Boxer, Whitehouse Want Answers on Gade
Jul 31, 2020213.5K Shares3.3M Views
Our story todayon Dow Chemical’s new image was sparked by the controversial firing of EPA Midwest head Mary Gade, who claims she was forced out for cracking down on the chemical company. Today, members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee sent a letter (pdf)to the EPA calling on the agency to fork over documents related to Gade’s firing and her work at EPA. Committee chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) also want answers to a specific list of 19 questions.
Gade has said that she was forced to resign from the EPA last month due to her attempts to aggressively enforce Dow’s cleanup of dioxin contamination from the company’s Midland, Mich. plant. This has led some to draw comparisons between politicization at the EPA and the U.S. Attorney scandal that resulted in the firing of nine attorneys by the Dept. of Justice.
Boxer and Whitehouse say they want to bring light to this controversy: "We are writing to request from you full information of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Gade’s departure," they wrote in the letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. "As you know, Congress and the American people expect EPA to enforce vigorously our public health protections – and to preserve the integrity of the enforcement program by excluding politics from such activities. We are troubled by reports suggesting that there was a link between her efforts to assure an aggressive cleanup by Dow and her allegedly forced departure, and are seeking answers from you to key questions."
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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