A lawyer who represents 9/11 victims was baffled by the EPA’s claims that the “air is safe” following the East Palestine train derailment and release of highly-toxic chemicals.
Michael Barasch, whose law firm represents thousands of 9/11 victims, said East Palestine residents should not trust the EPA.
The 9/11 toxic dust was said to be “safe.”
However, people who breathed the toxic fumes continue to suffer from debilitating illnesses.
In an interview with Breitbart News, Barasch said it sent “shivers” up his spine when he heard the EPA comment that East Palestine’s air quality was fine.
East Palestine residents remain skeptical about the water and air being fine as they should be.
WATCH:
“We walked in our house and everything literally started burning — our throats, our noses”: As the EPA reiterates claims that air and water qualities are safe, East Palestine residents are worried about the longterm effects of toxic chemicals released from a derailed train. pic.twitter.com/PH3KBlreTq
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 17, 2023
Michael Regan sought to reassure skeptical residents that the water is fit for drinking and the air safe to breathe around East Palestine. https://t.co/5cOFjP5dmZ
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) February 17, 2023
The Associated Press noted that EPA Administrator Michael Regan said to “trust the government.”
You should never trust the government.
From AP:
EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who walked along a creek that still reeks of chemicals, sought to reassure skeptical residents that the water is fit for drinking and the air safe to breathe around East Palestine, where just under 5,000 people live near the Pennsylvania state line.
“I’m asking they trust the government. I know that’s hard. We know there’s a lack of trust,” Regan said. “We’re testing for everything that was on that train.”
Since the derailment, residents have complained about headaches and irritated eyes and finding their cars and lawns covered in soot. The hazardous chemicals that spilled from the train killed thousands of fish, and residents have talked about finding dying or sick pets and wildlife.
Residents are frustrated by what they say is incomplete and vague information about the lasting effects from the disaster, which prompted evacuations.
The bottom line?
The EPA should not be trusted!
East Palestine residents should remain skeptical of anything government officials or Norfolk Southern tell them about air, water, and soil safety.
There should be independent testing that doesn’t rely on government sources or companies hired by the railway.
In his interview, Barasch explained why 9/11 is a critical example of the EPA’s untrustworthiness.
Exclusive: Top 9/11 Lawyer Says EPA Claim Ohio Air ‘Safe’ Sent ‘Shivers Up My Spine’ – ‘Stay Away, Don‘t Believe EPA’ https://t.co/6GJfkh1Hg3 via @BreitbartNews
— Joshua Klein (@JoshuaKlein_) February 19, 2023
From Breitbart:
Comparing the EPA’s assurances following the 2001 terror attacks with its recent ones, Barasch, a longtime legal advocate for first responders to the 9/11 attacks and others harmed by resulting toxic dust, argued that “21 years ago, the government at least had a reason: they wanted to reopen Wall Street.”
“They should have just been honest with people then and said, ‘Look, if you don’t have to be downtown in your office, stay away until the fires go out,’” he said. “And that’s what they should have done here.”
Questioning why officials are “telling people the air is safe when they don’t really know one way or another,” Barasch suggested they instead “clear out the area — a 20 mile radius — for two to four weeks and consider it a toxic area until independent scientists can verify that it’s really safe.”
“Otherwise we’re going to see in another twenty years exactly what I’m seeing now — with people developing illnesses and dying from post-9/11 toxic air — only on a lower scale,” he said.
Given the amounts of contaminants that were burnt into the air or spilled into local waterways, Barasch wondered “how can anybody with any kind of assurance say the air is safe?”
“They can’t,” he exclaimed. “And it’s such a disservice to our communities.”
The prominent attorney maintained he was unable to “believe the EPA.”
“They’ve lost their credibility,” he asserted, adding the issue is not a political one given that “it was the Bush EPA that said the air was safe to breathe 21 years ago, [whereas] now its the Biden EPA.”
George Carlin said it best: “I have only a few rules in life. One is to never trust anything the government says. Nothing. Zero.”
Never TRUST the corpoRATe gov. Agency’s!
Point one, they have No legal right to exist!!!
Get the constitution and read it people!
I thought these rail cars that carry hazardous materials are reinforces to prevent leakage and loosing the material. I guess they didn’t use those here.
They did but they decided to release and burn the chemicals. DeWine and Shapiro agreed on that.