Today the Chicago Tribune reported that Mary Gade, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Regional office in Chicago, said she was forced from her job by the Bush Administration.

Gade said the reason was her aggressive pursuit of cleanup of dioxin contamination caused by Dow Chemical Company downstream from Dow’s Midland, Michigan headquarters.

Michigan Environmental Council President Lana Pollack released the following statement:

“It appears that once again Dow Chemical, with the help of an administration that has little interest in environmental protection, has succeeded in muzzling a woman of unquestioned credentials and integrity who was doing her job enforcing our environmental laws.”

“The dioxin that poisoned the Tittabawassee River valley many decades ago has spread to the Saginaw River and Saginaw Bay. And still, there has been no meaningful cleanup.”

“If Mary Gade were indeed forced out because she was willing to enforce environmental laws against Dow Chemical, then it is a travesty.”

“With the federal government signaling its unwillingness to force Dow to abide by the law, we look to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to fill the void and bring this company to accountability for its toxic mess.

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