principle arguments.
I'm sure I've shared this article about the precautionary principle before, but here it is in case you missed it - Challenging the precautionary principle by Helene Guldberg. In case you don't have time to read the whole thing, it all boils down to this excerpt from the Ms. Guldberg, 'the precautionary principle.... demands that we take regulatory action on the basis of possible 'unmanageable' risks, even after tests have been conducted that find no evidence of harm.'
It is true that, had the precautionary principle been used throughout the years, we would have no aspirin or cold remedies, no medicines, no vaccines, and on and on and on... Would we have the wheel... or fire? We could suppose then that one who totally supports the precautionary principle is the ultimate Luddite!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
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