A Dangerous Lie
admin | Jul 27, 2006 | Comments 0
A moral duty
On the other hand, Martz says, “there’s always hope” that the EPA’s cleanup will ultimately benefit Libby. Troyer, Maynard, Henningsen and Sullivan believe that Cory Rumple’s OIG report is the key to turning the cleanup around. During their July meeting with the Independent, they talk about the report’s importance. They all stress that they had brought their complaints to the EPA many times.
“This is nothing new to those guys,” Maynard says. “We gave them many, many chances before this OIG investigation even started,” Henningsen says. “They didn’t care.”
Max Dodson is the assistant administrator for the EPA’s Region 8, which includes Montana, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Dodson acknowledges the existence of the report, and says Cory Rumple interviewed him for it. He declined to respond to complaints by Henningsen, Troyer, Sullivan and Maynard, saying, “Until I have a copy of the report, I really can’t respond to it.”
Since the OIG investigation has taken place, Henningsen, Troyer, Sullivan and Maynard concede they’ve seen some sudden improvements in the EPA’s work. “I’ve never seen so many toxicologists involved with the process,” says Sullivan. Toxicologists, he says, can provide the scientific knowledge needed to begin analyzing health risks in Libby. But they say that the EPA is only part way to turning the cleanup around, and believe the best thing that could happen now is for the report to be released.
“This is a report that goes to the issues of public health and safety,” Sullivan says. “The fact is that this has the potential of stopping additional expo- sures in our community,” Sullivan continues, “and so we have a moral duty to have the report come to light.” “That’s our main interest,” Henningsen says. “It’s moral, ethical and absolutely required to try and get that out, to ultimately help the cleanup.”
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