The air I breathe, the water I drink , Is selling me short and turning me round

Great Lakes health report withheld by agency
Document has 'alarming evidence' of toxic pollutants, group says, but fed agency says it needs some fixes.

Friday, February 8, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Federal officials are refusing to release a scientific study that contains "alarming evidence" that toxic pollutants threaten the health of residents in Detroit and other Great Lakes cities, a watchdog group alleged Thursday.

The Center for Public Integrity released on its Web site excerpts of the report, which includes information on elevated cancer levels in Wayne and Macomb counties and a Detroit landfill site that contains up to 17 tons of toxic PCBs.

The center said Thursday that the 400-page document was set to be released in July, but was rejected by an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who said it was incomplete.
[...]
The report was compiled by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the CDC, at the request of the International Joint Commission, an independent board of Canadian and U.S. officials that monitors water quality in the Great Lakes.

The Center for Public Integrity cited emails within the agency, and a letter from the chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, that raised concerns that the report was being withheld improperly and that Bush administrations including Julie Gerberding, the head of the CDC, had interfered with the work of government scientists.

Gee, would that be the same Julie Gerberding, an appointee of a Bush appointee? The Julie that failed upward after doing such a most excellent job of leading the CDC´s response to the anthrax bioterrorism in 2001? (BTW, how's that whole investigation going? What investigation? Exactly.)

The same Julie Gerberding who had her congressional testimony censored? Yep, that Julie Gerberding.

But wait, there's more!

CDC under investigation over Katrina cancer risk
Congressional committee also looks into whether agency retaliated against scientist

UPDATED: 11:53 p.m. February 08, 2008

A congressional committee is investigating "disturbing allegations" that officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suppressed critical information about cancer dangers posed by trailers housing Hurricane Katrina victims.

The committee also is looking into whether the Atlanta scientist who sought to make the risks public has been the subject of retaliation by the agency.
[...]
De Rosa had been head of the division of toxicology and environmental medicine in CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry since 1992. He was removed from that job last fall and assigned the title of "special assistant."

Though CDC said De Rosa was simply reassigned, he said in an interview that he's been demoted. De Rosa said the public should be concerned about what's transpired.

"The very people they're looking to for answers have been censored," he said.

At issue is whether the agency intentionally delayed or avoided examining the long-term cancer threat posed by formaldehyde fumes in trailers purchased by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house victims of the August 2005 hurricane. FEMA initially said air quality in the trailers was safe if they were properly ventilated.
[...]
De Rosa said Friday that he raised his concerns about formaldehyde, the Great Lakes report and other issues through proper channels within the CDC.

"It's sort of like speaking truth to authority. I knew I was doing it at my peril," he said.

Then, in what investigators said was apparently retaliation, De Rosa was removed from his managerial job and in October given an "unsatisfactory" job performance assessment. Before, De Rosa said, he had received good to excellent ratings.

NASA, FEMA, CDC, EPA, FBI, DOJ ... these are jut a few of the Federal agencies that have had career professionals expert opinions censored by the Bush regime, and if the professionals spoke out they were demoted or fired, and slimed.

Maybe next year we can do something to reverse this trend. A good start would be investigations followed by prison time.




Cross posted at VidiotSpeak