Christine Whitman just blamed the victims of WTC dust.

[spanone]

She just told Katie Couric that they were 'down there' telling people not to breathe the dust. That is a LIE. Katie said nothing.


~snip~ New York -- Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today called on former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman to provide a truthful account of the EPA's response to 9/11. In an interview this week with Newsweek magazine, Whitman declared that the White House never told the EPA to lie when it issued reassurances to the public regarding air quality in Lower Manhattan, but admitted that the White House edited out words of caution in EPA news releases. She also stated that residents were told by EPA that their homes needed to be professionally cleaned, even though the EPA passed the responsibility of indoor clean-up of WTC dust to the City, which advised people to clean up dust on their own with a "wet rag," all the time declaring that there was no public health risk.
more....
http://www.house.gov/nadler/archive108/Whitman_090203.htm

[babylonsister]

1. Can't watch CBS now, won't watch ABC now, but NBC did swell

tonight.
And yes, CTW is a liar. I remember it well, everyone being told that there are no health issues with the air around WTC.

[rusty charly]

9. so, this is the choice now:

Disney, GE, and Viacom.

th-th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

http://la.indymedia.org/news/2003/04/47530.php

[babylonsister]

11. Sad, isn't it. But we've been watching nightly news

forever; my first recollection is Huntley and Brinkley. My, how times have changed!

[spanone]

19. I remember Edward R. Murrow, Huntley & Brinkley, Walter Cronkite

Journalists who adapted to television. They set a standard that the networks have totally abandoned. It's the element of a democracy that we can ill afford to lose.
We may have already lost it.

[babylonsister]

20. "They set a standard" - yes, and how I miss that. But Olbermann

does give me a sliver of hope!

[rodeodance]

2. she is in trouble and she knows it.

[spanone]

4. Why has America abandoned the notion of Truth?

It's so fucking sad and maddening.

[rzemanfl]

3. Does anyone mention that she is personally a defendant in a

lawsuit? At least she was, having lost her immunity by being willfull and wanton in misrepresenting the air quality at the WTC.

http://www.wnyc.org/news/articles/56773

[IChing]

8. I'm sure that Katie ran all the way to the bank on that bit of news

:) :rofl: :rofl:

[C_U_L8R]

5. Bull shit

I live there (here).
The landlords were pushing the govt
to get their tenants back in (and paying rent).
They trotted out all sorts of "experts" including
FEMA, The Red Cross and the EPA to tell everyone
it was safe to move back home.

So now they tell us we weren't supposed to breathe ????

[Der Blaue Engel]

6. Of course. It's their fault for BREATHING.

:eyes:

[tocqueville]

7. breathing is a crime

specially when you don't have a dust mask or caught in the middle of some toxic event you couldn't foresee happen. The victim is always to blame. They drowned in NOLA ? well it's because they are bad swimmers...

:sarcasm:

[Solly Mack]

10. EPA Press Releases under Whitman immediately after 911

Whitman Details Ongoing Agency Efforts to Monitor Disaster Sites, Contribute to Cleanup Efforts
September 18, 2001
http://www.epa.gov/wtc/stories/headline_091801.htm

"We are very encouraged that the results from our monitoring of air quality and drinking water conditions in both New York and near the Pentagon show that the public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances," Whitman said. "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breath and their water is safe to drink," she added.






NYC Monitoring Efforts Continue to Show Safe Drinking Water & Air
September 21, 2001
http://www.epa.gov/wtc/stories/headline2_092101.htm



EPA Initiates Emergency Response Activities, Reassures Public About Environmental Hazards
September 13, 2001
http://www.epa.gov/wtc/stories/headline_091301.htm

"EPA's primary concern is to ensure that rescue workers and the public are not exposed to elevated levels of asbestos, acidic gases or other contaminants from the debris. Sampling of ambient air quality found either no asbestos or very low levels of asbestos. Sampling of bulk materials and dust found generally low levels of asbestos.

The levels of lead, asbestos and volatile organic compounds in air samples taken on Tuesday in Brooklyn, downwind from the World Trade Center site, were not detectable or not of concern.

Additional sampling of both ambient air quality and dust particles was conducted Wednesday night in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and results were uniformly acceptable.

"EPA is greatly relieved to have learned that there appears to be no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City," said Administrator Whitman. "We are working closely with rescue crews to ensure that all appropriate precautions are taken. We will continue to monitor closely."

More here EPA 911 Press Releases

[spanone]

12. Wow, you can find this yet CBS - Couric producers can't? Amazing.

The press is free to be dishonest or at best disinterested.

[Solly Mack]

13. I was worried they'd be scrubbed, to tell you the truth

but so far...easy to find

[Junkdrawer]

15. They don't want Couric looking too smart...scares off the menfolk...n/t

[Book Lover]

16. I was looking for these

THANK YOU for posting them. I *clearly* remember her stating publicly that the air was safe to breathe, when I and everyone I knew who was home in NYC *knew* the air couldn't possibly be safe.

on edit: spelling

[Solly Mack]

18. You're welcome. I recall well how Whitman claimed it was safe

[City Lights]

14. A liar and an enabler.

How quaint.

I'm so disappointed in CBS. :-( How sad that NBC is proving to be the least offensive network out there.

[journalist3072]

17. The EPA allowed the White House to edit its 9/18/01 statement on the air

I have so little respect for people who engage in revisionist history.

Is Christe Todd Whitman forgetting that the EPA's Inspector General concluded that the White House EDITED the EPA's statement, made on September 18, 2001, about the air quality in and around Ground Zero. She concluded that the White House pressured the EPA to delete cautionary statements and add more reassuring ones (that it did not have the facts to back up).

From an Associated Press article on September 10, 2003:

"Last month, an internal report by Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites) Inspector General Nikki Tinsley said the White House pressured the agency to make premature statements that the air was safe to breathe.


The EPA issued an air quality statement on Sept. 18, 2001, even though it "did not have sufficient data and analyzes to make the statement," the report said.


The White House "convinced the EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones," Tinsley said. Among the information withheld was the potential health hazards of breathing asbestos, lead, concrete and pulverized glass, the report said."