Disclosure this week that the federal government and the George W. Bush administration may have lied to us about the air quality in lower Manhattan following the terrorist attacks, and the serious health risks of those who lived, worked and volunteered there in the months immediately following 9/11/01 is extremely troubling. While we have no doubt that the many thousands of people who sacraficed so much to be down there clearing the rubble and locating the bodies of the victims would have done it anyway, the altered language of the reports to minimize the health risks is outrageous.

We can’t forget, either, that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency at the time the report was completed was Christine Whitman who has a shocking history of withholding vital information from the public about health risks from when she was New Jersey’s Governor. Remember the report outlining the contamination of some of New Jersey’s waterways that was deep sixed while she was in office? While that report was filed away, New Jersey residents continued to eat the fish caught in those streams and lakes, exposing them to potential illnesses, miscarriages and birth defects.

How expansive the changes to the language were and why they were done are questions that must be answered, either by the Bush administration or Congress, both of which have an obligation to the public and the truth.