** Official EPA Ground Zero thread ***

[MiniMe]

Starting now on CSPAN3

http://www.cspan.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3

How much will Christy Todd Whitman remember?

[cal04]

1. thanks MiniMe

for the thread

[MiniMe]

2. Opening statement by Nadler

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. The WTC is Nadler's CD. This is Very Personal for him! eom

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. I think this is one of the reasons why she quit from the EPA, but I've heard alot

lately on NY news and she's still pimping for Bushco. She is though, pointing fingers at Rudy!!!!!!

[IChing]

4. Condoleezza Rice signed the order.

Condoleezza Rice's office gave final approval to the infamous Environmental Protection Agency press releases days after 9/11 claiming the air around Ground Zero was "safe to breathe," internal documents show.
Now Secretary of State, Rice was then head of the National Security Council - "the final decision maker" on EPA statements about lower Manhattan air quality, the documents say.

Scientists and lawmakers have since deemed the air rife with toxins.

Early tests known to the EPA at the time had already found high asbestos levels, the notes say. But those results were omitted from the press releases because of "competing priorities" such as national security and "opening Wall Street," according to a report by the EPA's inspector general.

The chief of staff for then-EPA head Christie Todd Whitman, Eileen McGinnis, told the inspector general of heated discussions, including "screaming telephone calls," about what to put in the press releases.

The notes come from a 2003 probe into public assurances made on Sept. 16, five days after the 9/11 attacks. They tell how a White House staffer "worked with Dr. Condoleezza Rice's press secretary" on reviewing the press releases for weeks.

Whitman said through a spokeswoman Friday that she never discussed her press releases directly with Rice. She also defended her collaboration with the White House.

Now-retired Inspector General Nikki Tinsley told The Post her auditors tried to question the head of President Bush's Environmental Quality Council, but "he would not talk to us."

http://911truth.org/article.php?story=20061006200535746

[IChing]

11. Why isn't Rice at this hearing?

[MiniMe]

14. They can't get her at any other hearing

why would we expect she would show up at this one? Not aimed at you IChing, but she already ignored the subpeona from Conyers for the pre-911 intelligence hearing.

[IChing]

18. I know but her responcibility is evident in documents

and she is not even mentioned.

I just wanted to throw out the info on who really signed off on it for DU readers.

[MiniMe]

21. I appreciate that. I did not realize that she was the one that signed

Who knows, maybe her name will be brought up today. Then Condi can ignore another Subpeona.

[IChing]

26. They know of the documents and hopefully her name will come up n/t

[Norquist Nemesis]

54. What was the NSA clearing press releases for the EPA???

WTF???

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

78. The "environment" is "national."

It needs to be secured and protected.

Enter Rice.

Sheesh.

:eyes:

[MiniMe]

5. Accusing her of violating due process of first responders

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. BTW Thanks for the thread. I am bookmarking as I have to go out soon and can't watch

the whole hearing.

[alfredo]

7. Thanks - Kick

[MiniMe]

9. Blamed the administration for covering things up

and to continue covering things up

[MiniMe]

10. Nadler - EPA Air quality announcements were politically motivated

[MiniMe]

12. FEMA refused to clean up personal residences

big surprise

[LSK]

13. tuning in...

[cal04]

15. applause for Nadler

no demonstrations no applause
Yeah Conyers!

[MiniMe]

16. Conyers opening statement now

[LSK]

17. there is something about Conyers presence that has a calming effect on me

Just to know that someone like him is on the job.

[MiniMe]

19. Yup. But it sounds like he is saying to her

"Be an independent voice today". At least that is what I take from it.

[babylonsister]

20. Tell the truth? nt

[MiniMe]

22. It would be refreshing, wouldn't it?

I rather suspect another case of "I can't remember-itis" or I can't comment because of a pending lawsuit.

[babylonsister]

23. Refreshing?! What is the truth? It's been so long... nt

[MiniMe]

24. OMG, is Weiner throwing her under the bus?

[MiniMe]

27. Oops, thought Weiner was an R. I should have known better

But he is giving it to her. Go Weiner

[cal04]

25. you go Weiner

the air was NOT safe
rewrite the public record
cover one persons responsibility and blame another

[libnnc]

28. Weiner is letting her have it

Good.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. She deserved every bit of it. She belongs in prison along with Bushco. eom

[LSK]

29. are any Repukes there?

[MiniMe]

36. They said the ranking member was going to be there late

Not sure if there are any other repukes

[IChing]

31. Here we go with her opening statement

the bullshit revisionist history.

[librechik]

32. shorter Christie: I did Everything Correctly--Somebody else's fault

oh, yeah, attack the terrorists. And I was badly informed. Somevody Else told me the air was ok.

What garbage.

[file83]

33. Whitman is making her case that the EPA did warn the rescue workers.

I didn't like her tone of voice - it was a little defensive which makes me suspicious of her.

[MiniMe]

35. There were residents that lived there too, who warned them?

She is being sued, part of the reason she won't implicate herself.

[file83]

38. Exactly - and even though she presented a large "memo" - she didn't mention

the number of memos distributed that day. Was it one memo? Who got it? How was it distributed?

A memo won't do anyone much good if it's sitting on someone's desk, so I'd like to know those answers from her.

[snooper2]

34. There are people to blame

The terrorists...she's not happy being here...

[lovuian]

86. Dust to Dust My You tube movie on Rudy and Christine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B2WBD-F-7I

There will be more people die from air exposure than the terrorists killed
if you worked in Lower Manhatten and have the 911 cough

WOrry

[MiniMe]

37. How is OSHA going to explain this away?

[file83]

39. He is ignoring the key focus of the problem: How did so many people get sick

if OSHA had everyone using the "proper" respirators?

All he's talking about was the "success" of how few people got injured or died during the rescue operations.

[librechik]

45. they're obviously liberal fakers, ripping off the govt.

:sarcasm:

[cal04]

40. September 18, 2001Whitman Details Ongoing Agency Efforts

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman announced today that results from the Agency's air and drinking water monitoring near the World Trade Center and Pentagon disaster sites indicate that these vital resources are safe. Whitman also announced that EPA has been given up to $83 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support EPA's involvement in cleanup activities and ongoing monitoring of environmental conditions in both the New York City and Washington metropolitan areas following last week's terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

"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.

http://www.epa.gov/wtc/stories/headline_091801.htm

White House Sway Is Seen in
E.P.A. Response to 9/11
JENNIFER B. LEE / NY Times 9aug03
http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2003/Bush-Sway-EPA-911-9aug03.htm

[file83]

41. Whoa snap!! Did you see that 30 second clip of Whitman saying it was "safe"!?!

She's toasted.

[IChing]

42. Her own words ..........with video tape.....

Damn. She just got nailed by Nadler

[file83]

46. She's all "...bu...bu...but I always qualified that statement with 'on the pile'!"

Ha ha - but what she doesn't realize is that "the pile" isn't the concern. It's the general area!!

Cooked.

[IChing]

48. Nadler is calling her a liar with her "falsehoods"

She is getting cooked and Nadler is turning up the fire on the skillet.
Hopefully to where she is undeniable toxic

[file83]

51. She's bobbing and weaving....she's even trying to derail the conversation...

...looks like her seat is getting a bit uncomfortable.

She's also trying to pull a "Gonzales". "I'll have to take your word for it sir, I do not recall."

[MiniMe]

43. Nadler just played back her own words

go to videotape please.

[cal04]

44. why can't the pukes EVER answer a

question

[file83]

47. Oh, they answer them...just not honestly.

[MiniMe]

49. I'm not going to go back 6 years to questions the scientists of that time

Um, that is what this hearing is about. What a bitch she is.

[file83]

53. She's not a bitch. She's a BushBot.

[librechik]

50. Christie: We were taking our own samples but...oh, I can't tell you."

!

[IChing]

52. "With all due respect I can't imagine"

She just got caught in another lie that she said.
The air qualities were not what we said they were.

[MiniMe]

55. Conyers: How could they get to the workplace without walking through the street?

OSHA Guy - Blah Blah Blah

[file83]

56. Wait a minute - is this OSHA guy using hindsight that the tests were inconclusive?

Or is this something they knew at the time?

He's trying to use smoke & mirrors to disrupt the conversation. He's trying to suggest that their tests that detected airborne asbestos fibers, but those fibers were in fact "other" fibers!?

Umm...smoke and mirrors. His defense actually makes them guilty. He's trying to suggest that the tests were inconclusive (the fact that they couldn't "speciate" the source of the fibers), so then why did they say it was okay to go back!?

[MiniMe]

57. Repuke ranking member-Good faith effort of public employees??

Good faith effort???

[babylonsister]

58. Conyers just sounded so apologetic for even having this hearing.

What was up with that?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

59. Conyers smacking down the BS being propagated by the GOP pigs

He is chastising them for playing politics (yet again) instead of trying to derive the truth.

[IChing]

60. Ellison is using her words again

This is getting into a fight........

[MiniMe]

63. Oohhhh, nasty. That was a great exchange

She is using the usual tactic of wasting their time answering a different question, or objecting to the question and arguing

[babylonsister]

61. Rightly or wrongly, she's sounding pretty defensive. nt

[file83]

62. Keith Ellison and Whitman just had a heated exchange!

She got so defensive and Ellison said he wasn't going to allow her to make this a "personal" issue for her, because it's "personal" issue for so many New Yorkers.

Good for Ellison!!

[MiniMe]

64. Whitman-"We had a website up within 10 days"

The damage had already been done you twit

[file83]

66. Now her and the Republican congressman are making fun of science and smirking.

She just admitted that scientists can have many different opinions.

So why were her public statements on "safety" so firm & solid? According to her, scientists have too many opinions, so :wtf:

[flyarm]

82. and how many didn't have power and couldn't read her fucking web site!!

why did she not go on the news media and scream..its unsafe!!

fuck her!!

fly

[aquart]

65. Are people dying of asbestosis?

Why the focus on asbestos?

[flyarm]

83. yes!!!!!!!!!!!! and some have already died!!

but yoy wouldn't know that from our media!! or epa!! or bush government!

fly

[IChing]

67. Scott is leading up to something with his line of questioning

he is leading the witness having them agree ...I see something coming.

[cal04]

68. the inspector general's report, they did not have sufficient data

The draft of the inspector general's report also says the agency "did not have sufficient data and analyses" to make a "blanket statement" when it announced seven days after the attack that the air around ground zero was safe to breathe. "Competing considerations, such as national security concerns and the desire to reopen Wall Street, also played a role in E.P.A.'s air quality statements," the report said.

The report, which has not yet been made public, is an evaluation of the agency's overall response to the attack on the World Trade Center. One chapter focuses on the role of the White House Council on Environmental Quality in helping to shape the agency's communication after the attack.

As a result of the White House C.E.Q.'s influence, guidance for cleaning indoor spaces and information about the potential health effects from W.T.C. debris were not included in the E.P.A's issued press releases," said the report, which was made available by people who said it was too harsh. "In addition, based on C.E.Q.'s influence, reassuring information was added to at least one press release and cautionary information was deleted from E.P.A.'s draft version of that press release."


http://www.mongabay.com/external/bush_statements_epa.htm

[IChing]

69. This is about the letters that they got to reassure the public

and spin that the air was safe that came from the white house.
Paschrell is stating the facts.

[cal04]

70. Pascrell ,Give me a break!!!

she said back then she got extreme pressure from the white house
Mt. Sanai, the people are not making these stories up. The judge who handled the case was very clear. Deliberate misleading statements, she ripped her to shreds.
This administration has very little credibility

[flyarm]

84. rudy's ass ought to be there too!! this was criminal and those in NY and NJ

have been screaming about this and the media has totally ignored it!!

i hold the media responsible as well 100%

fly

[cal04]

71. more contractors

they protected the contractors and threw them off if they weren't wearing masks
they had so much security there why wasn't everyone wearing masks

[MiniMe]

72. Love Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Asking specific questions

[cal04]

73. she's terrific. First time seeing her

gets right to the point and knows what she's talking about

[IChing]

75. Me too she is extremely precise, articulate and just plain rocks.

[file83]

79. You forget to mention...

She's HOT!

[rainbow4321]

74. They need to ask what happened to that list of toxins she held up

for the news camera.

In the days after 9/11. A news station did a live interview with her near Ground Zero. The list was on one of those legal size notepad papers that was filled top to bottom w/ a handwritten list of toxins that she said was at Ground Zero. Some station must have video of her in their archives. She held the list up to the camera for viewers to look at.

Ask her:
Who did she give the list to? Did she follow up on the list, get it into the right hands or did it end up in chimp regime's shredder?

She listed a few things from it, saying that even the average workplace/office had too many potentials toxins to list, giving examples like chemicals in the office copy machines...all of which were getting inhaled by people living/working in the Ground Zero area.

[file83]

76. I hate softball questions...fluff.

They lead to answers like "The EPA workers were heros.....9/11....terrorists are responsible....blah blah blah"

[MiniMe]

77. New Thread, Mods please lock

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1180554

[IChing]

85. they didn't lock the last one

[Norquist Nemesis]

80. The EPA workers are being undermined and questioned?

Once again, Cons can't handle taking responsibility. It's about YOU, Whitman! YOU!

[file83]

81. It's very similar to the "Support the Troops!" rhetoric.

:puke: