The Silencing of Mary Gade
Mary Gade, regional administrator of the EPA's midwest office, was forced to resign last week for the unpardonable sin of doing her job — to wit, requiring Dow Chemical to clean up the dioxin it had dumped into the environment around its Midland, Michigan plant for most of the last century.
The dumping of the toxic compound was so extensive that in once section of Saginaw, about 50 miles from Midland, dioxin levels were found to be "the highest amount ever found in the U.S."
Dow claims the dioxin levels are the result of forest fires and wood-burning fireplaces, but area resident Kathy Henry knows better:
"Dow's role seems pretty obvious," [she said,] pointing to samples showing dioxins levels of 2 ppt [parts-per-trillion] upstream from the plant and 3,400 ppt at a park below the plant.
Mary Gade stood up to the Goliaths of Dow and this corrupt administration, and she paid the price. What do you suppose the chances are that someone with her integrity and courage will take her place?
Comments
Mary Gade stood up to the Goliaths of Dow and this corrupt administration, and she paid the price. What do you suppose the chances are that someone with her integrity and courage will take her place?
I read about this. Tragic, and the chance that someone of integrity will replace her... zero.
Posted by: Kvatch | May 5, 2008 09:28 AM
Under the Bush/McConJob/GOP Reich, the EPA's job is to enable polluters, not investigate them.
Posted by: TomCat | May 5, 2008 12:22 PM
Hey, Kvatch - good to see you around these parts. And I agree, obviously appointing a person with integrity was an oversight on someone's part.
TomCat, sad but true.
Posted by: abi | May 5, 2008 06:24 PM
Michiganians gave up on the Feds a long time ago, which explains this statement from the Michigan Environmental Council:
“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.
As someone from Michigan, I'm not holding my breath that they'll hold Dow accountable either.
Posted by: Kathy | May 5, 2008 07:06 PM
Kathy, your only chance is if the next president does something about it, and even then, it's just a one-in-three chance.
What a horror story for the people who live in the area, who worry about their kids getting sick and who can't sell their houses.
Posted by: abi | May 6, 2008 07:05 AM
Reminds me of the book I'm reading "Collapse" by Jared Diamond. He outlines different groups through history that have disappeared in a large part due to their own destruction of their environment. And what have we learned from this?
Go Blue
Posted by: Lev | May 6, 2008 02:40 PM
Or Go Green. ;-)
Posted by: abi | May 7, 2008 11:00 AM