Former EPA head admits she was wrong to tell New Yorkers post-9/11 air was safe

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Former EPA head admits she was wrong to tell New Yorkers post-9/11 air was safe

Christine Todd Whitman, who told the public that Ground Zero air
quality, says: ‘I’m sorry. We did the very best we could at the time
with the knowledge we had’

Joanna Walters in New York
Saturday 10 September 2016 11.30 BST

Christine Todd Whitman, who as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under George W Bush at the time of the 9/11 attacks told the public the air around Ground Zero in New York was safe to breathe, has admitted for the first time she was wrong.

Among those who were exposed to toxins released when the World Trade Center collapsed, the toll of illness and death continues to rise.

Speaking to the Guardian for a report on the growing health crisis to be published on Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the attacks, Whitman made an unprecedented apology to those affected but denied she had ever lied about the air quality or known at the time it was dangerous.

“Whatever we got wrong, we should acknowledge and people should be helped,” she said, adding that she still “feels awful” about the tragedy and its aftermath.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/10/epa-head-wrong-911-air-safe-new-york-christine-todd-whitman

[JonathanRackham]

1. Only the first wave of people have died.

Those downwind exposed to lesser critical degrees have been affected and it will show in the future.

[KT2000]

2. sorry Christine - you did know

anyone with a bit of knowledge about toxicology knew - and she was advised by professionals at the time. Now she needs to apologize to Robert Martin. She made sure his job as citizen ombudsman to the EPA was abolished because he was telling the truth. Now it is just the corporations who have the ear of the EPA. She has quite a legacy - the sick and dying and more corporate power to poison.

[Moliere]

3. She was lying and knew it back then

I was in NYC for 9/11 and it was painfully obvious that the smoke from the smoldering plastics, various chemicals and metals was toxic. Lies, damned lies, and the liars who tell them