"Paul Helliker had a job for Dow AgroSciences.

As director of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, Helliker had allowed some growers to ignore the restrictions for a pesticide called 1,3-Dichloropropene, which the state believed caused cancer.

The loophole was supposed to be temporary. Helliker gave Dow, the company that manufactures 1,3-D, and growers two years to come up with a plan to follow his department’s rules or to create new ones.

It took Dow less than a year to hand in its proposal. The company’s plan didn’t close the loophole, however. It greatly expanded it."

Bernice Yeung, Kendall Taggart, and Andrew Donohue report for the Center for Investigative Reporting November 10, 2014. [2]