3 NEWS Thursday, June 28, 2018 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com City faces legal costs for Gelman dioxane plume Contract with law firm now $445,000 By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Summer Daily News Editor Ann Arbor City Council will see an increase in legal costs regarding clean-up efforts of the 1,4 dioxane plume con- taminating the area’s ground- water. 1,4 dioxane is a carcinogen- ic organic compound used in many industrial settings. The plume was discovered after inspections revealed years of improper wastewater dispos- al by Gelman Sciences Inc., an Ann Arbor-based manu- facturing company. There are fears that the plume could spread to the Huron River and Barton Pond, two main water sources for the city. The city approved an $150,000 increase to its con- tract with Bodman PLC, a Detroit-based law firm, in the fight against Gelman to clean up the plume. Councilmember Jack Eaton, D-Ward 4, feels the council’s involvement in the manner helps residents understand the precedence and severity of the issue. “The important part of the state litigation that we’re now a party to is that it provides public information about the spread of the plume and how contaminated water is as it spreads underneath the (sur- face),” Eaton said. “We will be at the table and able to get a voice about the decimating that kind of information.” Councilmember Chip Smith, D-Ward 5, feels that added expenses will also be more efficient than relying on the federal government to help. “It’s an expensive legal cost but I think the cost of not doing anything is so much greater,” Smith said. “The EPA is not going to come in and help us. To put our faith in the EPA of Scott Pruitt is wholly ignorant.” According to Eaton, state regulations have only allowed for mitigation by the state instead of more stringent intervention and clean up. Standards on healthy dioxane levels in residential drink- ing water were also outdated when previous water testing took place, therefore allow- ing unsafe water to be used in residential homes. The governor’s office lowered the acceptable standards from 85 parts per billion to 7.2 parts per billion in 2016. Eaton says are residents do not believe the city has addressed the plume ade- quately. “I think the residents of Ann Arbor are concerned that we haven’t done enough over the years,” Eaton said. “This has gone on for decades. The state has been really cevile [COPY: servile?] in its efforts to address this and the city hasn’t been a party to this and hasn’t aggressively pursued any action against the com- pany.” The city wants the company to be held fully responsible for the costs and clean-up efforts. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initially held off on designating the plume as a federal Superfund site, but has been working with city and state officials to resolve the issue. This came after an area petition by Ann Arbor Township, Scio Township and the Sierra Club Huron Valley Group was sent to the EPA to designate the site as a Superfund zone. The city of Ann Arbor did not join this petition. “As the largest municipal- ity in the area affected by the plume, it just seems like we would take a leadership role and we didn’t,” Eaton said. “Nonetheless, the EPA is now monitoring the litiga- tion between the state and the polluter and we hope that in some point in time they become convinced that they should be ordering actual cleanup.” The Daily sits down with candidate for governer Shri Thanedar By GRACE KAY Summer Managing News Editor By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Summer Daily News Editor Editor’s Note: The Michigan Daily does not officially endorse Shri Thanedar for governor. The Daily continues to reach out to other gubernatorial candidates for comments and interviews. The Michigan Daily recently met with gubernatorial candi- date Shri Thanedar to discuss his platform and goals for Michigan if elected governor. An Indian- born entrepreneur, Thanedar is running against former state Sen. Gretchen Whitmer and Univer- sity alum Abdul El-Sayed for the Democratic candidacy. The pri- mary election is set to take place Aug. 7. Thanedar says he is unlike any other candidate running for gov- ernor in Michigan. He doesn’t come from a family of wealth and opulence, and he doesn’t look or talk like any of the other candi- dates. He is an entrepreneur who came to the United States with $16 in his pocket and eventually worked to build a multimillion dollar business. Ultimately, Thanedar argues his knowledge, work ethic and life experiences make him the candidate Michigan needs. “I look different. I don’t look like the past governors. I’m an immigrant,” Thanedar said. “I think I’m the only immigrant that’s running for governor. I speak differently more than most people in Michigan. But my point is that say four years from now I write my State of the State address and I’m talking about taking our education to the next level, fixing the roads and we are approaching near the Top 10 … would it matter where I was born? Would it matter in what accent I said those words? That’s what I want Michiganders to remember when they go to vote on Aug. 7. Any Democrat that is ‘good enough’ isn’t good enough.” Thanedar runs a progressive platform If elected as the governor of Michigan, Thanedar plans to make education his top priority. “I want to be known as the education governor Michigan never had because education is important to me,” Thanedar said. “These are not just talking points, I draw them from my experiences of life. So when I talk about edu- cation and why education needs to be improved, education was the ladder for me to pull myself out of poverty. Thanedar also plans to increase the minimum wage, cre- ate a skilled work force and mod- ify the tax structure. “One of the more unusual fea- tures of my tax structure is that I will have any family that makes $50,000 or less state income tax exempt; they will not pay income tax,” Thanedar said when explaining key changes he would implement as governor. “I will raise the minimum wage to $15 and tie it to inflation.” Working with Republicans at the state level Thanedar says when it comes to working with people who share different viewpoints and perspectives, he is open to new ideas and willing to work with those he may not always agree with. “Somebody who has complete- ly opposite views from me, we start talking and I’m open to new ideas, that’s who I am,” Thane- dar said. “I have very thick skin. I don’t ever tweet at 3 A.M. in the morning. I can listen to differ- ent viewpoints. I have run small businesses. I have dealt with teams; I’ve worked with teams. I’m used to this kind of openness and bouncing off things and look- ing at both sides of the issue, so I think I’d work well.” Thanedar believes with his experience as a business owner he could work well with mem- bers of the Republican party at the state level. “I think they would respect me because I’m not just talking when I talk about business, when I talk about finance, when I talk about jobs,” Thanedar said. “I’ve come from experience and I think I will get the respect that the other candidates may not get because I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a busi- ness person. When I talk about finance I understand finance. It’s not something I memorized from somewhere.” Setting himself apart from the other Democratic candidates Thanedar explains the role of governor is about much more than giving poetic speeches. Read more at MichiganDaily.com Democratic candidate details campaign platform, experience Read more at MichiganDaily.com MAX KUANG / DAILY