GAO Report Finds Federal Environmental Authorities Let Asbestos Monitoring Dip

[RedEarth]

GAO Report Finds Federal Environmental Authorities Let Asbestos Monitoring Dip

June 28, 2007 — By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press



NEW ORLEANS -- A new congressional report says the Environmental Protection Agency potentially exposed scores of residents, volunteers and workers to asbestos fibers by not doing more to monitor the contaminant in the cleanup after Hurricane Katrina.

The report, issued by the Government Accountability Office, said that although asbestos air data has not found potential problems, those results might not be an accurate picture of the risk because of gaps in monitoring and scalebacks in monitoring once demolitions began.

After Katrina hit in August 2005, environmentalists and health experts complained that state and federal environmental officials were downplaying the risks of gutting and demolishing homes and the threat from heavy metals and gasoline dumped on the lawns, school yards and parks by flood waters.

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Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at EPA and longtime whistleblower within the agency, said the new report by the GAO, Congress' investigative arm, confirmed serious concerns about EPA's assurances after both the World Trade Center attacks and Katrina.

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