D. Batts.
Posted on 02/02/2006 6:34:19 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK - A federal judge blasted former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman on Thursday for reassuring New Yorkers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that it was safe to return to their homes and offices while toxic dust was polluting the neighborhood.
U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts refused to grant Whitman immunity against a class-action lawsuit brought in 2004 by residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who said they were exposed to hazardous materials from the destruction of the World Trade Center.
"No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," the judge said.
She called Whitman's actions "conscience-shocking," saying the EPA chief knew that the collapse of the twin towers released tons of hazardous materials into the air.
Whitman had no comment, according to a spokeswoman. A Justice Department spokesman said the government had no comment. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the lengthy opinion.
The judge let the lawsuit proceed against the EPA and Whitman, permitting the plaintiffs to try to prove that the agency and its administrator endangered their health.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and reimbursement for cleanup costs and asks the court to order that a medical monitoring fund be set up to track the health of those exposed to trade center dust.
In her ruling, Batts noted that the EPA and Whitman said repeatedly — beginning just two days after the attack — that the air appeared safe to breathe. The EPA's internal watchdog later found that the agency, at the urging of White House officials, gave misleading assurances.
Quoting a ruling in an earlier case, the judge said a public official cannot be held personally liable for putting the public in harm's way unless the conduct was so egregious as "to shock the contemporary conscience." Given her role in protecting the health and environment for Americans, Whitman's reassurances after Sept. 11 were "without question conscience-shocking," Batts said.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said in a statement that New Yorkers are still depending on the federal government to describe any ongoing risk from contaminants.
"I continue to believe that the White House owes New Yorkers an explanation," she said.
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat whose district includes the trade center site, said the many people who worked at the site and developed respiratory diseases deserve answers.
"It is my assumption that thousands of people — workers and residents — are being slowly poisoned today because these workplaces and residences were never properly cleaned up," Nadler said in a telephone interview.
Nadler is right.
Never trust the motives of a Manhattan Liberal.
Downtown Manhattaners and Brooklyners do deserve answers. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
I guess they should have just evacuated and cordoned off the affected areas until the threat of contamination had subsided.
...at the urging of White House officials... where have I heard this charge before?
I thought elected officials and appointed cabinet members were exempt from this kind of lawsuit?
He expressed no concern for public health, just the cleaning job to be done at public expense by members of a union that contributes to his campaigns.
http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2001/10/24_batts.php
"A portrait of United States District Judge Deborah A. Batts, the first and only openly gay, lesbian or bisexual member of the federal judiciary, will be unveiled at Harvard Law School..."
"Judge Batts, an African-American woman, was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1994 by President Clinton. Prior to joining the bench, she was an associate professor at Fordham University School of Law where she continues to serve as an adjunct professor."
"'No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws,' the judge said."
There was no reasonable person or said reasonable person would have spoken out at the time, dear judge.
Talk about stupid.
Really. Everyone should have been evacuated and a giant tarp dropped over the hole by a helicopter. Gimme a break.
D. Batts.
If they had shut down NY then Nadler would be complaining about how NY had been shut down too long.
Leave it to good ol' American ingenuity to turn a calamitous terrorist attack into a gravy train.
No, Really????
I am sick of sycophant "justices" pontificating from the Bench. It is NOT Christine Todd Whitman's fault, IT WAS THE ISLAMOFACISTS FAULT!
Why don't idiots like this get it?
you couldn't have stopped anyone from going down there. the construction workers, the fireman, the police. alot of them worked aithout breathing protection, even a simple mask, I don't know why, but its not because of Whitman.
that's all we need to know.
Good posts! Thanks for cutting to the chase.
Hillary, you owe the American people more than an explanation of how "your husband" allowed 9/11 to happen in the first place, you evil *itch. Instead of worrying about interns he should have been worrying about TERRORISM.
If the consensus is that it wasn't safe in the area, why should Whitman say that it is safe? Shouldn't she say it isn't safe, but anyone who thinks it's important to go there can do so?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.