bush appointees looking out for number one.....no, not the people of New York.....
Exclusive: ‘We Were Not Told to Lie’ About 9/11 and Health
Eleanor Clift and Julie Scelfo
Newsweek
Monday 08 September 2003
Sept. 8 issue — After stepping down this summer as the head of the EPA, the embattled Christine
Todd Whitman is once again in the hot seat.
THIS TIME it’s over her role in the downplaying of health hazards for New York City residents after
9/11. A report by the EPA inspector general says that Whitman assured the public that the air was
safe before testing was conclusive. She’s also under fire for allowing EPA statements to be filtered
through the White House and screened by the Council on Environmental Quality, which is chaired by
James Connaughton, a lawyer who formerly represented the asbestos industry.
The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. But New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler
accuses the administration of covering up a potential health danger in order to get the economy up and
running. "Many people will die early because of this," says Nadler.
In her first interview since the release of the report, Whitman tells NEWSWEEK that she did not
object when the White House edited out cautionary notes by EPA scientists. "We didn’t want to scare
people," she said, explaining that spikes in asbestos readings tended to return quickly to acceptable
levels. She believes that much of the data were open to interpretation, and that the public wasn’t
harmed by the White House’s decision to adopt the more reassuring analysis. But New York Sen.
Hillary Clinton is calling for an investigation, saying she knows how the White House works and that
somebody surely leaned on the EPA to lie. "We were not told to lie," says Whitman.
Firefighters and other rescue workers suffering health problems continue to blame the EPA for
failing to make them aware of the risks. The EPA advised wearing protective clothing and masks,
Whitman says, but many working on the site rejected the gear as too cumbersome. "We couldn’t force
them to do it," says Whitman. In addition, residents returning to the area say they weren’t told to have
their homes professionally cleaned. "Maybe there was one press release where we didn’t say that, but
then we said it over and over," says Whitman.
EPA’s former ombudsman said soon after 9/11 that Whitman had a conflict of interest because of
her husband’s connection to Citigroup, which owns Travelers Insurance. By pronouncing lower
Manhattan safe, critics say, Whitman saved the insurance giant millions in cleanup costs. Whitman
was cleared of the conflict by the EPA inspector general. "There’s no way in hell-excuse my
language-that I would ever, ever play games with this kind of information."
CC |
