On November 5, 2004, U.S. EPA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent proceeding under the authority of Section 3008(h) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This order imposes corrective action requirements on Dow to investigate, and remediate releases of hazardous constituents at its facility located in Bay City, Michigan. The Dow Chemical Bay City Plant is a former petroleum refinery and petrochemical plant that has been active from the 1930s until its closure in the 1980s. Environmental contamination at the Bay City Terminal consists mainly of BTEX compounds and some metals. Contamination is present in soils, groundwater, and sediments in the Saginaw River.
Dow has implemented some interim measures at the facility on a voluntary basis. In 1985, Dow installed a groundwater collection tile system to collect contaminated groundwater and potential spills prior to discharge to the Saginaw River. In addition, Dow has undertaken land farming of oil-contaminated soils to stimulate biodegradation by tilling fertilizer into the soils. The effectiveness of the above measures have not been evaluated.