Panel agenda for Air Quality After 9/11 conference, March 2004

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

09-21-01 “NYC Monitoring Efforts Continue to Show Safe Drinking Water & Air”(press release heading).

10-03-01 Data Confirms No Significant Public Health Risks; Rescue Crews and Nearby Residents Should Take Appropriate Precautions, .’’(press release sub-heading).

10-30-01 “While we have fortunately not found levels of contaminates that pose a significant health risk to the general public, our efforts to monitor the area and keep the public informed of our findings have not waned.”

On August 21, 2003, the office of the Inspector General of the EPA issued a 155 page evaluation

report regarding EPA’s role following the attacks titled “EPA’s Response to the World Trade

Center Collapse: Challenges. Success, and Areas for Improvement.” The report is critical of

EPA’s press releases and the role that the White Houses’ Council on Environmental Quality”

(CEQ) played in influencing the final content of the press releases. Regarding the accuracy and

appropriateness of the information contained in the releases, the report includes the following

statements:

“Communicating the potential health risks resulting from an environmental hazard is a key mechanism for warning the public to mitigate potential exposures and take other precautions to avoid unnecessary health risks.”

“EPA’s early statements reassured the public regarding the safety of the air outside the Ground Zero perimeter area. However, when EPA made a September 18 announcement that the air was “safe” to breathe, the Agency did not have sufficient data and analyses to make the statement. The Vk^ite House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) influenced, through the collaboration process, the information the EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones.”

“EPA issued five press releases within 10 days after September 11,2001, four more through the end of December, and another four through the end of May 2002. EPA’s WTC press releases fi-om September through December 2001 reassured the public about air quality. Although EPA’s press releases generally recommended the rescue and cleanup workers

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