Whitman insists EPA didn't lie on 9/11 air
The EPA was ordered by the White House to make statements that the air in lower Manhattan was safe when they had no data to support that claim. Yet Whitman can't recongize that as a lie.
The EPA inspector general found "that the agency's immediate public announcements after the collapse of the Trade Center that the air was safe to breathe were made without sufficient supporting evidence."
Excerpts:
"At the same time, while acknowledging that some of those reassurances came at the direction of the White House, she said her agency was never told to lie about the air quality."
"At the time, there were still no air monitoring data available for many of the particulates and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that were present in the dust plume that darkened the skies over New York City. Studies have since concluded that the airborne dust from the collapsed towers contained a complex mixture of asbestos, lead, glass fibers and concrete. The dust blanketed Lower Manhattan and was blown into many surrounding office buildings, schools and apartments."
"Investigators for the inspector general's office also found that the White House influenced the information the EPA was communicating to the public -- convincing the agency to "add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones." In fact, top EPA officials were instructed that all statements to the media needed to be cleared through the National Security Council.
The inspector general noted that even a year after the attacks, a draft evaluation by the EPA concluded that after the first few days, ambient air levels were unlikely to affect the health of the public.
"However, because of numerous uncertainties -- including the extent of the public's exposure and a lack of health-based benchmarks -- a definitive answer to whether the air was safe to breathe may not be settled for years to come," said the inspector general."
Link
If this isn't lying what exactly do these people consider a lie?
The EPA was ordered by the White House to make statements that the air in lower Manhattan was safe when they had no data to support that claim. Yet Whitman can't recongize that as a lie.
The EPA inspector general found "that the agency's immediate public announcements after the collapse of the Trade Center that the air was safe to breathe were made without sufficient supporting evidence."
Excerpts:
"At the same time, while acknowledging that some of those reassurances came at the direction of the White House, she said her agency was never told to lie about the air quality."
"At the time, there were still no air monitoring data available for many of the particulates and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, that were present in the dust plume that darkened the skies over New York City. Studies have since concluded that the airborne dust from the collapsed towers contained a complex mixture of asbestos, lead, glass fibers and concrete. The dust blanketed Lower Manhattan and was blown into many surrounding office buildings, schools and apartments."
"Investigators for the inspector general's office also found that the White House influenced the information the EPA was communicating to the public -- convincing the agency to "add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones." In fact, top EPA officials were instructed that all statements to the media needed to be cleared through the National Security Council.
The inspector general noted that even a year after the attacks, a draft evaluation by the EPA concluded that after the first few days, ambient air levels were unlikely to affect the health of the public.
"However, because of numerous uncertainties -- including the extent of the public's exposure and a lack of health-based benchmarks -- a definitive answer to whether the air was safe to breathe may not be settled for years to come," said the inspector general."
Link
If this isn't lying what exactly do these people consider a lie?