Errorism

New Report Charges Bush Administration with Neglecting 9/11 Air Safety

The Bush administration showed "reckless disregard" for public safety after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by failing to warn New Yorkers about the dangers of breathing the polluted air around the Twin Towers site, says a new Sierra Club report. According to the report: The Bush administration failed to warn the public about long-understood dangers of breathing air filled with toxics, concrete, and glass fibers after building demolitions; it failed on up to a dozen occasions to change public-safety assurances after it became clear people were getting sick; and it failed to properly enforce safety-gear standards at the site, which were widely violated in part due to the conflicting air reports. The U.S. EPA used outdated air-quality testing gear in some areas and failed to test at all in others, the report charges, and the EPA's own inspector general said it bowed to White House pressure by issuing a reassuring air report without "sufficient data and analyses." As a result, hundreds of people were sickened, and many remain so.