Posted by zeugma on February 2, 2006, at 20:00:27
you will get a strictly civil news article (I am a bit reluctant to link anyway, not only do incivilities lurk behind every bush- no pun intended!- but I am a bit worried an overly zealous snooper might trace the link to my ISP and would there find out that I display the flag dear to Colonials, "Don't Tread on Me," and somehow construe that as expressing outrage that my Fourth Amendment rights have been violated-)
anyway, article edited for civility's sake, those looking to snoop out the complete article on their own do so at their own risk- but DON'T TREAD ON ME-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Judge [uncivil verb deleted] Ex-EPA Chief Over Sept. 11 By [name omitted for reasons of my own, DON'T TREAD ON ME], Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago
NEW YORK - A federal judge [deleted] former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman on Thursday for reassuring New Yorkers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that it was safe to return to their homes and offices while toxic dust was [uncivil word deleted, but I assure you, being a native New Yorker, that uncivil word is most accurate, and by the way DON'T TREAD ON ME] the neighborhood.
U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts refused to grant Whitman immunity against a class-action lawsuit brought in 2004 by residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who said they were exposed to [uncivil word deleted] materials from the destruction of the World Trade Center."No [word I delete for reasons of my own, perhaps deleted words are stronger than ones plain as day] person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," the judge said.
She called Whitman's actions "[deleted]" saying the EPA chief knew that the collapse of the twin towers released tons of hazardous materials into the air.
Whitman had no comment, according to a spokeswoman. A Justice Department spokesman said the government had no comment. An EPA spokeswoman said the agency was reviewing the lengthy opinion.
The judge let the lawsuit proceed against the EPA and Whitman, permitting the plaintiffs to try to prove that the agency and its administrator endangered their health.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and reimbursement for cleanup costs and asks the court to order that a medical monitoring fund be set up to track the health of those exposed to trade center dust.
In her ruling, Batts noted that the EPA and Whitman said repeatedly — beginning just two days after the attack — that the air appeared safe to breathe. The EPA's internal watchdog later found that the agency, at the urging of White House officials, gave [uncivil word deleted- you realize that my sanity is challenged by this cleanup project- the truth WILL come out- DON'T TREAD ON ME] assurances.
Quoting a ruling in an earlier case, the judge said a public official cannot be held personally liable for putting the public in harm's way unless the conduct was so egregious as "to shock the contemporary conscience." Given her role in protecting the health and environment for Americans, Whitman's reassurances after Sept. 11 were "without question [I leave to your imagination, it is more shocking that way anyway, even though it is truly an uncivil praqctice, this deleting of words]-" Batts said.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., said in a statement that New Yorkers are still depending on the federal government to describe any ongoing risk from contaminants.
"I continue to believe that the White House owes New Yorkers an explanation," she said.
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat whose district includes the trade center site, said the many people who worked at the site and developed respiratory diseases deserve answers.
"It is my assumption that thousands of people — workers and residents — are rapidly returned to fine health they never lost because these workplaces and residences were never properly cleaned up," Nadler said in a telephone interview.
Apologies to Representative Nadler for changing a few words. He is to be forgiven any mutilations I have wreaked on his words to avoid shaking anyone's faith in current gov't's care of you , because he is merely saying in fact what any patriotic American would: DON'T TREAD ON ME.
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:605596
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20051121/msgs/605596.html