MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) -- Federal and state officials say they've reached a tentative deal with Dow Chemical Co. on designing a cleanup of dioxin contamination near a plant in Midland.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Quality said Monday their negotiating teams had concluded talks with Dow.
The agreement still needs approval by senior managers of both agencies and the company.
If everyone signs off, details will be released and the agencies will take public comment before deciding whether to implement the plan. More talks will be needed to determine how the cleanup will be done.
Dioxins are chemical byproducts suspected of causing cancer. Dioxins released from the Midland plant in the past century contaminated a 50-mile-long watershed, including the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers and Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay.