Posted BY: Drew Allen
EPA administrator Michael Regan insists that air and water in East Palestine, Ohio is “safe” following the Norfolk Southern train derailment on February 3rd. But should anyone believe him?
In 2016, Christine Todd Whitman, who was the head of the EPA under President George W. Bush at the time of the 9/11 attacks, issued an apology for having falsely asserted the air quality in New York City was “safe” following those attacks.
In the days following the collapse of the Twin Towers — which sent dangerous plumes of debris and toxins into the air over Manhattan — Whitman issued a statement assuring New Yorkers that they had nothing to fear. “I am glad to reassure the people of New York … that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink,” the statement read.
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Whitman’s assurances in 2001, of course, were based on the information that “government scientists” were telling her. “The good news continues to be that air samples we have taken have all been at levels that cause us no concern,” she professed.
Even while Whitman acknowledged that it was known that asbestos, lead, and other toxins had been released from the wreckage in 2001, she maintained that beyond the immediate vicinity the air did “not pose a public health hazard.”
