Lawyers representing lower Manhattan residents told an appeals court Monday that the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christie Whitman, knowingly lied about air quality after the 9/11 attacks and should be personally responsible for medical monitoring and a cleanup.The plaintiffs' lawyer Sherrie Savett said Whitman,
"made false statements to the public, inducing them, seducing them to go back to their homes and to send their kids back to school."
Five days after the attacks, Whitman told reporters,
"The good news continues to be that air samples we have taken have all been at levels that cause no concern."
This, The EPA's own Office of the Inspector General later revealed, was an outright lie.
The New York Daily News reports:
The New York Daily News reports:
In their class-action suit, residents, workers and students living around Ground Zero say they relied on Whitman's comments in deciding whether to return to an area coated with dust from the twin towers' collapse.
"If she had not said this, they probably would have made their own decision," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) said after the hearing. "She was telling people it was safe when she knew damn well it wasn't."
The government's lawyer responded by arguing that if Whitman is held responsible then it would set a "dangerous" precedent that would open up public officials to liability.
Yes, that's right, God forbid that public officials should be liable for the decisions they make and the actions they take, they should be above the law and be able to lie whenever they want to, even when people's lives are at stake.
Whitman had originally refused to testify for the hearing, so it was left to District judges to subpoena Whitman at the request of New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes the World Trade Center site. In doing so one judge referred to Whitman's actions as "conscience-shocking."
In August 2003 it was revealed that the Government ordered the EPA to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers on September 12 it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available and Asbestos levels were known to be three times higher than national standards.
Further documents were obtained by CBS news last September, revealing that Lower Manhattan was reopened a few weeks following the attack even though the air was not safe.
Yes, that's right, God forbid that public officials should be liable for the decisions they make and the actions they take, they should be above the law and be able to lie whenever they want to, even when people's lives are at stake.
Whitman had originally refused to testify for the hearing, so it was left to District judges to subpoena Whitman at the request of New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat whose district includes the World Trade Center site. In doing so one judge referred to Whitman's actions as "conscience-shocking."
In August 2003 it was revealed that the Government ordered the EPA to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers on September 12 it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available and Asbestos levels were known to be three times higher than national standards.
Further documents were obtained by CBS news last September, revealing that Lower Manhattan was reopened a few weeks following the attack even though the air was not safe.
No comments:
Post a Comment