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of up to 50 ppb; P/GSI's treatment system attains bromate concentrations of less than 10 ppb in the
efl uent of its ozone-peroxide treatment system for 1,4-dioxane (Kellogg, 2005). Residual 1,4-dioxane
and bromate in the efl uent are a concern because Honey Creek runs past several private wells that
could be affected, and Honey Creek discharges to the Huron River upstream of the City of Ann
Arbor's drinking water intake.
In 2003, P/GSI submitted a work plan to evaluate the feasibility of an in situ oxidation system using
hydrogen peroxide and ozone to degrade 1,4-dioxane in the aquifers without removing the ground-
water. ISCO was pilot-tested by injecting H 2 O 2 as a catalyst and Fenton's reagent (see Chapter 7)
into one of the coni ned aquifers, but only a minor decrease in 1,4-dioxane concentrations was
observed. Bromate formation exceeded the 10 μg/L MCL. The in situ oxidation approach was
therefore considered infeasible for large-scale subsurface remediation.
Altogether, P/GSI has pumped about 4 billion gallons of water and removed about 100,000
pounds of 1,4-dioxane (Fotouhi et al., 2006). Since 1997, the company has been spending $5.5
million/year to clean up 1,4-dioxane pollution (Kellogg, 2005). The value of the affected ground-
water resources supplying residents of Ann Arbor, Scio Township, and Ann Arbor Township has
not been established.
8.3.6 L EGAL A CTIONS
In addition to major technical and logistical challenges, the P/GSI case has been punctuated by
many lawsuits. Litigants against P/GSI have included the State of Michigan, the City of Ann Arbor,
several citizen groups, local businesses, a class-action suit, and an insurance company. In addition,
P/GSI i led a product liability suit against 1,4-dioxane manufacturers (Fotouhi et al., 2006). In 1988,
the Michigan attorney general, on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources, sued GSI * to
force a cleanup of the groundwater (City of Ann Arbor, 2006). The attorney general sought penalties
of more than $400,000 as reimbursement for costs associated with providing clean water to 50
homes and businesses whose wells were contaminated with 1,4-dioxane as well as additional i nes
and a court order requiring clean up ( Wall Street Journal , 1988). GSI prevailed against the cost-
recovery part of the attorney general's suit and did not have to pay the state's $400,000 bill for hook-
ing up homes to municipal water supplies (Bodwin, 1989).
GSI i led a counter-claim against the state's cleanup suit, claiming that Michigan had never
issued criteria for cleaning up 1,4-dioxane. P/GSI again prevailed, but the state won an appeal to a
federal court in Detroit, which led to a consent decree. In 2000, Judge Donald Shelton ordered the
state to issue cleanup criteria, and P/GSI was ordered to conduct a study of cleanup alternatives and
implement a major remediation plan (Kellogg, 2005). Judge Shelton ordered P/GSI to clean up
groundwater to within Michigan's 85 ppb action level within i ve years. That deadline has passed;
the goal was not achieved.
GSI's product liability suit against 1,4-dioxane producers and distributors claimed that they
failed to alert GSI that 1,4-dioxane is not biodegradable. GSI named eight companies in its suit and
claimed that they failed to adequately test 1,4-dioxane to determine its persistence in the environ-
ment. The companies named included Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Michigan; PVS-
Nolwood Chemicals Inc. of Detroit, Michigan; Ecclestone Industrial Chemical Co. of Warren,
Michigan; Chemcentral Detroit Corp. of Romulus, Michigan; Union Carbide Corp. of Danbury,
Connecticut; Ashland Chemical Co. of Ashland, Kentucky; McKesson Corp. of San Francisco; and
Van Waters & Rogers Inc. of San Mateo, California (Raphael, 1988). The parties settled out of
court. Dow Chemical's 1,4-dioxane containers now include a label that advises it is not biodegrad-
able (Kellogg, 2005).
The City of Ann Arbor sued P/GSI over detections of trace levels of 1,4-dioxane in a well that is
used by the city as a winter water source (the Montgomery Well). The well was on standby at the
* GSI refers to Gelman Sciences Inc., the name of the i rm before it was acquired by Pall Life Sciences in 1997.
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