Report: Bush showed 'reckless disregard' after 9/11
By Graham Rayman
Staff Writer

August 18, 2004, 8:28 PM EDT

The Bush administration misled the public about the health hazards of
the smoke and dust at Ground Zero, a new report charges.

The Sierra Club report blames the thousands of cases of long-term
respiratory illness among New Yorkers on the White House, the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration for downplaying the health risks and shirking their
regulatory oversight roles.

EPA officials, the report says, urged financial district workers to
return to their jobs, repeatedly claiming the air was safe, using
outdated testing gear and limited test results. The reassuring message
didn't substantially change as the months dragged on, the report said.

At the same time, concerns were being raised by independent
researchers.

The EPA's own researchers also noted concerns, but their studies never
made it into the agency's public statements. The results were
published only much later in scientific journals.

The result has been costly to local and federal governments, said
Suzanne Mattei, the New York City Executive for the Sierra Club and
the author of the report.

"The health care costs are significant, and there are many experienced
first responders and others now on light duty, medical leave or
retired because of lung problems," she said.

While the early focus was on asbestos, the more dangerous toxins were
concrete dust and glass fibers -- the dangers of which were never
highlighted to the public, the report concludes.

By Sept. 27, 2001, the government had test results showing the dust
was caustic, but it never mentioned that in public statements, the
report said. That data was not disclosed until December 2002 in a
scientific journal, the report said.

Without performing a single test, the EPA already knew from many prior
studies that the combination of open fires and demolition of buildings
was by definition a health hazard, the report states.

"It's illegal in any state in the union," Mattei said. "It causes
known health hazards. But instead of saying we need to clean to
pre-contamination levels, they took a minimalist approach and used
weak cleanup standards."

EPA officials yesterday issued a statement, saying, "The American
public should see this report for what it is: a blatant attempt to use
this tragedy for political gain."

EPA spokeswoman Cynthia Bergman said, "I think their report crosses
the line."

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.