Property owners have won a key decision from the Michigan appeals court in their long-running lawsuit over dioxin contamination by Dow Chemical.
The court rejected arguments by Dow that it was too late to sue over dioxin released decades ago into the Tittabawassee River. The plaintiffs, who own property in the river's flood plain, say their land has been spoiled by the pollution.
The lawsuit was filed in Saginaw County in 2003. Dow argued that the statute of limitations had expired because the public became aware of the dioxin problems in the 1980s.
But in a 2-1 decision Thursday, the appeals court says the key date was in 2002 when Michigan environmental regulators reported high dioxin levels in the Tittabawassee flood plain.
An email seeking comment was sent to Dow.
