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Update: Ex-EPA Chief Whitman Agrees to Testify
May 18, 2007 2:28 PM
Ex-EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman abruptly reversed herself Friday and agreed to testify before Congress on her agency's response to the environmental fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Two days ago, Whitman's lawyer Joel Kobert had denied a request from a House panel chaired by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., for his client to testify, noting she was named in two lawsuits related to the issue.
But today, Whitman herself told Nadler in a hand-delivered letter that she was willing to participate in a hearing "if you insist."
THE BLOTTER RECOMMENDS
Nadler had originally invited Whitman to testify at a May 22 hearing. In a press release today announcing Whitman's decision, Nadler said he would reschedule Whitman's hearing to a date "in the near future."
On Sept. 18, 2001, then-EPA head Whitman released a statement declaring the results from air monitoring tests in New York showed "their air is safe to breathe."
Nearly two years after the attacks, the EPA's inspector general concluded that assurance and others were based on insufficient information. The report also said that EPA press releases were softened under pressure from the White House.
Multiple studies have documented health problems amongst 9/11 emergency responders and workers.
One study released last year by Mount Sinai Hospital in New York showed more than 70 percent of Ground Zero workers suffered health ailments or severe respiratory problems.
Whitman and the EPA face lawsuits from people who claim to have been harmed by air pollutants in the lower Manhattan area resulting from the attack. In her letter to Nadler, Whitman said she did not believe "it is appropriate for me to testify about matters that are currently pending in litigation."
An appeals court ruled last month that one lawsuit against Whitman, brought by a small number of government employees, could not go forward because the EPA chief could not be held constitutionally liable for her statements in the wake of the disaster.
"Officials might default to silence in the face of the public's urgent need for information," warned Judge Dennis Jacobs.
That recent ruling may also affect a class-action suit that has been brought against Whitman by residents of lower Manhattan.
In an e-mailed statement, Nadler expressed gratitude for Whitman's decision. "There are so many unanswered questions about why certain decisions were made," said the lawmaker, whose district includes lower Manhattan.
May 18, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (15)
Considering what actually occurred that horrible day, I cannot phathom why in the world any logical human being, "EPA expertise" aside, could believe and then state publicly that the air was perfectly fine to breathe.It was full of jet fuel, building debris and God knows what else. Our government, and I use that term lightly, needs to wake the hell up and help these emergency responders who acted selflessly that day.
Posted by: susan | May 18, 2007 2:40:37 PM
"the EPA chief could not be held constitutionally liable for her statements"
I think this translates as a 'get out of jail free' card for government employees, no?
Only in America...
Posted by: dave | May 18, 2007 7:05:39 PM
It was essential that the crime scene be scrubbed immediately.
Posted by: Joe | May 18, 2007 8:52:50 PM
I pray for the first responders, and I pray that the Government will be exposed for thier lies!
God Bless the Truth.
Go Ron Paul!
Posted by: nick | May 18, 2007 9:20:22 PM
The Air was unsafe to breathe. The buildings were unsafe to work in. The Official Theory is unsafe to believe in. And the School House that George was in must have been safe as hell because no one escorted him out as soon as they heard the nation was under attack. Give me a break. Honor our founding fathers and break this story wide open patriotic like. Close down the private Federal Reserve System and get this country back on the track it was intended to move on. Who owns this major media outlet. We have a lot of work to do and it all starts with you.
Posted by: Orangutan. | May 18, 2007 9:20:38 PM
Yes Orangutan, if only they had the courage. Sickening-the only businesses in the world covered by the First Amendment.
When the autopsy is performed on Democracy in the United States- cause will be listed as bad press.
Posted by: LadyLiberty | May 18, 2007 9:25:11 PM
Science doesn't lie. Physics doesn't lie. Mathematics doesn't lie. People do lie. Politicians do lie. They have lied us into an Oil War and killed 3,000 of our soldiers and 600,000 Iraqis. They lie for profits. Deaths ensue. PNAC called for a "New Pearl Harbor" in 2000. They wanted it, they got it. Coincidence?!?
First responders deserve full justice. Every American must know ALL THE FACTS about 9/11 for this to happen. You are being lied to. Learn about propaganda techniques. What is the difference between a fact and an opinion? What is "editorializing"? What is an unfounded assertion? The truth demands that you educate yourself. Ignorance and complacency are fertile substrate for the seeds of deception.
Posted by: CONSCIOUSNESS | May 18, 2007 9:45:35 PM
waiting for the truth to come out... .
Posted by: psi3fi | May 18, 2007 9:58:58 PM
It seems impossible Whitman issued the "safe to breath" statement with "insufficient information". Knowing what was in those buildings and the volcanic like dust clouds was enough WITHOUT any studies. Perhaps pressure to say the air was safe, was to prevent a REAL study that would certainly produce residue of explosives? And there is your answer.
Posted by: Mike Casner | May 19, 2007 6:29:37 AM
I think she previously was the governor of new jerey.Makes you wonder what she certified as safe in that state?
And that "if you insist" rhetoric! As though it would disturb her bath.
Posted by: marvin | May 19, 2007 10:46:15 AM
I do not wish to be negative, but this country, like other past great civilizations is done. It is too late.
We are trillions in the hole and this amount is growing, as this is being written.
Posted by: Pep | May 19, 2007 6:55:47 PM
She was the worst governer we've had. She had better not come back to Jersey to spew more of her crap. It was a joke that she was doing work for anything related to environmental protection! She did crap for us here in NJ in that regard.
I'm happy people are suing her. Those workers deserve both compassion and monetary compensation for her actions.
Posted by: Marie | May 20, 2007 9:37:19 AM
It really is sad if anybody is so stupid that they needed someone to tell them that the air that day was bad, does someone have to be told to cover their face when there is dust in the air?....So give me a break about coverups and government bs...find something else to whine about..matter of fact why dont yall grow up and make a change in the government(by voting)after the first 24 hrs it was OSHA that should have stepped in that is what that agency is suppose to do it had become a construction site...The surviving first responders are the only ones who should recieve any kind of compensation...
Posted by: RepublicanRed | May 22, 2007 2:27:42 PM
I lived in NYC during the 9/11 attacks. Within weeks of 9/11, my wife and I began suffering from what first appeared to be bad allergy symptoms, but later turned out to be pneumonia on one occasion, severe bronchitis on at least two other occasions, and constant sore throats and peristent coughs. By 2004, we left the city for health and other reasons and relocated in the SW. LT
Posted by: L. Tominberg | May 23, 2007 9:10:24 AM
Wake Up America. This is but another cover up and dasterdly deed of this adminastrations ability to destroy what has taken years to build. I am convinced that what we are seeing unfold will prove that we have been taken to the cleaners by Mr.Bush and Mr.Chaney. It is time to put a stop to this disaster and expose thie real villains.
Posted by: George Matteson | May 23, 2007 10:07:37 AM
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