February 27, 2012 - IMM@BUCT

NEWS OF THE WEEK
MICHIGAN, DOW
AGREE ON CLEANUP
DIOXINS: Dow is also offering to buy
50 properties near its Midland plant
THE MICHIGAN Department of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) says it has reached an agreement
with Dow Chemical to clean up to 1,500 residential
properties in Midland, Mich., that are contaminated
with dioxins.
In a related development, Dow says it is offering to
buy approximately 50 homes and lots located within
the industrial and commercially zoned area outlined in
the cleanup agreement.
DEQ is proposing a site-specific dioxin “action
level” of 250 parts per trillion for residential soils in
Midland. The city is the site of Dow’s corporate headquarters
and a manufacturing plant that polluted the
area with dioxins from the late 1890s until the 1970s.
Studies have indicated that dioxin contamination
of the soil downwind of the plant is a result of
airborne emissions from Dow’s historic waste incineration
activities. Various dioxins are contaminating
the properties, a DEQ official tells C&EN. These
include 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD)
and 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin, the two
most potent congeners, as well as the less toxic
octochlorodibenzodioxin.
Under the agreement, Dow will devise a detailed
work plan and submit it to the state for review in March.
There will be a 45-day public comment period; DEQ will
also hold a public hearing in April on Dow’s proposal.
DEQ says it developed the cleanup level of 250 ppt
in accordance with Environmental Protection Agencyapproved
risk assessment procedures and with EPA’s
input. Soil sampling in residential areas is expected to
begin in June.
AP
“This proposed plan represents tremendous effort
by the many partners gathered to address Midland’s
dioxin issue,” DEQ Director Dan Wyant says. “The proposal
is just the beginning of the work that lies ahead.”
The total cost of the endeavor will not be known
until it is determined how many of the 1,500 properties
require cleaning and how much work needs to be done.
Dow will cover all of the costs.
Property owners have until June 30 to decide whether
to accept Dow’s offer to clean or buy their homes
and lots, which are located in two areas close to the
plant. The program will also offer relocation support
for those who rent these homes, if the property owner
participates in the program.
Owners who choose not to relocate will be offered
testing and remediation of their properties, if necessary,
according to Dow.
“We see this as an opportunity to address land use
near our manufacturing site and give people still living
in this industrial/commercial area the choice to move
elsewhere,” says Rich A. Wells, vice president and site
director for Dow’s Michigan Operations.
Dow has committed to purchase the 50 properties
but has not set aside a specific dollar amount, a company
spokesman tells C&EN.
The announcement of the deal came just a day before
EPA released an assessment of noncancer health effects
of exposure to TCDD (see page 5). —GLENN HESS
Dow’s Midland,
Mich., industrial
site.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Dow loses elastomers patent lawsuit against LG Chem
Dow Chemical has lost the patent lawsuit
it filed in 2009 in Seoul, South Korea,
against LG Chem . Dow claimed that the
Korean firm had violated its intellectual
property rights on metallocene catalyst
technology for producing ethylene-based
elastomers.
Dow is preparing to appeal the court’s
ruling that its claim has no legal basis.
“Dow believes that the district court’s decision
is improper,” a company statement
says. Prior to this judgment, the statement
adds, “Dow’s patents were held valid
by the Intellectual Property Tribunal of
the Korean Intellectual Property Office.”
LG Chem counters that it developed the
technology on its own in 1999. The Korean
firm opened a 90,000-metric-ton-per-year
plant making use of the process in 2008.
Chemical companies have fought several
legal battles over metallocene catalyst
technology in recent years. Although
the market for resins made with the catalysts
is not yet huge, it is growing quickly,
according to Juay Piu Nah, a polyolefins
industry consultant at IHS Chemical in
Singapore. “If you can hold on to your
technology, you can be a player in the
long run,” he says.
At a catalyst conference sponsored by
Chemical Market Resources in Shanghai
last year, Director of Client Services J. N.
Swamy said South Korean chemical makers
are eager to differentiate themselves
with unique technologies. “They have
very advanced R&D centers in Korea because
the companies are under so much
competitive pressure,” he observed. —
JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG 7 FEBRUARY 27, 2012