Straight from the Sunday Independent (UK). Here is the lead paragraph:
Toxic chemicals in the New Orleans flood waters will make the city unsafe for full human habitation for a decade, a US government official has told The Independent on Sunday. And, he added, the Bush administration is covering up the danger.
In an exclusive interview, Hugh Kaufman, an expert on toxic waste and responses to environmental disasters at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said the way the polluted water was being pumped out was increasing the danger to health.
The impact of this kind of dislocation hasn't been seen since the dust bowl. And what about the Coverup? Click inside.
Mr Kaufman claimed the Bush administration was playing down the need for a clean-up: the EPA has not been included in the core White House group tackling the crisis. "Its budget has been cut and inept political hacks have been put in key positions," Mr Kaufman said. "All the money for emergency response has gone to buy guns and cowboys - which don't do anything when a hurricane hits. We were less prepared for this than we would have been on 10 September 2001."
He said the water being pumped out of the city was not being tested for pollution and would damage Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river, and endanger people using it downstream.
Thoughts?
Who is Kaufman anyhow?
Apparently he was one of the many who were calling out the EPA and Bush admin on the toxic aftermath of the WTC collapse. Here is an article that appeared in Environmental Impact in '02:
February 23, 2002 Environmental Impact
The EPA's National Ombudsman's office convenes a hearing on the environmental issues that resulted from the attacks on the World Trade Center. Hugh Kaufman, the EPA ombudsman's chief investigator, remarks during the hearing that he believes the EPA, as well as state and city officials, have intentionally utilized inferior testing methods in order to avoid finding evidence that environmental conditions threaten public health. “I believe EPA did not do that because they knew it would come up not safe and so they are involved in providing knowingly false information to the public about safety,” Kaufman, says. “Not just EPA, the state and the city, too. We also had testimonies that all the agencies—local, state, and federal—have been consorting together every week to discuss these issues.” [CNN, 2/24/02]
Sounds like he is a straight shooter and knows his stuff. Here is some of the fall out from his previous whistleblowing:
April 22, 2002 Environmental Impact
On Earth Day, Robert Martin resigns from his position as the EPA national ombudsman in protest of the EPA's decision to curb his autonomy by placing his office under the jurisdiction of the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG). Martin believes EPA administrator Christie Todd Whitman's decision to relocate jurisdiction of the office was caused by Martin's criticisms (and those of his chief investigator, Hugh Kaufman)