OFFICIALS QUESTION CLAIMS REGION V HEAD

FORCED TO QUIT OVER CLEANUP (Inside EPA)

5/9/2008

Key officials, including Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), are questioning
fonner EPA Region V Administrator Mary Gade' s claim that she was ousted for taking a
hard line with Dow Chemical over a dioxin cleanup.

Gade took her story to the Chicago Tribune, which ran a May 2 article on her claims that
she was forced out of the agency after she aggressively pushed the Dow Chemical
Company to accelerate clean up of what she said was dioxin contamination posing
significant human health and environmental risks downstream from the company's
headquarters in Midland, MI. The article prompted some, including Sen. Sheldon
Whitehouse (D-RI) to compare her firing with the Justice Department's controversial
axing of scores of US. attorneys that ultimately cost U.S. Attorney General Alberto
Gonzalez his job.

However, sources are now saying there are scores of issues that may have prompted her
removal. Gade could not be located for comment. And officials appear to be raising
questions about Gade's departure. For example, Durbin, in a May 2 letter to the Bush
administration, says he has asked for a meeting With EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
"so that I can better understand why Ms. Gade has been placed on administrative leave,
and whether press reports that it was because she had been taking a stand for the
environment against strong corporate opposition are accurate."

Durbin notes that "while I did not always agree with the positions Ms. Gade took," he
urged Bush to quickly fill the slot due to the scores of major environmental decisions
pending at the agency's regional office, including a decision on a controversial pennit for
BP's Whiting Refinery in Indiana -- which is seeking to expand its operations to process
fuel from high-polluting Canadian tar sands.

"My belief is [her firing] has little to do with the Dow situation. That may have been a
catalyst but it is disingenuous to say it is all about Dow," says a fonner EPA official, who
worked closely with Gade. "It's more a matter of her inability to work with people on a
whole range of issues," the source says.

One infonned source says agency leaders are in a "very difficult position" as they are not
able to respond publicly to Gade's .claims because they are barredJrom discussing
personnel issues.
"I guarantee whoever at EPA put this into effect, they thought through the fact they
would get absolutely beat to death if she went public, and I have to assume that whatever
this was, was so serious they were willing to take that beating," the source says.

The ,source's claim is backed up by several anonymous blog postings on the Tribune's
Web site allegedly from staff in Region V, who say that Gade's allegation that she was
ousted over the Dow dioxin cleanup is disingenuous, with several of the postings pointing
to steps Gade took on behalf of controversial Bush administration policies.

"Dow Chemical is no saint but neither is Mary Gade," says one posting from a Region V
staffer in Schaumburg, IL. The posting claims Gade quickly implemented controversial
plans to shutter the Region V library and also fragmented plans to construct a multi-
million dollar Emergency Operation Center so that no one component would exceed
oversight /approval thresholds.

"It's doubtful Dow was the reason Mary Gade was forced out," according to a post from
"an EPA manager." She "rarely met with managers or the regional staff," the posting
says, adding that "She declared her managers inept, and unworthy of her time. She left
key positions vacant."

The informed source adds that while Gade is "capable" and can "get things done ... the
way she gets them done is by bullying and pushing people." Gade came to EPA with that
reputation, which only solidified because she was resistant to EPA headquarters having
oversight of her work, the source says.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) is also
examining Gade's ouster as part of an ongoing investigation into the chemical indu~try's
influence. "Chairman Dingell is concerned about [Gade's resignation being politically
motivated] and has asked his oversight staff to look into it," a committee spokesman says.