Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Part 1: A Long History of Dioxin Delays

Dioxin pollution has been present in a watershed in central Michigan for more than thirty years.

People around the country might think it's just a local issue, but there was a time when this very same pollution problem made national news.

Shawn Allee met the man who took the issue to Congress and who feels it should make news again.

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In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Valdus Adamkus to a regional Environmental Protection Agency office.

From the get-go, one of Adamkus' jobs was to study dioxin pollution that got into the Great Lakes.

His office compiled a report that said dioxin is a cancer risk, and that a Dow Chemical plant in Michigan was responsible for some dioxin pollution.

Adamkus says his bosses in Washington called this report "trash."

ADAMKUS: We simply refused to retreat from our findings.

ALLEE: Did they ask you to retreat from your findings?

ADAMKUS: Yes, unfortunately we almost got instructions, let's use a mild word, to change our report, and that came from the highest levels. And that brought us to congressional hearings which probably the entire country was watching on TV networks.

Koeppel (ABC Archive ): An official at the EPA today said the Dow chemical company was allowed to participate in the redrafting of a report on dioxin contamination that had been critical of Dow. And that official charged that Dow's involvement was at the direction of the EPA's acting chief.

That was March 18, 1983, and ABC's Ted Koeppel wasn't the only one covering the Congressional hearings.

All the TV outlets caught this line from Adamkus ...

ADAMKUS ( ABC Archive ): It's unethical, unusual, unprofessional to get the internal document approved by outside company.
So, higher-ups in the EPA allowed Dow to edit the report critical of the company. But, in some ways, Adamkus won.

His boss got ousted and Ronald Reagan gave Adamkus a civil service award for integrity.

As for Dow Chemical's involvement?

For a month, I asked for comment.

A Dow spokeswoman said the company was interested in talking about the future, not the past.

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Adamkus eventually left the EPA - he became President of Lithuania.

But back in the US - there was a surprising follow-up to his fight over dioxin.

Mary Gade was a young staff attorney back when Adamkus was on TV.

Twenty three years later, President George W. Bush appointed her to Adamkus' old job.

When Gade arrived - dioxin was still a problem in Michigan.

Gade: My staff in the region characterized this as probably the worst dioxin contamination in the country.

And, she saw it as a national issue.

Gade: You'd like to expect that your government will function appropriately, that corporations will act responsibly and that you can be assured of a safe environment for you and your family.

So, Gade ordered Dow Chemical to clean up some hot spots.

Gade: They'd either do the work themselves or the federal government would do the work and we'd sue Dow to cover our costs.

Michigan politicians complained about Gade, and some state officials felt some of her actions were counterproductive.

In May 2008, she was forced to resign.

Gade told the Chicago Tribune, it was for being tough on Dow.

The EPA hasn't commented on that. Dow denies involvement.

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Recently, Mary Gade's old boss, Valdus Adamkus, returned to his old EPA office to say hello.

He asked about the dioxin problem in Michigan, and he learned it's still around - after all these years, and after all the trouble he and Mary Gade got from it.

ADAMKUS: When I hear from them what enforcement actions are being still considered, and that they are not big progress in that respect, that's what really bothers me and to me this is inexcusable.

Dow and the EPA are negotiating a final resolution on cleanup right now.

But Valdus Adamkus knows details need to be worked out, and he says it's been promised before.

ADAMKUS: God help them. I hope this is really coming to the end.

For the Environment Report, I'm Shawn Allee.

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