Welcome to the 1,4-dioxane Wiki

Working to expand the knowledge base and create interaction in the affected Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor, Michigan, communities.

Recent documents posted on the MDEQ Gelman Information page that address dispute resolution issues and PLS proposal issues, as well as MDEQ responses to recent PLS submittals.

Recent Events:

(December 3, 2009) According to Sybil Kolon, MDEQ Project Managern -the MDEQ is in discussions with PLS regarding issues related to the States denial of the PLS proposal that would change the cleanup objectives for the site. These matters will be decided in court if the MDEQ and PLS are unable to resolve them cooperatively. The MDEQ indicated they are making progress in these discussions, and the court hearing that was scheduled for December 9, on the state's motion to enforce the Consent Judgment, has been postponed. A new date has not been set. The earliest potential date would be in January. Stay Tuned.

EPA includes 1,4-dioxane to Final Contaminant Candidate List 3 (CCL 3)

Excerpt from EPA: "CCL 3 is a list of contaminants that are currently not subject to any proposed or promulgated national primary drinking water regulations, that are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems, and which may require regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The list includes, among others, pesticides, disinfection byproducts, chemicals used in commerce, waterborne pathogens, pharmaceuticals, and biological toxins. The Agency considered the best available data and information on health effects and occurrence to evaluate thousands of unregulated contaminants. EPA used a multi-step process to select 116 candidates for the final CCL 3. The final CCL 3 includes 104 chemicals or chemical groups and 12 microbiological contaminants."

Recent Court Filings:

Washtenaw County Trial Court Documents:

Plaintiffs Motion to Enforce Order Prohibiting Groundwater Use

MDEQ Documents:

DEQ June 2009 Nancy Drive MW Dispute Resolution
DEQ June 2009 Response to PLS Proposal
DEQ June 2009 PLS Proposal Memo
DEQ June 2009 Evergreen Memo

PLS Documents June 2009

Evergreen Area Verification -
Comprehensive GW Monitoring Plan -
Table 1 -
Figure 1 - Revised groundwater quality/sampling frequency figure (PDF)
Figure 2 - Revised groundwater level monitoring figure (PDF)

MDEQ Denies Pall/Gelman's (PLS's) Proposal

On 6-15-2009, MDEQ denied Pall/Gelman's (PLS's) 5-4-2009 proposal to reduce its dioxane groundwater cleanup activities and risk polluting more area water supplies... including Barton Pond where Ann Arbor gets 80% of its water.
[DEQ 6-15-2009 Response ] [DEQ Public Comment Response ]

Stay turned to make sure this decision is not overturned as it makes its way through upcoming court hearings.


Proposal Summary (see above for more recent infomation):

On May 4, 2009, PALL submitted the "Comprehensive Proposal to Modify Cleanup Program" at the former Gelman site, now owned by PALL. The text of the document is attached, see below. Here is a link to the complete document including maps and tables.

Pall Corporation (PALL) and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are required to adhere to the schedule contained in the April 22, 2009, Stipulated Order which modified the previous April 6, 2009, Order.

While the Washtenaw County Circuit Court (Court) is not supporting the public comment period that MDEQ requested, the MDEQ is making one available, albeit much shorter (4 weeks).

A main concern is that PLS is interested in expanding the prohibition zone to include the Evergreen area, eliminating the Consent Order requirement to clean up to 85 there and instead allowing up to 2800 ppb of 1,4-dioxane to migrate further downgradient. (See CARD State of the Cleanup for more info.)

Currently, there is very little geologic or hydrogeologic information to the north of the "Evergreen plume" (Dexter-Ann Arbor Rd area west of Maple rd and east of M-14) and no demonstration that expanding the prohibition zone toward Barton Pond will have no detrimental effects at Barton. Ann Arbor’s drinking water comes from a combination of sources. Eighty-five percent is drawn from the Huron River in Barton Pond. The remainder comes from groundwater wells located near the airport on the south side of town.

The concern of those close to the issue is that the Court took the Groundwater Surface Water Interface criteria (GSI) of 2800ppb and "dragged" it back from the Huron River to Maple Road with very little information demonstrating that the plume would head only to the east. It is unclear whether the Court is willing (or MDEQ will be effective in arguing) to "drag" the 35 ppb cleanup criteria for a GSI in proximity to a surface water drinking water source back to the northern boundary of the prohibition zone.

Key issues related to the the revised "global" remediation strategy are the current lack of demonstration that there is no northerly flow (toward Barton Pond) prior to allowing this and what is the contingency plan if/when something goes wrong.

If PALL has to pump a significant amount of water from the northern prohibition zone when something goes wrong, they are still currently limited to 1300 gallons per minute by the NPDES discharge permit so PALL will stop pumping elsewhere - not to mention the need for more wells and piping to get contaminated water from these neighborhoods.




Michigan Department of Environmental Quality public information meeting
May 27, 2009, 7-9pm, Haisley Elementary School for the MDEQ public meeting.

A PDF of the powerpoint presented by MDEQ is available under attachments, located at the bottom of the page.

5-27-2009 WEMU interview with Michael Gebhard about the issues discussed at the meeting.
Link: Video of the meeting.


CARD Annual Meeting
May 20, 2009, 7-9pm, Washtenaw Intermediate School District.
Link: Video of the meeting.

• CARD Meeting Schedule - ewashtenaw.org site
  
• CARD State of the Cleanup
  
• Frequently Asked Questions
  
• Maps
  
• Data - Pall/Gelman Site
  
  
• Links to Related Websites
  
  
  

Regular Meeting Reminder:

The next CARD - Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane meeting is currently TBD, at the Washtenaw County Western Service Center from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.


What: CARD Meeting
When: TBD
Where: Washtenaw County Western Service Center
705 N. Zeeb Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Click here for directions to Washtenaw County Western Service Center

WC Trial Court Schedule:

Washtenaw County Trial Court Schedule for JUDGE DONALD E. SHELTON