DNR, not Gelman is holding up cleanup

DNR, not Gelman, is holding up cleanup

On Sept. 11, The Ann Arbor News printed a letter from Christina H. Aprill. She concluded that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Gelman Sciences should start the cleanup of the contamination in the vicinity of the Gelman Sciences plant in Scio Township and stop the litigation.

Gelman Sciences agrees. It said as much in the letter to the community about which Aprill commented. Judge Patrick Conlin said the litigation should be stopped in his opinion in which he found the DNR liable for most of the contamination.

Robert Tickle, the Scio Township supervisor, said the same thing in a letter in this newspaper (Aug. 19).

What Conlin knows, what Gelman Sciences knows, what Tickle knows, but what Aprill does not understand is that the only party who can stop the litigation is the DNR. And, it appears to be unwilling to do so.

There are two additional items of confusion. The first is the belief that cleanup by the DNR would result in additional taxes. Several years ago, we all voted to authorize the sale ol $800 million in bonds to create a fund for cleanups where the DNR has to bear at least some portion of the expense. The DNR administers that fund. The DNR is apparently unwilling to use the money. Perhaps Aprill would do the community the service of asking the DNR why.

The other point of confusion is the belief held by Aprill, and, I suspect, many others, that no cleanup has or is occurring. This is not correct. For a number of years Gelman Sciences has been quietly cleaning up to the extent it can without the cooperation of the DNR. Through June 1991, while defending itself in court, Gelman Sciences has spent approximately $3 million in determining the extent of the contamination, designing a cleanup plan and cleaning up the groundwater. The DNR has rejected the cleanup plan and spent $0. Nevertheless, Gelman Sciences continues to do what cleanup it can while the DNR litigates.

The DNR appears not even to have a desire to buy a ticket. Will you chip in to buy the DNR a ticket? The price is a letter to your state representative.

Edward J. Levitt

Assistant Vice President

Gelman Sciences