Pall files suit to get drilling access

Communal living setting has refused access to property

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

From News staff reports

Pall Life Sciences has sued Sunward Cohousing to force it to allow the company access to drill test borings, and a possible monitoring well, on its property.

Pall wants to drill the well to help define the limits of the 1,4 dioxane plume that has spread in groundwater from the company's headquarters on Wagner Road in Scio Township over the last 20 years.

Sunward has refused to allow the company on its property to drill the test bores, according the suit filed Aug. 3 in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. Sunward is a communal housing development, located on Park Road in Scio Township, to the north and west of Pall.

Nick Meima, vice president of the Sunward board, said Sunward opposes the well now because the group isn't confident Pall yet has a sufficient understanding of the western plume of the contamination.

In its filing, Pall states it needs the permission to drill on the Sunward property in order to continue its remedial action for the dioxane plume, as approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Investigations by the company indicate some of the pollution may be in the groundwater under Sunward's property, according to the filing.

Sunward Cohousing is composed of 40 housing units in a communal living setting located on 20 acres and is referred to on its Web site as an "intentional community." Its residents share chores and a Common House, facilities for dining, laundry, child care and other activities.