The Freedom Tower

We knew. We’ve always known. It’s not news that former EPA chief Christie Whitman lied six years ago when she said  the air quality in New York after 9/11 was safe. Its being reported now that she lied then as if it is news. It did not take six years to figure this out. It just took common sense.     Nevertheless, the media began reporting the Whitman lie this week after lawyers  for residents of lower Manhattan told an appeals court earlier this week they should hold Whitman responsible for her deceptive comments. Just five days after 9/11 Whitman, then head of the Environmental Protection Agency told reporters “The good news continues to be that air samples we have taken have all been at levels that cause no concern.” Six years later, the evidence clearly shows something quite different and lower Manhattan residents aren’t being quiet about it. They filed a class action law suit  together with students and workers at Ground Zero saying they relied on Whitman’s comments when they decided to continue living, working or to continue going to school downtown. Doctors now say anyone exposed to the air downtown were exposed to toxic fumes.
“If she had not said this, they probably would have made their own decision,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan) told the New York Daily News after a hearing on the issue. “She was telling people it was safe when she knew damn well it wasn’t.”

Manhattan Federal Court Judge Deborah Batts suggested in a February 2006 ruling that Whitman’s comments were irresponsible.