Posted on 06/23/2007 7:24:32 AM PDT by lowbridge
Former Environmental Protection Agency boss Christie Whitman says she urged Ground Zero workers to wear respirators, but then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani blocked her efforts.
She also said city officials didn't want EPA workers wearing haz-mat suits because they "didn't want this image of a city falling apart."
In an interview scheduled to run the day before Whitman testifies in front of Congress on Monday, she told WNBC-TV she warned the city of the risks almost every day.
And she said she believes illnesses killing first responders can be blamed on the city's lack of action.
"I'm not a scientist ... but I do [believe that]," she told WNBC's Brian Thompson.
"I mean, we wouldn't have been saying that the workers should wear respirators if ... we didn't think there might be health consequences."
She said the city had the responsibility to make sure workers wore respirators. But many took them off, complaining of heat. She said workers without respirators were barred from cleanup efforts at the Pentagon.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Christine Todd Dimwit should just go back under that rock where she’s been hiding. And she should wear her hazmat suit.
Frankly, it does sound like a dumb PR move on the government’s part NOT to put the workers in protective gear.
She must wanna’ be Bloomberg’s VP...
I'd almost give odds he'll be out by Labor Day. Prolly due to 'health reasons'. Just like when he 1st chickened out against Hillary.
I'm not a Rudy supporter, but in this case its kinda hard to decide who to believe. Whitman or rudy.
this is only because she is going to declare her support for the piaps!!!!
“Frankly, it does sound like a dumb PR move on the government’s part NOT to put the workers in protective gear.”
Glad you don’t run anything (apparently, anyway). Wouldnj’t want to leave my safety up to you.
A very good friend of my cousin’s was over there for I think 3 days. I saw him on the avenue one night and he looked trashed, but he said he was at Ground Zero. There’s confirmation in that because I saw him talking to a reporter on TV during the day.
Regardless, this kinda thing ain’t gonna help Rooty one bit.
I’m not a Rudy supporter, but in this case its kinda hard to decide who to believe. Whitman or rudy.
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Well I would take Rudy’s word over Whitman’s any day.
Am I wrong to believe that Whitman is simply passing the buck to Rudy? I mean, as head of the EPA, didn't she have the means to legally mandate the wearing of respirators during the WTC cleanup? Afterall, it wasn't as if it was a run of the mill event that brought down the towers. This was an incident of enormous proportions, and it only stands to reason that the cleanup should have been closely controlled, not just by city officials, but Federal as well. They were not only cleaning up debris, but were searching for evidence and remains. So why didn't she simply use the power of her office to control how it was done?
I misread your post. Thought you wrote does NOT sound like a bad PR move. Sorry!
Quick need coffee!
Likely, if Whitman is being truthful, she was acting on the advice of EPA scientists and public health specialists, if so there will be internal EPA documentation if that advice.
And if decision makers outside the EPA where aware of that, and decided to ignore the warnings, her account is really damming - who would trust anyone making such decisions to manage future responses to (for example) a "dirty bomb" attack?
In the event of such an attack it's critical for leaders to be given - and to take - unbiased technical advice as to the best response, and for citizens to trust that such advice is being given and taken - if not, the situation is going to degenerate into even worse confusion that is already present, and perhaps even into temporary anarchy.
Abusing that trust, and forfeiting that confidence, is about the most damaging than a "leader" can do, both to their political prospects and to the citizens who have elected then to govern under such circumstances.
This is going to get very ugly in a hurry.
A)Rudy lives for this kind of fight.
B)Every single thing about 9/11 was meticulously documented.
Please, just go away, CTW. Write another ignored, crybaby rhino book. Your presence embarrasses me of the days I championed you in NJ politics. Just wander off to the Flim-Flam Florio rest home for NJ politicians.
And yet some people believe it was an inside job.
Some folks are going to believe what they want to, regardless of any pesky details.
And yet some people believe it was an inside job.
Just mentioning that screwball theory is insulting. Let’s keep this thread rational.
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