2 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, May 17, 2004
NEWS
City sues medical filtration
company for contamination
6
By Mona Rafeeq
DailyNews Editor
The city of Ann Arbor filed a lawsuit
against Pall Life Sciences Wednesday in
the Washtenaw County Circuit Court
asking that the company pay damages
for contaminating a water supply well.
Ann Arbor Water Utilities Director
Sue McCormick said in a press release
that in 2001, the city discovered one of
its water supply wells contained trace
amounts of the 1,4 Dioxane chemical
during routine testing.
The chemical was used as a manu-
facturing solvent at Pall Life Sci-
ences's plant and was disposed of in
uncontained lagoons. These lagoons
are not lined with sealants to isolate
the chemicals from surrounding
water. The 1,4 Dioxane leaked from
a lagoon into the well.
"We are searching for alternatives to
the well," McCormick said. "Those
alternatives are going to cost money.
Pall should shoulder those costs, not
Ann Arbor's citizens."
The city is recommending that Pall
pay for a double-lined pipeline that will
treat water containing the chemical and
move it to the Huron River.
McCormick added that although the
long-term future is threatened, the
municipal water is safe for all uses.
"Our water meets all published
environmental and health stan-
"We are searching for
alternatives to the well.
Those alternatives cost
money. Pall should
shoulder those costs, not
Ann Arbor's citizens"
- Sue McCormick
Ann Arbor Water Utilities Director
dards," she said.
The well, which was used mainly
during the winter season to balance the
temperature of the water, has not been
used since the chemical was discovered.
The Unit E toxic plume - the
measurable discharge of the regulat-
ed chemical 1,4 Dioxane - was dis-
covered two years ago. City officials
say that itsis currently 18 million
square feet and still growing.
Pall Life Sciences is part of the Pall
Corporation, which is one of the world's
largest manufacturers of water purifica-
tion equipment and filters. On its web-
site, the parent company reports that its
annual sales are about $1.6 billion.
The Pall Corporation website states
that its customers have "a common
enemy" in contamination and the com-
pany seeks to "ensure product purity."
"Unchecked, contamination is
potentially dangerous and always
costly," the website states.
Other plumes that were previously
discovered have spread west and north-
west, contaminating residential drinking
water wells in the Westover and Ever-
green subdivisions and parts of Scio
Township. Some water users had to rely
on bottled water until they were con-
nected to Ann Arbor water lines.
In 1988, the Michigan Depart-
ment of Environmental Quality filed
a separate lawsuit against Pall Life
Sciences. That suit resulted in a
court order in 2000 by Washtenaw
County Circuit Court Judge Donald
Shelton for Pall to stop the under-
ground contamination by July 2005.
Matthew Naud, Ann Arbor environ-
mental coordinator, said the existing
MDEQ lawsuit is different from the
lawsuit filed by the city.
"The goal of the MDEQ is limited to
forcing Pall to live up to state of Michi-
gan environmental standards,"he said in
a written statement.
"In contrast, Ann Arbor's lawsuit
seeks compensation for damages
Pall's contamination has caused to
Ann Arbor."
Naud added that the city's lawsuit
also seeks a court order requiring Pall to
provide a clean replacement for the con-
taminated water supply well.
Pall Life Sciences and city officials
were unavailable for comment.
DIFFERENCE
Continued from Page 1
for Michigan ran from 1991 to 1997 and
raised $1.4 billion. As its name suggests,
the campaign's goal was $1 billion.
However, not everyone at the event
was one of the 800 invited top donors or
volunteers. Individuals outside Rackham
passed out flyers to the attendees titled
"The Michigan Difference?" as the cere-
mony as attendees left the auditorium.
"If (the donors) are going to to give
money to the University ... they need to
know what's going on," said Alicia Rinal-
di, a University alum and member of Our
Voices Count, a student group formed in
opposition to the administration's
changes made to the Sexual Assault Pre-
vention and Awareness Center.
The flyers, which refer to these
changes, accused the University of
"silencing survivors of sexual assault"
and "attacking these and other services
for women, minorities and other margin-
alized groups.
The campaign also intends to raise
$425 million for faculty support, $625
million for programs and research, $500
million for facilities and $150 million
for labs, infrastructure and discretionary
support.
Aside from the campaign goal
announcement, the program also fea-
tured skits about campus life and
appearances from people who have ben-
efitted from both the University itself
and the scholarships and fellowships
provided by donors.
The presentation was the focal point of
the four-day kickoff weekend.
le
10
Corrections:
In a previous editorial (A different Difference, 5/10/04), the Daily reported
The Michigan Difference's campaign goal to be $2 billion. This sentence
should have read "approximately $2 billion."
On page 11 of last week's Daily, the men's golf photo should have been
attributed to Daily photographer Tony Ding.
Please report any errors in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com.
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Mondays during the spring and summer terms by students
at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $105. Win-
ter term (January through Apri) is $110, yearong (September through April) is $190. University affiliates are
subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be
prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor,. Michigan 48109-1327.
PHONE NUMBERS (Ai area code 734): News 76-DAtLY; Ottt763-0379; Sports 647-3336; Opinion 764-0552;
Circulation 764-558;Csiadertising 764-0557; Display advertising 764-0554; Billing 764-0550.
E-mail letters to the editor to tothedaily@michigandaily.com. World Wide Web: www.michigandaily.com.
EDITORIALSAFNahSlvEdtrnChe
NEWS Ashley Dinges, Managing Editor
EDITORS: Farayha Arrine, Mona Rafeeq
STAFF: Melissa Benton, David Branson, Donn M. Fresard, Alison Go, Aymar Jean, tndsey Paterson, Kate Tomkie
EDITORIAL Suhael Momin, Managing Editor
STAFF: Jasmine Cair, Danel Faichney. Jared Goldberg, Ellott Malle
COLUMNISTS: Bonnie Kellman, Eliott Mallon, Sam Singer
SPORTS Sharad Mattu, Managing Editor
EDITORS: Eric Ambinder, Seth Gordon, Ryan Sosin
STAFF: Gabriel Edelson. Joshua Holman, Bradley Johnson
ARTS Andrew Gaerig, Managing Editor
EDITOR: .Alexandra Jones
STAFF: Brandon Harg, John Hartman, Joel Hoard, Andrew Horowiz, Raquel Larnr, Emily Uu, Zach Mabee Evan McGarvey, Jared Newman, Hussain Rahim, Jason
Roberts, Adam Rottenberg, Meissa Runsttom, Douglas Wemert, Alex Wolsky
PHOTO Forest Casey, Managing Editor
SAFTrvrCampbell, Tony Ding, Servant Jain, Jonathan Neff, Christine Stafford. Ryan WeinerretCsy aaigEio
ONLINE Janna Hutz, Managing Editor
DISPLAY SALES Tera Freeman, Manager
STAFF: Michael Cooper, Cour tney Dywer, Adam Kronk, Heeral PatelDonnie Perach, Chris Pinckney, Jessica Sachs, Ben Schottenfels,
Sarah Wille
SPECIAL SECTIONS Erin Ott, Manager
CLASSIFIED SALES Amy Tan, Manager
ADVERTISING DESIGN Adrienne Barclay, Manager
6*
10
0
0