GUSCIORA: CHRISTIE WHITMAN OWES GROUND ZERO RECOVERY WORKERS AN APOLOGY
Assemblyman Denounces Whitman Attempts to Deflect Blame to New York Officials; One in Ten Responders Suffering From Respiratory Problems

(TRENTON) -- Assemblyman Reed Gusciora today said former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman owes all of America an apology for her actions after the 9/11 terrorist attacks five years ago, when she stated the air around the former World Trade Center site was 'safe to breathe."
Gusciora (D-Mercer), a long-time critic of Whitman's environmental policies, lambasted Whitman for engaging in an "Orwellian campaign of revisionism and sanitization" of her public statements and official actions in the days and weeks immediately following the 9/11 attacks.

Gusciora comments came in response to Whitman's media statements this week after a Mount Sinai Medical Center study that found nearly 70 percent of ground zero workers suffered from lung problems and many of those would likely be sick for the rest of their lives.

In interviews for a "60 Minutes" program to be broadcast Sunday and "The WOR Morning Show" radio program yesterday, Whitman attempted to deflect blame for her EPA actions five years ago by saying that New York City officials were responsible for the health of rescue workers who sought to search through the pile of Ground Zero wreckage. Gusciora accused Whitman of attempting to whitewash the public record regarding the air quality at and around the Ground Zero site after the 9/11 attacks.

"Christie Whitman clearly has gone into an irreversible spin cycle regarding her actions as EPA administrator five years ago," said Gusciora. "She should apologize. Her revisionist posturing only makes the tragedy that much worse for everyone involved. She is nothing short of unconscionable."

Gusciora noted that in the days immediately after the 9/11 attacks, Whitman's EPA released carefully selected test results from the WTC site. Moreover, she issued a memo to EPA employees three days after the attack directing that all statements to the media had to be cleared through the National Security Council in the White House before release.

"Christie Whitman should come clean," said Gusciora. "She not only should apologize, but she should publicly admit that she was carrying water for the Bush administration."

What was most outrageous, however, were the public assurances that Whitman gave in press releases and interviews at the time, Gusciora said. The assemblyman specifically remembered hearing a report from that time on the NJ101.5 FM news program in which Whitman said the air around ground zero was safe.

Gusciora noted that in the days should after the 9/11 attacks, Whitman stated: "I am glad to reassure the people of New York...that their air is safe to breathe...The good news for the residents of New York is that the air, while smoky, is not dangerous," a statement which a federal judge later called "conscience shocking."

Gusciora said her false and misleading reassurances to the public caused thousands of recovery workers and civilians to be exposed to hazardous materials, contaminated air, and toxic dust at the site of the 9/11 attacks.

"The public was blindly led into direct contact with toxic pollutants that are now causing thousands of recovery workers to become sick with cancer, respiratory illnesses, and other ailments," said Gusciora (D-Mercer). "Christie Whitman owes the workers of 9/11 an apology for her unconscionable and heinous lies that has led to permanent and irreversible health problems for many people who were trying to help when our country was in need."

According to the Mount Sinai Medical Center study on the health effects of the 9/11, seven out of ten recovery workers who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center suffered lung problems. The study solicited health information and medical exams from 9,500 responders including construction workers, law enforcers, firefighters, transit workers, volunteers, and other Americans.

"Whitman instilled false confidence in thousands of recovery workers who risked their lives and safety to respond to the World Trade Center attacks," said Gusciora. "She called ground zero safe and is responsible for deceiving thousands of people into thinking they were out of danger at the site or by returning to their homes or jobs in Lower Manhattan."

Gusciora said Whitman's assertions of safe air quality at the WTC site are right up there with all the other notable Bush administration myths:

Going to war in Iraq because of the existence of weapons of mass destruction.

There is no global warming.

"Brownie, you're doing a heck of job," as the Bush administration bungled the Hurricane Katrina response.

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FOR RELEASE:
September 8, 2006
CONTACT:
Assemblyman Gusciora
(609) 292-0500
Alescia Teel
(609) 292-7065