There were secret “hit lists” of agency employees targeted for dismissal, decisions to ease regulation of dioxin and dangerous pesticides, and allegations that Gorsuch Burford made politically driven decisions to slow cleanups at Superfund toxic waste sites – those containing the most hazardous chemicals.

As multiple congressional committees held hearings on EPA mismanagement, more than 20 agency officials resigned, most of them Reagan political appointees.

Gorsuch Burford was the last, resigning on March 9, 1983, after White House lawyers refused to back up her claim of executive privilege to justify her refusal to surrender the Superfund files.

Over the next year, Gorsuch Burford was stopped by a traffic cop on suspicion of drunk driving and told a reporter that “they should bomb the Justice Department” if the agency refused to cover her legal defense.

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