U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and State Representatives Adam Zemke, Yousef Rabhi and Donna Lasinski held a town hall tonight in Ann Arbor to discuss the Gelman dioxane plume and next steps for the community. The Representatives were joined by Mitch Adelman and Kevin Lund from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to provide an update on remediation efforts, as well as Roger Rayle, chair of the Coalition for Action on Remediation of Dioxane (CARD).
“We convened this town hall because it is critical for the community to have an opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns about the dioxane plume and get an update from the MDEQ directly,” said Dingell. “We must explore all options available to ensure this contamination is properly remediated and families and the environment are protected. We are committed to working together toward this goal.”
“It is critical that residents are updated on the government’s progress regarding the plume, so that concerns around drinking water reflect the reality of the situation,” said Zemke.
"Our community has struggled with this issue for decades,” said Rabhi. “It is thanks to the efforts of local activists and consistent community leadership that state regulators are finally acting. I hope that by coming together at this town hall we can prompt swift and effective action to clean up our groundwater."
“The Pall-Gelman plume continues to pose safety threats and drain property values, and, for decades, it has been a constant battle to make the polluter pay for this critical cleanup,” said Lasinski. “As state representative for the district where the plume originated, and as a mother who has raised her family a stone’s throw from the deepest part of the plume, I firmly believe we need to ensure this pollution is cleaned up as soon as possible.”
The Gelman dioxane plume has been spreading through the groundwater in Ann Arbor for decades after an irresponsible business practice by Gelman Sciences, now owned by Pall Life Sciences, allowed the toxic chemical into the ground. Dingell, Zemke, Rabhi and Lasinski held the town hall to ensure the public is properly informed as efforts to remediate the plume move forward.
