Administration Reportedly Forces Out EPA Official
Source: Washington Post
May 3, 2008
A senior regional Environmental Protection Agency official who had feuded with Dow Chemical over a toxic cleanup site in Michigan resigned Thursday under pressure from the Bush administration, according to published reports.
Mary A. Gade, who headed the EPA's Midwest regional office in Chicago, had fought for months with Dow over plans to address dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming from the chemical giant's Midland, Mich., plant. Dioxin, which at low levels of exposure has been found to cause cancer as well as immune and reproductive system problems, is a byproduct in the production of Agent Orange and other chemical products.
Gade -- who was appointed to her post in 2006 by President Bush -- told the Chicago Tribune on Thursday that two aides to EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson stripped her of her power as regional administrator and informed her she could either quit or be fired by June 1. "There's no question this is about Dow," she told the Tribune. "I stand behind what I did and what my staff did. I'm proud of what we did."
Efforts to reach Gade to independently confirm the Tribune account were unsuccessful.
Last summer, Gade invoked emergency powers to compel Dow Chemical to clean up three highly contaminated dioxin sites near its Midland plant. In November, she called for more dredging after tests found dioxin levels of 1.6 million parts per trillion in a Saginaw park, the highest concentration ever recorded in the country.
At that point, Dow entered into negotiations with Gade over a broader cleanup, but she suspended those talks in January. Dow responded by appealing to EPA officials in Washington, asking them to restart the negotiations, but this has not occurred, company officials said.
EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar did not comment in detail on Gade's departure but wrote in an e-mail, "Mary Gade has been put on administrative leave and has announced that she will resign when that ends June 1."
In an interview, Dow spokesman John Musser said the company played no role in Gade's resignation.
"We would say we never asked for or implied in any way that Mrs. Gade should be relieved of her duties," Musser said. "We didn't know about it before it took place, and we certainly don't have any understanding of the EPA's reasoning behind their decision to place her on administrative leave."
Federal officials invited Dow to engage in cleanup talks that "would be a path forward to address the dioxin situation," Musser said, adding they extended talks for an additional 30 days in an effort to reach a resolution.
"Before we were able to provide them with the latest offer, they unexpectedly put a halt to the negotiations. They knew we were going to give them a new offer that very day, but they didn't wait for it to be sent before they put a halt on the proceedings," he said.
When asked whether Gade made that decision, Musser replied, "I would have to assume yes." He added that the company has commissioned research showing that soil containing dioxin "is not a contributor in any meaningful way to levels of contaminants in people's bodies. Both on human health and environmental side, there's not an imminent public health threat."
In a floor speech yesterday morning, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) decried Gade's departure and cited it as "just the latest in a growing pile of evidence of a troubling and destructive force at work within our government, one with serious consequences for our environment, our natural resources and our public health.
"We do not yet know all the details of Ms. Gade's firing or everything that may have gone on between EPA and Dow Chemical. But from all we have heard and seen, Mary Gade's story seems like deja vu all over again from an administration that values compliance with a political agenda over the best interests of the American people," Whitehouse added.
S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, has known Gade for years, and wrote in an e-mail that her decision to step down testifies to her professional commitment.
"Mary Gade is a strong leader and a woman of principle, and her actions on this issue have reinforced this point," Becker wrote.
In the meantime, many Michigan residents are wondering when someone will remove the dioxin in their soil and waterways. Joy Cooper, who has lived in Saginaw for 40 years, said she "would like to see a solution" to the impasse.
"We've been tested and retested. They've been taking our blood samples; they've taken samples out of our home; they've taken samples out of our yard," Cooper said. Her husband, Lloyd, had colon cancer in 1992 and she suffers from arthritis, but Cooper said she is unsure whether those are linked to the dioxin that permeates their environment.
"We raised four children here," she said. "We fish; we boat; we're exposed to that river all the time. Sometimes in the back of my mind, I think, 'Gee, did this cause something?'