EPA official resigns citing Dow Chemical

Update: Mary Gade Story – CREW Files FOIA Requests With EPA concerning Mary Gade Resignation

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concerning the resignation of EPA Region 5 administrator, Mary Gade, May 7, 2008.

See below for CREW’s original report and their FOIA requests to the EPA.

• Report by CREW
• CREW FOIA Request to EPA Headquarters
• CREW FOIA Request to EPA Region 5

EPA official no match for Dow

After years of fighting over dioxin contamination by Dow Chemicals, a top EPA administrator was forced to quit as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest office, based in Chicago.

Mary Gade, regional administrator of U.S. EPA Region 5, center, and Stephen A. Elbert, vice chairman of BP America, right, listen as Sadhu Johnston, chief environmental officer of the City of Chicago, talks to the media following a summit on the BP Whiting refinery. (Tribune photo by Zbigniew Bzdak / August 15, 2007. Text Tribune ) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice.

Gade said two of the EPA chief Stephen Johnson’s lieutenants had removed her powers as regional administrator and told her to quit or be fired by June 1.

“There is no question this is about Dow,” Gade said. “I stand behind what I did and what my staff did. I’m proud of what we did.” Full report

Related Links:

• EPA official ousted while fighting Dow
• Hermaphrodite Lamb Born With Seven Legs
• THE POISONING OF NEW ZEALAND
• Is EPA protecting the environment or public health?

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Nargis: Asia’s 2nd most devastating cyclone

Update #3: Nargis Death Toll May Top 100,000

A U.S. diplomat in Myanmar said the death toll in cyclone Nargis may exceed 100,000. Shari Villarosa, the U.S. charge d’affaires in Yangon, said figure was based on data from an international non-governmental organization.

“The information we are receiving indicates over 100,000 deaths,” she said, “I think most of the damage was caused by these 12-foot storm surges.”

According to the Myanmar state radio, the death toll was 22,980 with 42,119 missing and 1,383 injured by Wednesday night.

Dead bodies from Cyclone Nargis float on a flooded field in Labutta (Source: AFP) Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice.

Nargis is Asia’s second most devastating cyclone in terms of loss of human lives. In 1991 a storm in Bangladesh killed 143,000.

Relate Links:

• Tropical Cyclones
• Update #2- Myanmar cyclone death toll 22,500
  
• Update #1- Myanmar Cyclone Death Nearly 4,000
• Powerful tropical cyclone Nargis hits Myanmar

• Estimated 80,000 cyclone dead in one Myanmar district: official
• UN says 1.5 million people affected by Myanmar storm
• U.S. diplomat: Cyclone toll in Myanmar “may top 100,000”
• Burma cyclone death toll may top 100,000: U.S. diplomat