In anticipation of her testmiony before a congressional hearing headed by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan), New York Daily News writer Juan Gonzalez posted ten questions that former EPA chair Christine Todd Whitman should answer. The quetions all revolve around what Ms. Whitman had to say about the many directives that the EPA released in the days following September the 11th which stated that the air quality of Lower Manhattan was safe. Since then, more than 70% of the first responders at Ground Zero have been diagnosed with serious diseases. Many of them have already died from expsoure to the cloud of toxic substances that engulfed the area after the collapse of the Twin Towers.

Mr. Gonzalez's qestions:

1. Did Ms. Whitman read a copy of Dr. Kilbourne's memo which stated "One of the first five EPA bulk samples from the WTC site contained a 'substantial concentration' of asbestos." Did anyone from EPA make her aware of his warning?
2. Did any top scientist at the EPA or elsewhere in government urge similar caution before reopening lower Manhattan to the public?
3. Given the early test results by the EPA and the city, which showed nearly 25% of dust samples had asbestos levels greater than the government's 1% action standard for dust, how could she possibly tell the public on Sept. 13 that "everything" was "below background levels?"
4. Did EPA follow regulations and do alkalinity testing in the first week after the attack? If so, why were those test results never publicly released?
5. If not, why not?
6. Since the EPA had legal responsibility for all environmental concerns, what did she do to enforce greater protection to workers on The Pile?
7. The EPA Inspector General's report concluded in August 2003 that staff at the White House Council on Environmental Quality rewrote agency press releases to downplay possible environmental health dangers in lower Manhattan. Did she tell the White House that non-health professionals were removing health advisories from your agency's public statements?
8. Why did EPA let tens of thousands of people return to homes and jobs in lower Manhattan without a way to verify whether building owners had properly removed all toxic contamination from inside their buildings?
9. Is she prepared to unequivocably tell the workers and residents of lower Manhattan their homes and offices are free of any 9/11 contaminated dust?
10. Did she have any discussions with the President or any of his closest White House aides about the potential public health danger of reopening the financial district too quickly, and if so, what was their response?

Labels: asbestos