Posted on 08/26/2003 8:06:49 PM PDT by Paul Atreides
New York Sen. Hillary Clinton demanded answers on Tuesday about a misleading Environmental Protection Agency report issued just days after the 9/11 attacks, saying she suspects "somebody further up the chain" at the White House "probably" gave the order to omit or change information on the dangers posed by airborne contaminants in and around Ground Zero.
"Somebody sent an email, somebody called for a meeting, somebody in that White House probably under instructions from somebody further up the chain told the EPA, 'Don't tell the people of New York the truth,'" Clinton told reporters.
"And I want to know who that is," she angrily insisted.
Last week a report released by the EPA's inspector general, Nikki Tinsley, alleged that the White House ordered the agency to downplay the threat posed by Ground Zero air.
Instead of revealing the dangers in the days after 9/11, Tinsley said the EPA was ordered to certify that the air was safe despite inadequate testing.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Ground Zero district, has called for a Justice Department probe into possible criminal charges against both EPA and White House officials.
"The White House and the EPA chose to increase the threat to the health and lives of New Yorkers by lying about the environmental conditions, by telling people that the air was safe to breathe and that they could go back to their homes when there was no scientific data to support this," he complained to the New York Daily News over the weekend.
EPA spokeswoman Lisa Harrison defended the White House, telling the News, "We believe that this inspector general's report is flawed on a number of fronts, namely that it did not take into account the unprecedented nature of the World Trade Center attack and the chaotic nature of the aftermath."
Harrison explained that contrary to the impression left by the report, her agency clearly warned Ground Zero workers and people with respiratory problems to take precautions.
This is a serious charge from the IG. I hope Nikki has her/his life insurance payments up to date and last will and testament signed.
How about blaming the EPA for lying to the american people. I don't believe the President is involved. Heads need to roll at the EPA though. Who is going to be legally responsible when the people who were breathing all this crap in their lungs get sick and die at an early rate?
This sucks. I understand their motives. They lied to us, so people would stay in NY continue generating business, no panic. It does not change the fact that NYers were lied to, and it may have affected their decisions about personal safety and their future health.
Screw Nadler and Hitlery. They are demagoguing this. Let us not get sidetracked on the issue. Our government lied to us, and put the lives of millions of NY'ers in jeopardy. That sucks. I want a REPUBLICAN led investigation of the charges of the EPA inspector general. The people responsible need to be fired, prosecuted, and spend time in jail. This is Clintonian.
If it sticks, it's going to do all sorts of damage.
It most certainly is..
"Somebody sent an email... "
i'm sorry hitlery. it was me; a "low level staffer".
i know that "mistakes were made"....but it was only a joke.
it wasn't meant to get out of the office..."everybody does it"
can't we just "move on..."
In all, the EPA issued five press releases within 10 days of the attacks and four more by the end of 2001 reassuring the public about air quality. But it wasn't until June 2002 that the EPA determined that air quality had returned to pre-Sept. 11 levels — well after respiratory ailments and other problems began to surface in hundreds of workers cleaning dusty offices and apartments.
Skip partisanship folks. Listen to this charge and the seriousness of it. This is not being made by some dimwit environmentalist group. It is not by the chubby congressman from NY. This is from the Bush administration's own agency watchdog.
Hundreds of people were already getting respiratory ailments, while they were lied to about the air quality being determined safe. The word outrage is tossed around too often this day and age. But this is an outrage.
you're gettin' warmer...
It's more than a "feeling". She knows how she would've handled it...
Certainly is a busy White House, what with them going after Wesley Clark and Al Franken already. /sarcasm
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