Court: Whitman Not Liable for Safe Post-9/11 Air Claims

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found former EPA head Christie Todd Whitman not liable for saying Ground Zero air was safe after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Back on September 18, 2001, Whitman issued a statement saying, "Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breath and their water is safe to drink." Of course, there was toxic dust and a group filed a class action suit against Whitman for making such claims.

Per the AP, the appeals court found "legal remedies are not always available for every instance of arguably deficient governmental performance." (But then how does government change?) When Whitman had testified in front of Congress last year, she said, "There are people to blame. They are the terrorists that attacked the United States, not the men and women of all levels of government."

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By Jen Chung in News on April 22, 2008 12:45 PM

Comments [rss]

Abraham Rappahannock

"there are people to blame..." more half-speak from the half-spoken. thanks for clarifying it for her, spiny.

GM

It appears to me she was not appropriate for the job and she was manipulated by various people to say these ridiculous statements. Naiveté shouldn't be an allowable defense in the courtroom though. She was the head of the EPA and, by definition, is responsible for the consquences for not serving in the public's interest.

Abraham Rappahannock

why should CTW be held accountable for her dishonesty when the puppet administration she serves are the biggest goddamned liars EVER!

books

stop me if you've heard this one before. no accoutability of those in the us who supported the forgein policy that lead to terrorists killing american citizens - no accountability of this invasion and killing of thousands of people in Iraq for what...oh yeah..nothing.

Checks and balances dont exist here - the three branches, the media, they're only interested in keeping up the status quo and thier own grasp on power and corruption.

JenChungsBaby

But then how does government change?

By not voting for the kind of people who appoint incompetent stoolies and then tell them what lies to say during times of public crisis. That's a start.

And if Whitman knew that the White House was massaging her message into the realm of untruths she should have done the right thing and stated the truth and then resigned. It's not like she needed the salary. Bush and Company chewed up her reputation and spit it out just like they did with Colin Powell.

EastRiver

Are there documented cases of sick people that were not working on WTC site in a rescue and debris removal capacity? Just wondering if they could make a claim as to the definition of "safe". Lots of things are unsafe if you are exposed to them in massive quantities.

Politburo

Splicer you forget the mantra.. it's the government's fault, but not the people who make up the government (heckuva job). It's all designed to reinforce the myth that government is inherently dysfunctional and cannot be fixed, so it should just be abolished.

Sommelier

So, lying to all of us in the New York area about the poisons in the air, lying to the brave men & women who were there & who worked for months afterwards in that poison, to those who died from lung problems, to those hundreds (thousands?) who have suffered permanent damage to their lungs and whose lives will be shorter and filled with pain and suffering... all of that lying to them is O.K. All those denied insurance coverage for their sickness because the EPA said that the air was O.K. All of that suffering, just so that responsibility and blame never gets traced back to the pantload-in-the-flightsuit who inhabits the White House is O.K.

What do you have to do to be held accountable, lie about getting a blowjob from an intern?

Splicer

She is a member of the Party of Responsibility is she not? So government officials are not to blame when they lie because she says so?

Spiny

Yes, there are people to blame. There are terrorists to blame for destroying the buildings.

And there is Christie Todd Whitman to blame for telling people that the air quality was a-okay in the wake of the reality of their destruction.