Turns out that people really pay attention when a high-level government official like EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary Gade resigns amid threats of getting canned for too vigorously pursuing Dow to cleanup dioxin pollution. Following up on last week's report of Gade's exit, the Washington Post's Al Kaman—already a fan of EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock's blog—uncovered an internal email from Peacock talking about Gade's resignation, complete with interesting time stamps.

Subject: Region 5 Personnel Announcement

As of this afternoon, Thursday, May 1, 2008, Mary Gade has resigned her position as Regional Administrator for EPA Region 5. I want to thank Mary for her many years of service to the people and the mission of EPA.

She has worked hard to help protect human health and our environment.

Mary plans to return to private life and spend time with her family.

Bharat Mathur, the Deputy Regional Administrator, will assume the responsibilities of Acting Regional Administrator. I thank Bharat for his continued service and leadership.

Nothing in there about Dow. Hmm.

Now, Citizens for Responsibility in Washington has followed a Freedom of Information Act request to uncover the details of Gade's departure.

And as for EPA Administrator Steve Johnson's back problems Kaman cites as the reason Johnson couldn't testify before the House Reform and Oversight Committee, we buy it. After all, you'll surely have back problems if you don't have a spine.