“Mrs. Whitman and the agency put out press releases saying that the air near ground zero was relatively safe and that there were "no significant levels" of asbestos dust in the air. They gave a green light for residents to return to their homes near the trade center site”
“By these actions," Judge Batts wrote, Mrs. Whitman "increased, and may have in fact created, the danger" to people living and working near the trade center.”
I followed up on the outcome of the lawsuit filed against the EPA, the cleanup efforts (i.e. how long it took to cleanup, who participated), and why the EPA allowed residents to move back into their homes in the days following the tower collapses.
The article addresses the inequities in public health by showing how millions of tons of dust from concrete and asbestos were kicked up into the air after the tower collapses of 9/11 and was then determined to be safe per the EPA. A lawsuit was filed against the EPA on behalf of schoolchildren required to attend school in buildings near the site of the collapse and forced to breathe in so-called safe air. Emergency response is not directly addressed however plans of mandating that the EPA pay for the cleanup process are mentioned.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Designed to protect human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by congress (Wikipedia)
Manhattan Federal District Court - US District Court for the southern district of NY
The main point of this article is to argue how the EPA falsely stated that the air quality around the site of the tower collapses in the day following 9/11 was safe. They argue this by stating that the building was constructed of 2,000 tons of asbestos and 424,000 tons of concrete which generated millions of tons of dust around the site of the collapse, per EPA estimates. They also argue that the EPA is at fault for making false statements of security and should be mandated to fund the cleanup process.
No references are provided so it is unknown how the author obtained their information. They reference "EPA estimates" of how much pollutants were kicked up into the air after the collapse of the towers but no official reference is provided. Quotes are also provided from various government and EPA officials.
I'm not sure what this question is asking. The situation was clearly worsened by the EPA allowing people to move back into their homes following the collapses and no reference to damage control was made in this article.