The Chicago Tribune reports that Mary Gade, the top Environmental Protection Agency regulator for the Midwest, has been forced to step down by the Bush administration. For the last year Gade has pressured the Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. to clean up dioxin contamination in the Saginaw River watershed. In August she invoked emergency powers to force clean up of a dioxin “hot spot” in the Saginaw River.
“There is no question this is about Dow,” Gade told the Tribune. “I stand behind what I did and what my staff did. I’m proud of what we did.”
