A class action lawsuit has been filed against the Environmental Protection Agency and its former head, Christie Whitman on behalf of people who live, work, or go to school in Lower Manhattan or nearby Brooklyn. The suit alleges that there has been "a shockingly deliberate indifference to human health" in regards to the downtown air quality. The suit claims that as a result of this indifference many New Yorkers have been exposed to hazardous substances which could lead to potentially serious long-term health effects, and they have been left with the expense of full and proper cleanup of their residences and workplaces.
According to one of the plaintiffs in the suit, "It's EPA's responsibility to protect everyone from exposure to 9/11 debris. They ought to have ensured that all buildings were professionally abated, inside and out. Instead, they provided only inadequate assistance for personal residences, and arbitrarily declared that office buildings were none of their concern. It's an outrage that EPA has been leaving landlords and employers to clean up as much or as little as they want to, without any official oversight."
