clipped from: www.truthout.org   

    Washington - Democratic senators lambasted the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday for ousting its top administrator in the Midwest after she pressured Dow Chemical to clean up dioxin-contaminated soil in Michigan.

    During a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said the episode raised warning signs about the credibility of the EPA and the agency's commitment to "protect the environment and our health."

    According to a report in Friday's Chicago Tribune, the EPA administrator for the Midwest region, Mary Gade, said she was told to quit or be fired by June 1. She resigned.

    Gade had been pressuring Dow for almost a year to get the chemical company to clean up chemical contamination in Michigan.

    Dioxin, produced as a byproduct of some chemical manufacturing or formed from burning wood, coal and oil, has been linked to cancer and other health problems.