Insider: EPA Lied About WTC Air

(CBS)  A scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency is charging that the agency lied when it claimed the air at ground zero was safe to breathe in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks.

In an exclusive interview, Cate Jenkins. Ph.D., tells The Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith that wasn't so, and EPA officials knew it, but covered up the truth.

Many workers who sifted through the wreckage have since come down with serious respiratory illnesses.

On Sept. 13, 2001, then-EPA head Christine Todd Whitman told reporters at ground zero, "We have not seen any reason — any readings that have indicated any health hazard."

Asked by Smith if EPA officials lied, Dr. Jenkins responded, "Yes, they did."

Though Dr. Jenkins didn't personally conduct the research at ground zero, it's her opinion that the EPA knew the dust there had asbestos and PH levels that were dangerously high.

"This dust was highly caustic," Dr. Jenkins told Smith, "in some cases, as caustic and alkaline as Drano."

Dr. Jenkins added that the agency said "nothing whatsoever" about the alkalinity of the dust.

She wrote memos accusing the EPA of lying.

In response to Smith's questions, the EPA issued a statement saying: "Top EPA scientists spent thousands of hours collecting, reviewing and analyzing samples from ground zero. Dr. Jenkins has not participated in any aspect of the EPA's work on the World Trade Center and is not an agency expert on the EPA's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Still, Jenkins says she's studied the research and, "At least in some measure, I believe (the EPA and its scientists who tested the air at ground zero) are" responsible for the health problems suffered by ground zero workers.

In an interview to air on 60 Minutes Sunday night, Whitman, the former EPA head, tells Katie Couric that, when EPA officials said the air was safe, they were talking about the air around lower Manhattan, not the air directly at ground zero. Whitman added that the agency warned ground zero workers to wear protection. She said her agency didn't have the authority to order them to wear masks, but New York City officials did.

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[Roland_Sheppard]

From my essay: 9/11 World Trade Center Dust Cloud: How Many Will Die! at:
http://web.me.com/rolandgarret/Site/9_11_ World_Trade_Center_Dust_Cloud%3A_How_Many_Will_Die%21.html

. . . . " In fact, on January 11, 2002, in a report by Cate Jenkins, of the EPA Hazardous Waste Identification Division stationed in Manhattan, compared asbestos levels found in lower Manhatten to the Libby, Montana Superfund site. Her conclusion was that lower Manhatten should also be declared a Superfund ste. Needless to say, the EPA has ignored its own report.
" In January, 2002, I attended a panel discussion "reporting back" about the hazardous conditions from the implosion of the World Trade Center. This meeting was sponsored by Cal-OSHA, "Worksafe!," and other safety organizations. The reporters explained that Hazardous Material Cleanup ("HAZWOP") regulations were suspended for the cleanup of the World Trade Center "dustpile." And that OSHA was prevented from enforcing work safety regulations and relegated to merely an advisory status. (Employers thus faced no penalties for putting workers at risk.)
" The haste to rapidly dispose of hazardous waste, unencumbered by safety regulations, compounded the environmental damage and the catastrophic damage to humans working and living in the affected area. To make matters worse, the government led people to believe that things were safe. They did not inform the workers and residents in the area of the immediate risks and long range risks to their longevity.
" It is obvious that the government is/was aware of these risks, because it suspended safety regulations. (If conditions truly were safe, then regulations would not have to be suspended.) The knowledge of the long range potential liabilities of the building contractors, the asbestos companies, and other producers of carcinogens, is also why the government is now proposing to put limits on asbestos litigations. The driving force behind these actions was the economic necessity to hasten the reopening of Wall Street? a clear illustration of profits being more important than human lives.

[awissner]

I was appalled last night when Katie Couric assailed Christine Todd Whitman on 60 Minutes. It is unconscionable to even imply that everyone involved didn%u2019t do their absolute best in that horrific situation. I have listened to Ms. Whitman%u2019s statements and I think that it was perfectly clear that they were directed at the cities general public and not those on the pile. I don%u2019t believe the EPA lied. Their statements were based on the earliest available information, the value of which should not be discounted when weighed against the need to soothe an already panicked city. Obviously, inhaling particulates of any sort is never good for you. But even had they stopped every person entering the site and explained the potential hazards, do you honestly think it would have stopped a single one of them? While I believe 100% that we have an obligation to address the medical issues arising in those who worked on the pile, I equally believe that you are wrong in trying to lay blame anywhere other than with the terrorists.

[awissner]

I was appalled last night when Katie Couric assailed Christine Todd Whitman on 60 Minutes. It is unconscionable to even imply that everyone involved didn%u2019t do their absolute best in that horrific situation. I have listened to Ms. Whitman%u2019s statements and I think that it was perfectly clear that they were directed at the cities general public and not those on the pile. I don%u2019t believe the EPA lied. Their statements were based on the earliest available information, the value of which should not be discounted when weighed against the need to soothe an already panicked city. Obviously, inhaling particulates of any sort is never good for you. But even had they stopped every person entering the site and explained the potential hazards, do you honestly think it would have stopped a single one of them? While I believe 100% that we have an obligation to address the medical issues arising in those who worked on the pile, I equally believe that you are wrong in trying to lay blame anywhere other than with the terrorists.

[nystech]

What does the EPA have to do with it? They are the ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency! PESH was responsible for public employees, OSHA was responsible for private sector and DOH for civilians. They all have Industrial Hygienist and access to labs, and they all blew it.

To say that we (first responders) were warned is a joke. There was no effective mass communication for days. Check the pictures. Bush and other VIP's were all at GZ without any respirators. If they aren't wearing them, you would think it was safe. So much for leading by example.

I suggested a no mask, no pass rule at the EOC on 9/12 when an effective military perimeter was established, but was blown off. I'm just glad I brought my own mask from home since there were not many of the right ones (HEPA rate P-100's) available.

[bjr385]

Mayor Giuliani was responsible for enforcing the safety of the workplace, Ground Zero. He had the information and chose to please Bush & Co. by not ensuring that the workers were using the appropriate equipment.
I also wonder about Tuesday's children, the Iraqi children who have lost their parents because of the deliberate. unwarranted invasion of their country. I will never feel safe as long as this group of people are in office, I hope they leave before we are in a nuclear war, because that's what they want to do next....
Byrnt
PS: Katie did a good service in her coverage of the workers' illness and their dreaded futures.

[sanfelz]

Republican Christine Todd Whitman also felt that there was not enough tritium in the water. Residents of NJ who also responded to Ground Zero will get a double Whitman whammy in 10 years as they die, become disabled and diseased and face the taxes needed to pay from her nterms a governor.

Neither Whitman nor B ush have figured ou how to respond to a cvrisis except to lie. Next up: Rudy Giuliani.

[mjv2944]

boy oh boy, if this isn't typical bureacratic BS, but should we be surprised? Nothing was ever said about all the pollutants pumped into the lake in New Orleans.

[mjv2944]

boy oh boy, if this isn't typical bureacratic BS, but should we be surprised? Nothing was ever said about all the pollutants pumped into the lake in New Orleans.

[valendug]

Shouldn't the US government pay those who get terminally sick or die from the poisonous air also have $1.6 payments to their families also? They KNOWINGLY risked their lives to help others.

[bunionbabe]

The question is people...what are you going to do about this?