Member Biographies as of January 2024
CAG Mission
The mission of the CAG is to assist in broad public awareness and input and provide advice and recommendations to the US Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies and organizations to help ensure an effective and timely cleanup and restoration of the Tittabawassee River, Saginaw River & Bay Superfund Site.
The cleanup of contamination from the Saginaw River, Tittabawassee River and Saginaw Bay is being conducted under the authorities of the US Environmental Protection Agency and The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The Dow Chemical Company, as responsible party for the river contamination, under an administrative order with the USEPA and DNRE, is performing investigations, and developing and designing cleanup options that will be selected by EPA after public comment on the cleanup options.
To achieve its mission, the CAG is comprised of citizens from throughout the tri-city area who represent a wide range of viewpoints and interests related to the community and the cleanup. The CAG was convened to reflect the diversity of the community with regard to racial, social, economic and other demographics.
Convening Process
A public workshop was held in August 2009 to solicit community input to the range of perspectives and process for convening the CAG. Participants modified a draft list of stakeholder perspectives that were important for the CAG and also provided nominations for local stakeholders to serve on a community convening group. This input was used to identify important stakeholder categories create applications for membership which were distributed throughout the community in the autumn of 2009.
A diverse group of five local leaders who were nominated by the community volunteered to review the applications and select prospective CAG members. The convening group agreed not to be eligible for CAG membership themselves. These five individuals reviewed the 46 applications received and selected 23 members to best represent the diversity being sought from the categories identified by the public at the August workshop.
Member Representation and Potential Conflicts of Interest
The CAG is an independent community organization and CAG members serve as individual citizens, not as direct representatives of any group or organization. All members of the CAG are active in the community and serve as volunteers and board members for numerous community organizations. Some work at universities or non-profit organizations that rely on charitable giving for part of their operating expenses.
As a condition of participation, all members completed an identical application form and were asked to disclose any known conflicts of interest. All members were asked to warrant that no conflicts of interest exist and that they serve as individual citizens of the community to freely provide input and advice through the CAG. Since the CAG’s makeup reflects the community at large, it is not desirable to eliminate all persons who have any relationships with parties to the cleanup, or who would be affected by the outcome of this cleanup process. All CAG members will be affected just as community members will be affected by the outcome of this cleanup – physically, emotionally, and economically.
Dow Chemical is the sole responsible party at the site and a major economic force in the region. Some stakeholders have raised concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest among CAG members who work for organizations with financial ties to Dow Chemical. The CAG is confident that no such direct conflicts exist. No member of the CAG is directly employed by Dow or works for an organization that is a subsidiary or wholly owned by Dow. However, because Dow is a major presence in the community, many institutions, organizations, and non-profits do receive Dow charitable support at varying levels, or have worked with Dow on a contract basis. This is true of a number of the organizations where CAG members work or volunteer. However, those individuals have warranted that they are not in a position to receive any direct benefit from Dow that would influence their honest participation on the CAG.
Member Replacement and Recruitment
CAG members serve staggered three-year terms that follow the calendar year. New members will be added each January to replace retiring members beginning in 2012. New members will be selected to maintain the overall balance and diversity of community participation on the CAG.
If members leave the CAG prior to the end of a term, new members are sought as direct replacements to represent a similar demographic to ensure a consistent range of interests is maintained.
If any member of the public feels that they represent an important community perspective that is inadequately represented on the CAG, he or she is urged to submit an application and contribute to the CAG’s representation of the entire community.
CAG CHARTER
CAG Members
The date in parenthasis is the date the member joined the CAG
Terms Ending July 2026
Mike Nusbaumer (2017)
Kevin Quiggle (2017)
Shellie Thurston (2020)
Terms Ending July 2027
Ruth Averill (2018)
Darwin Baranski (2024)
Linzi Jo Kaniszewski (2020)
Terry Miller (2015)
Mick Miotto (2024)
Luis Mulford (2015)
Terms Ending July 2028
David Sommers (2013)
Max Copus (2022)
Lawrence Brown (2019)
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