Wow. Thanks for the repost Hugh. As a child of Dow Chemical Company, I declared as a teenager that "Corporations have NO Conscience." I thought having women, stern mothers, on the Board would help. No. We, The People (All of Us This Time) must vote in stern officials who set up and enforce the rules and guardrails for the capitalism gam…
Wow. Thanks for the repost Hugh. As a child of Dow Chemical Company, I declared as a teenager that "Corporations have NO Conscience." I thought having women, stern mothers, on the Board would help. No. We, The People (All of Us This Time) must vote in stern officials who set up and enforce the rules and guardrails for the capitalism game. And oust the Supreme Court Judges purchased by owners and investors.
Dioxin is among other pollutants (many unknown then) that my dad, as an environmental engineer at Dow from 1951 to 1981, tried to prevent or ameliorate. He told the story of how in the 50's, to assess how much toxic waste was being dumped in the Titabawassee River, they had a free fish fry lunch for employees each week, with catch from the river downstream. If the employees complained that the fish didn't taste good, the "sanitary engineers" knew too much toxin had been dumped. Then there were the weeks when suddenly, there were no fish to catch. More than once, my dad made secret calls to the State Health Department to ask for spot inspections of the waste treatment facilities.
He left Dow in 1981, with their blessing and contribution to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, to become a key industry lobbyist on writing regulations for Superfund. It was important work, since environmentalists had little understanding of the depth and breadth of the problem (or how to measure it). And industry literally needed a buy in since they were required to fund it. My dad was always between a political rock and a hard place. At one point, he and my mom "disappeared" for 3 weeks after it was revealed by Tom Brokaw that my dad had lunch with Asst EPA Director Rita Lavelle 11 times. After he retired, my dad wrote a book called, "Too Soon Green," but it has never been published since Dow's lawyers have threatened to sue. I am retiring soon and hope to give it one more edit. Hoping it's not "Too Late" to publish.
P.S. In his last years at Dow he became their Global Environmental Engineer, and prevented a "Love Canal" (scraping off the clay cover of toxic waste dump when building a school on the site) and a "Bhopal" (mass cyanide poisoning) from happening.
Background:
"1978: Scientists at Dow Chemical publish the first study of dioxin carcinogenicity in laboratory animals (Kociba 1978). In the same year, the New York Times publishes a story on the plight of residents near Love Canal, N.Y., where industrial dumping released dozens of toxic substances, many suspected carcinogens.Jul 13, 2010."
I’m from Saginaw. Grew up with the stuff Dow put into the river systems. I can remember traveling north going near Midland. The air took on a decidedly foreign oder until you got upwind. I remember the huge dioxin battles Dow had with property owners living on the Tittabawassee But hey, Dow Gardens. I feel empathy for your dad
I live "Up North" now. Had the opportunity this summer to visit Dow Gardens for the 1st time. Wow! Then remembered I had been there before, in high school, with a bunch of friends, late at night, perhaps doing less than legal things, when the cops arrived! I've never run faster before or since!
Wow. Thanks for the repost Hugh. As a child of Dow Chemical Company, I declared as a teenager that "Corporations have NO Conscience." I thought having women, stern mothers, on the Board would help. No. We, The People (All of Us This Time) must vote in stern officials who set up and enforce the rules and guardrails for the capitalism game. And oust the Supreme Court Judges purchased by owners and investors.
Dioxin, huh?
Dioxin is among other pollutants (many unknown then) that my dad, as an environmental engineer at Dow from 1951 to 1981, tried to prevent or ameliorate. He told the story of how in the 50's, to assess how much toxic waste was being dumped in the Titabawassee River, they had a free fish fry lunch for employees each week, with catch from the river downstream. If the employees complained that the fish didn't taste good, the "sanitary engineers" knew too much toxin had been dumped. Then there were the weeks when suddenly, there were no fish to catch. More than once, my dad made secret calls to the State Health Department to ask for spot inspections of the waste treatment facilities.
He left Dow in 1981, with their blessing and contribution to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, to become a key industry lobbyist on writing regulations for Superfund. It was important work, since environmentalists had little understanding of the depth and breadth of the problem (or how to measure it). And industry literally needed a buy in since they were required to fund it. My dad was always between a political rock and a hard place. At one point, he and my mom "disappeared" for 3 weeks after it was revealed by Tom Brokaw that my dad had lunch with Asst EPA Director Rita Lavelle 11 times. After he retired, my dad wrote a book called, "Too Soon Green," but it has never been published since Dow's lawyers have threatened to sue. I am retiring soon and hope to give it one more edit. Hoping it's not "Too Late" to publish.
P.S. In his last years at Dow he became their Global Environmental Engineer, and prevented a "Love Canal" (scraping off the clay cover of toxic waste dump when building a school on the site) and a "Bhopal" (mass cyanide poisoning) from happening.
Background:
"1978: Scientists at Dow Chemical publish the first study of dioxin carcinogenicity in laboratory animals (Kociba 1978). In the same year, the New York Times publishes a story on the plight of residents near Love Canal, N.Y., where industrial dumping released dozens of toxic substances, many suspected carcinogens.Jul 13, 2010."
I hope you can get your dad's book published, MaryPat. I knew there had to be a particular reason I felt connected to you. Now I have an idea why.
Thank You, Annie. Are you a good trouble-maker, too?!
I sure try!
💙
I’m from Saginaw. Grew up with the stuff Dow put into the river systems. I can remember traveling north going near Midland. The air took on a decidedly foreign oder until you got upwind. I remember the huge dioxin battles Dow had with property owners living on the Tittabawassee But hey, Dow Gardens. I feel empathy for your dad
Daniel's Den!
Yep. Saginaw’s Grande Ballroom
I used to actually go to movies there when it was the Daniel Theatre
I live "Up North" now. Had the opportunity this summer to visit Dow Gardens for the 1st time. Wow! Then remembered I had been there before, in high school, with a bunch of friends, late at night, perhaps doing less than legal things, when the cops arrived! I've never run faster before or since!
Then You KNOW!!!