http://www.boston.com/news/nation/wa..._report_finds/
White House ordered EPA to downplay health risk from trade centre collapse
WASHINGTON (AP) - At the White House's direction, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave New Yorkers misleading assurances there was no health risk from the debris-laden air after the World Trade Center collapse, an internal inquiry revealed.
President George W. Bush's senior environmental adviser defended the White House involvement Friday, saying it was justified by national security.
The White House "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones" by having the National Security Council control EPA communications in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, said a report issued late Thursday by EPA Inspector General Nikki Tinsley.
"When EPA made a Sept. 18 announcement that the air was 'safe' to breathe, the agency did not have sufficient data and analyses to make the statement," the report said, adding the EPA had yet to adequately monitor air quality for contaminants such as PCBs, soot and dioxin.
White House ordered EPA to downplay health risk from trade centre collapse
WASHINGTON (AP) - At the White House's direction, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave New Yorkers misleading assurances there was no health risk from the debris-laden air after the World Trade Center collapse, an internal inquiry revealed.
President George W. Bush's senior environmental adviser defended the White House involvement Friday, saying it was justified by national security.
The White House "convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones" by having the National Security Council control EPA communications in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, said a report issued late Thursday by EPA Inspector General Nikki Tinsley.
"When EPA made a Sept. 18 announcement that the air was 'safe' to breathe, the agency did not have sufficient data and analyses to make the statement," the report said, adding the EPA had yet to adequately monitor air quality for contaminants such as PCBs, soot and dioxin.
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