MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) - The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says Dow Chemical Co. is ahead of schedule as it samples residential properties in Midland for dioxin.
The DEQ this week approved Dow's request to begin work on 300 properties that had been scheduled for inspection next year.
It's part of a five-year plan to clean up neighborhoods contaminated for decades by airborne dioxin from a Dow plant in Midland, where the company is based.
Of about 150 properties sampled thus far, 22 have had dioxin levels higher than 250 parts per trillion, which triggers a company-funded cleanup if the owners want it.
Results from this fall's sampling will be available next spring. Any needed cleanups will get started then.
Dow is negotiating with federal officials over cleanup of the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers.
