Federal officials Wednesday ordered Dow Chemical to clean up high levels of dioxin recently discovered in homes and yards in a Saginaw, Mich., neighborhood downstream from the company's world headquarters.

Preliminary results from tests conducted in March by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found dioxin levels in household dust and outdoor soil that were well above the federal cleanup standard. The amount in a sample taken from one yard was 23 times higher than what the EPA considers reasonably safe.

The new order is a result of aggressive action taken against Dow by the EPA's former top official in the Midwest, Mary Gade, who told the Tribune last month that the Bush administration forced her out as head of the agency's Chicago-based office over heated disputes between the chemical company and environmental regulators.

It marks the first time that federal officials have forced a dioxin cleanup in a residential area near Dow's sprawling Midland, Mich., chemical plant. The EPA issued four similar orders last year, three for industrial areas and another along a public park. Before Gade stepped in, cleanup had been minimal. The most extensive work, negotiated by the state, had involved scouring the interiors of 300 homes and spreading wood chips over contaminated soil outside.

Earlier this year, Gade surprised Dow officials and local residents when she ordered new tests in residential areas downstream from the company's plant. The results disclosed Wednesday showed high dioxin levels in and around a stretch of homes about 20 miles from the plant, near where the Tittabawassee and Saginaw Rivers meet.

Full Story: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-dioxin-29-both-may29,0,7252768.story

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