Did EPA Mislead Public After 9/11?

(CBS) An investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general has found that White House officials instructed the agency to be less alarming and more reassuring to the public in the first few days after the Sept. 11 attacks, The New York Times reports in its Saturday editions.

The investigation specifically cites official statements about air quality after the collapse of the World Trade Center.

The agency "did not have sufficient data and analyses" to make a "blanket statement" when it announced seven days after the attack that the air around ground zero was safe to breathe, the Times quotes the report as saying.

"Competing considerations, such as national security concerns and the desire to reopen Wall Street, also played a role in E.P.A.'s air quality statements," the report, which has not yet been made public, said.

more.........................

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/09/national/main567489.shtml

There are lots of New Yorkers with lungs full of poison thanks to this needless and shameful lie -- just one of hundreds from BushCo*



* Clearly rejected in the 2000 election by discerning and patriotic Americans; appointed by the so-called supreme court.

can spin it as much as you want...but chemistry still works the same and the toxic effects cannot be spun away...the immediate deaths were bad, but now, you are seeing the LONG-TERM toxic effects, and more deaths are to be expected....

let's not forget that the EPA regional office (just outside the 'hazardous' zone) hired environmental workers to clean up their own offices, while leaving the rest of NY to wallow in toxic dust....

An investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency's inspector general has found that White House officials instructed the agency to be less alarming and more reassuring to the public in the first few days after the Sept. 11 attacks, The New York Times reports in its Saturday editions.

not only the general public, but especially the rescue and cleanup workers have suffered from the shameful lies issued by the EPA.

there was a report on NPR the other day, that was almost as bad. while it did report on the EPA's lies, they interviewed just one worker - one who had a respirator but didn't wear it. the man's lungs are now destroyed. the NPR reporter, predictably, asked the man, "The respirator doesn't do you much good if you don't wear it... does it?"

ie, blaming the victim. why on earth didn't they interview people who did NOT have respirators? why did they choose to focus on one guy who had one but didn't wear it?

and, duh... maybe the guy didn't wear it because he trusted the EPA's lying assurances.

SHAME.

people can't wear them because they hinder your airflow...people with beards cannot wear respirators because they won't seal properly...sometimes the respirator doesn't fit properly, or it gets dust inside and cannot be used, sometimes the canisters get plugged up, and need to be replaced before air will flow through....

in fact under OSHA regulations (29CFR1910 OSHA) it is against the law to simply hand an employee a respirator and expect them to use it...

respirators must be properly fitted, and medical lung tests done.
respirators must be properly cleaned and stored, everyday!
people must be properly trained in using respirators.
records must be kept for 20 years.

I wonder how much of these regulations were followed...and it is shameful for TV talkers to make fun of someone for not wearing a respirator...they should ask, whoever gave them the respirators, to see if the supplier followed the regulations, rather than blame an uneducated person, who is trying to help...it's like accidentally assigning an English-major into a Chemistry-Laboratory, and then blaming the English-major when the lab blows up...

if you show me a link to the NPR story, I'll write to them about their shameful behavior...

Please continue discussion in the original, earliest thread on this topic, which can be found here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=58566&mesg_id=58566

Khephra, your link to the CBS News story would be helpful in that thread.

Thanks! :-)
VolcanoJen
DU Moderator