Christie Todd Whitman Testifies Today on Air Quality

This from the EPA Inspector General's report:

EPA issued five press releases within 10 days after September 11, 2001, four
more through the end of December, and another four through the end of May
2002. EPA’s WTC press releases from September through December 2001
reassured the public about air quality. Although EPA’s press releases generally
recommended that rescue and cleanup workers take precautions to reduce their
exposure to pollutants, EPA’s basic overriding message was that the public did
not need to be concerned about airborne contaminants caused by the WTC
collapse. This reassurance appeared to apply to both indoor and outdoor air.
For example, EPA Region 2 officials told us that the September 18 statement
made by the EPA Administrator (see Appendix C) that the air was “safe” to
breathe only applied to:

• long-term health effects – not short-term or acute health effects;
• the general public – not Ground Zero workers;
• outdoor air – not indoor air;
• healthy adults – not sensitive sub-populations such as children and the
elderly; and
• asbestos – not other air pollutants.

However, except for the second point, the statements issued by EPA in press
releases throughout 2001 generally did not contain the above qualifications. For
the general public, EPA’s overriding message was that there was no significant
threat to human health.

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