Hey chemical company! Quit hiding your polluted past

Just as the tobacco industry denied the science exposing the dangers of smoking, a high-profile chemical company is turning a blind eye to scientific breakthroughs regarding the dangers of dioxins.

Dow Chemical, which began operations in 1897, is accused of using land and rivers as dumping grounds. Now science has shown that dioxins, which form when chlorine-based products are manufactured, have contaminated the watershed around the company’s 1,900-acre plant in Midland, Michigan.

In fact, a group of homeowners living along contaminated waterways are attempting to form a class-action lawsuit against the company. If they prevail, more than 2,000 plaintiffs from the Midland, Saginaw and Bay City areas could be facing off with the $58 billion-a-year corporation.

Dow was also recently forced to comply with environmental regulations by once again cleaning up a park that routinely floods over with contaminated river water. The rivers are so bad, the Michigan Department of Community Health published an advisory against eating certain wildlife native to the region.

Even as Dow lawyers attempt to argue against science and fight off lawsuits, the company claims to stand by clearly defined “Sustainability Goals.”

Part of the corporation’s goal list is to achieve “individual community acceptance ratings” by 2015 at all its major locations.

In a “How Dow Improves Our Communities” document, Dow explains how it helped “breath new life into an economically depressed area” of Saginaw by sponsoring a new arena for entertainment events.

While that likely helps the area’s tourism, it doesn’t do much to assist the thousands of residents who have a higher risk of cancer and reproductive problems due to dioxins in their environment.

Dow shouldn’t attempt to blind the communities it works in with good deeds, while avoiding hazards caused by its own pollution.

The company did most of its dumping when dumping was considered an acceptable part of business. But now that science has exposed Dow’s actions as errors, the company’s leadership should apologize, pay for the repercussions and move forward with real sustainability programs -- not just copout attempts to sway public opinion.