July 13th, 2007

The Environmental Protection Agency has been accused of misleading the public with regards to asbestos contamination in the Manhattan area following the terrorist attacks of 2001 that brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

The accusation comes following a report released by the Government Accountability Office. The Environmental Protection Agency paid for professional to come in and clean up over four thousand apartments over the two year period following the terrorist attacks. According to the report only a minority of apartment showed low signs of asbestos contamination.

However, according to one reporter the testing was actually carried out after the clean up had been conducted and not before, hence resulting in misleading results with regards to the extent of the contamination and the dangers associated with it.

Another Government Accountability Office study is now to be carried out at the instruction of Senator Hillary Clinton, which will detail the resources and preparation skills of the EPA in this type of situation.