Lonely at the EPA Top

The White House puts heat on Burford as Congress closes in

The signals were subtle at first, diplomatic hints lobbed from the White House to the Environmental Protection Agency. Presidential Advisers James Baker and Craig Fuller were quoted as saying at midweek that, despite President Reagan's public expressions of confidence in beleaguered EPA Administrator Anne Burford, firing her had indeed become an option. The Administration had counted on its showy, if belated, one-two punch—buying out dioxin-tainted Times Beach, Mo., and bolstering Burford with five seasoned deputies—to cool the controversy that has paralyzed the...