EPA re-examing Midland, Dow Chemical and dioxin danger

The Michigan Messenger has published several articles addressing the controversy over Dow Chemical's alleged poisoning of the state's largest watershed with dioxin.  The Messenger notes that studies conducted since 1991 strongly imply that dioxin is more toxic than it was previously considered to be, and it reports former EPA official Mary Gade's claim that she was forced from her job last year because of her efforts to force Dow to remove this industrial by-product from the Tittabawassee River basin. 

The EPA is reported to be considering a clean-up deal with Dow that would be even more lax than the settlement Gade rejected in 2008.  The Obama Administration is promising to speed up its re-examination of the health issues surrounding dioxin, one of many environmental issues that was neglected by the Bush Administration's distaste for regulation and efforts to pander to its political base.