Today people on their way to work in New York City noticed a strange gas-like smell. No one seemed to know the source, and commuter train service was temporarily suspended. Not long after that, Mayor Bloomberg announced the smell was not dangerous--even though no one could determine what was causing it. In short, it was a condensed version of the EPA's reaction to 911.
In times of potential crisis, the primary responsibility of government, it would seem is to maintain order. Today's knee-jerk response that the odor is not dangerous should serve to remind us that the first official pronouncements are usually reassuring.
Of course, it could turn out that there really is nothing to worry about. But no one knows. Thus, a more honest response might be along the lines of:
"We don't know what it is, and we're trying to find out. Chemicals called mercaptans are added to natural gas have a very low odor threshold. That is, one can smell these chemicals at very low concentrations and right now, we think that such a chemical may be involved. In low concentrations these chemicals are not considered toxic. We're continuing to investigate and will let you know what we find out."
Shortly after 911, the EPA stated that it was fine to come back to work, there were no deadly toxins to speak of and things were returning to normal. In fact, no one knew anything, and the industrious EPA personnel were basing their assessments on just a handful of air samples. To this day, despite all the exposure professionals involved, no one has thought to characterize the dust clouds or vapor levels in terms that can be evaluated: milligrams per cubic meter. Oddly, this is the very set of units that the federal government (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)uses to cite for violations of regulatory air standards.
But for the 911 event, no one has bothered to make that analysis. To do so would show how many were exposed and would undoubtedly upset a lot of people---especially those at risk.
Worse, the EPA has never published the particulate air concentration values, and unfortunately, NO elected officials have called them on it.
Not one.
Given that shameful precedent, if today's mysterious NYC odor turns out to be something serious, the public may simply never find out: it might upset them.
It would be so much better for the bureaucrats to level with the public right from the start. "We don't know what it is, but we're trying to find out. And when we find out we'll tell you what it was--and what it means to you."
A response like that would be more honest, and well, like a breath of fresh air.