The Environmental Protection Agency leadership has asked the Midwest region chief, Mary Gade, to resign.

It sounds as if Ms. Gade had to leave the office because she was trying to do her job.

The agency dispute was over enforcement actions involving Dow Chemical Co.

Ms. Gade told the Wall Street Journal that her office had been attempting to get Dow Chemical to clean up a Michigan river system contaminated with dioxin. She said the pollution was a result of the company's waste disposal practices, emissions and incineration.

The former director said people "should be concerned" about pollution of the Tittabawassee River system because "this may be some of the worst dioxin contamination" in America.

In January, the Midwest EPA office announced it had halted talks with Dow over possible cleanup of the river. The EPA said that "key issues that are paramount for protecting human health and environment remain unresolved."

Dow had complained to EPA officials in Washington about what it considered unfair treatment by the Midwest office which oversees six Midwestern states. Neither the company nor the agency will discuss the matter publicly even though it is of public interest.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has been criticized for other decisions that seem to contradict the agency's mission — such as denying California permission to regulate greenhouse gas emissions or even declaring such emissions a threat to the public.

The agency is supposed to protect the environment as well as public health. Is it?