U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 administrator Mary Gade felt the full force of Dow Chemical's influence in Washington when on May 1, she was told to resign or be fired by June 1. Gade, who used to represent industries and often advocated against increased regulation, was on the other side of protracted negotiations with Dow over clean-up of dioxin contamination at its plant in Midland, MI. Gade chose to resign following the ultimatum.

Gade, appointed as head of Region 5 (which covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) by President Bush in September 2006, is an EPA veteran and former director of the Illinois EPA, where she co-founded the Environmental Council of States, an organization that promotes dialog across states. In past jobs for EPA, both in Region 5 and at headquarters, she worked on emergency response, Superfund cleanup, and pollution prevention.

Though EPA officials refuse to comment on the connection between her strong actions against Dow and her forced resignation, Gade has been much more forthcoming, telling the Chicago Tribune, "There's no question this is about Dow. I stand behind what I did and what my staff did."

Years of Dioxin Contamination

A regional institution, Dow Chemical Company is one of mid-Michigan's leading employers. The Michigan Operations manufacturing site in Midland is Dow's original production site. In operation for more than 100 years, it spans 1,900 acres.

The mustard gas used in World Wars I and II and the herbicide Agent Orange are among the many chlorinated chemicals that Dow has manufactured at the Midland site. A byproduct of chlorophenol production, dioxin wastes were originally disposed of in on-site ponds, which were allowed to overflow into the Tittabawassee River as needed. Dow released dioxin directly into local waterways for years this way, until EPA outlawed the practice in the mid-1980s.

EPA classifies dioxin as a persistent, bioaccumulative toxin (PBT), a category of chemicals considered to be the most dangerous. Even among PBTs, dioxin is recognized as one of the most toxic chemicals known to humans and is measured on a scale many times smaller than other PBTs. The Toxics Release Inventory threshold for dioxin is 0.1 grams, as opposed to the 10-pound threshold for mercury or 100 pounds for lead. Peer-reviewed studies have implicated dioxin as a cancer-causing agent and in immune and reproductive system disruption.

Dow has been aware of the human health threat of dioxin since the mid-1960s, but the company initially disavowed any responsibility for its presence in the Midland area, claiming forest fires and wood-burning fireplaces to be the culprit.

The Midland Clean-Up Dispute

In the mid-1980s, EPA began to take notice of dioxin contamination around Dow's Midland plant when fish in the Saginaw Bay were found with high levels of dioxins in their bodies. After first denying responsibility for the toxins, Dow later resisted any claims of dioxin's dangerous health effects. The company used such positions to engage in protracted negotiations with EPA over the issue for more than a decade.

Clean-up guidelines were finally negotiated in 2003, but Dow then continuously delayed implementation, taking only minor steps outlined in the plan. Dow has disputed both the size of the contaminated area, which currently includes 50 miles around the Midland plant, and the severity of the area's contamination, formally filing suit this February.

Dissatisfied with continual wrangling with Dow since she became the EPA regional head in 2006, Gade took increasingly aggressive measures over the past year. She invoked emergency powers in the summer of 2007 to compel Dow to clean up three particularly contaminated areas. In November 2007, she ordered dredging in the waterways that revealed dioxin levels of 1.6 million parts per trillion, 17,000 times the level that triggers a state clean-up. This is the highest level of dioxin contamination ever recorded in the U.S.

After Dow continued to delay, Gade cut off negotiations in January, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) slapped Dow with an "interim response action" (IRA) on April 16, directing the company to take immediate action on parts of the clean-up plan. Two weeks later, EPA gave Gade their ultimatum to quit or be fired. Five days after Gade's forced resignation, on May 6, Dow appealed the IRA determination in yet another lawsuit.

Community Outcry

Local residents have long battled for clean-up of Midland waterways and soils in the area. At a May 7 community briefing, Michigan DEQ and Dow officials assured residents that aspects of the clean-up would continue, regardless of the legal actions, but did not address Gade's resignation.

Tittabawassee River Watch and the Lone Tree Council, local citizens' groups in the Midland area, are not reassured. "Denial and delay has been part of Dow's game plan for years," Michelle Riddick, a Lone Tree Council member, told the Tribune. "They still haven't delivered." Tittabawassee River resident Carol Chisholm is fed up. She said, "We pay tax-dollars and expect those agencies who work for us to respond." A group of residents has already sued Dow, alleging that the pollution has devalued their property.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is taking notice. He has directed his oversight staff to look into the matter. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) protested Gade's resignation in a floor speech as "just the latest in a growing pile of evidence of troubling and destructive forces … from an administration that values compliance with a political agenda over the best interests of the American people." Whitehouse called for a May 7 hearing to investigate political interference at EPA, but he is still not satisfied after hearing from the agency. Whitehouse was not convinced by Assistant Administrator for Research and Development George Gray's testimony, praising only his "ability to say preposterous things and be completely straightfaced throughout."

Meanwhile, Dow continues to maintain that the Midland area, a designated Superfund site, is safe. As company spokesman John Musser told the Chicago Tribune, "There is all of this mystique about dioxin. Just because it's there doesn't mean there is an imminent health threat."