EPA scientist says agency hid dangers at ground zero from first responders

[stop the bleeding]

A scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency has written a letter to Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and other members of the New York congressional delegation blasting the EPA for hiding dangerous toxins from Ground Zero workers in the aftermath of 9/11, RAW STORY has learned.

The letter, written by Dr. Cate Jenkins and obtained by RAW STORY, claims that EPA-funded research on the toxicity of breathable alkaline dust at the site “falsified pH results” to make the substance appear benign, when it was, in reality, corrosive enough to cause first responders and other workers in lower Manhattan to later lose pulmonary functions and, in some cases, to die.

Jenkins has loudly criticized the office in the past for—among other malfeasances—improperly handling evidence that the World Trade Center disaster site was a major health hazard.

The letter, as acquired by RAW STORY, follows:

read letter here:

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/EPA_Scientest_Alleges_WTC_Fraud_0825.html

on edit: if someone has a better link for reading the letter it would be appreciated if you posted it - thank you in advance

[ThomCat]

1. Yet again, The Bush Administration did NOT protect us

And, in fact, deliberately put us in harms way. When will Christine Todd Whitman be frog-marched into court? When will Bush be held accountable?
x(

[louis-t]

2. I do not believe EPA did this on their own.

I understood that the * admin sanitized the report or told EPA to change it.

[TahitiNut]

10. As a former research scientist at one of DOE's national laboratories

... I can virtually guarantee you that "science" is held hostage to politics in federal agencies. The pressures of conformity are extraordinary and, particularly in certain disciplines where the lion's share of the jobs are in federally-funded organizations, it's career suicide to go against the program management offices. Interim, draft, and preliminary reports are thoroughly vetted for "political correctness" and the scientists, technicians, and engineers are enormously pressured to "adopt more favorable assumptions" and "take another look at the results" and "regard something as an anomaly" in order to suppress bad news.

Getting funded is the name of the game, and virtually all of the funding is controlled through the program management functions.

[savemefromdumbya]

3. Hope the scientist has a body guard?

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Yeah, he'll probably get suicided.

[gratuitous]

4. I surmised this on September 12 or so

As soon as I heard that the World Trade Center towers had been constructed using asbestos, I knew that the air around the site would be a toxic brew of dust, chemicals, and asbestos fibers. The high concentration of airborne contaminants has already shown up in a spike in respiratory ailments among the first people who went into the area, and every person who was in there during that first week will spend the rest of their lives waiting for the tell-tale cough or shortness of breath that signals the onset of asbestosis or mesothelioma.

And the corrupt Bush administration won't give two farts.

[lyonn]

7. Asbestos, a biggie I suspect

It doesn't take many particles to affect the body. Once had a step-father that was an asbestos worker during WWII and he died in the late 50's from multiple myloloma (sp?), a form of cancer related to asbestos. It was a quick and painful death from the time of discovery. They were putting that stuff in the Capitol in Sacramento, schools, etc.

[ryanus]

5. Impossible

Do you know how many people it would take to pull off a coverup like this? What, like hundreds of people work at the EPA. They all are in on this? Yeah, right. My cousin works at the CIA, is he in on it too?

/sarcasm off

[katsy]

8. employee's at the epa don't necessarily...

have to be "in on this".

http://faculty.washington.edu/barbwarn/406website/Brousseau1/Page6.htm

http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=enviromental_impact_911_attacks&env_imp_general_topic_areas=env_imp_benchmarks

The epa doesn't need to stinking cover up anything. From http://immuneweb.org/911/ :

" We do know, more or less, what is in the dust. Unfortunately, the EPA and others have downplayed that as well. Monitoring stations several blocks away from Ground Zero constantly find levels of asbestos over the "acceptable" limits. When this happens, they say: "This reading exceeds the EPA benchmark. It may not indicate increased risk, however, because these are 'snapshots,' rather than long-term exposure measurements. Weather and recovery activities at the World Trade Center can cause temporary variations in asbestos levels that affect these snapshots." Of course it indicates increased risk! Those "temporary variations" continue 24 hours a day. And these are just measurements of what is in the air. Not what may have accumulated in your home."

Why would anyone accuse the epa of a coverup when all they need to do is change some rules or take advantage of loopholes?

http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/loophole091605.cfm

http://www.ecochem.com/ENN_EPA_illegal_direction.html

[stop the bleeding]

9. interesting

and thank you

[nam78_two]

6. yup

Many people have become very ill because of this...

I don't know how these people live with themselves...
disgusting...

[w4rma]

11. The Republican leadership maims and kills these heros too.

These times are not good times for heros.