And I Quote...
This is all from Robert F. Kennedy's "Crimes Against Nature", which is fantastic.
Several studies, including six by the National Academy of Science (NAS), indicate that arsenic is a potent carcinogen. Bush's problem, of course, is that much of the arsenic in our drinking water is the result of mining activities. And in 2000, the mining industry shoveled $5.6 million in Republican Party campaign chests, with Bush receiving the lion's share of it. He also narrowly lost New Mexico, the big mining state, and the white house wanted to curry favor with the powerful mining interests there.
In 2001, Christine Todd Whitman announced that the EPA would suspend a Clinton era reducing the amount of arsenic allowable in public drinking water supplies. The decision was faxed to New Mexico officials only, as the administration was trying to avoid publicity, but still trying to please mining industry officials.
And then the New York times heard about it. Chaos ensues.
Whitman justified the arsenic rollback, saying she wanted to verify the science behind Clinton's standard. The study, released by NAS found that the EPA had UNDERESTIMATED the cancer risks of arsenic by about tenfold. Whitman, who had pledged that her EPA would follow the science, was now faced with the prospect of dropping standards even lower that the Clinton administration had suggested.
The next morning, the NAS study was a top story in the Washington Post. The New York Times ran a 1,000 word article. A D.C. press conference was scheduled to go underway later that day.
Just before the press conference, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. The press conference was canceled, Washington shut down that day, and a new era in Washington history began. On Halloween 2001, Whitman quietly closed the comment period on arsenic before it was completed and announced that the EPA would not change the Clinton standard after all. "The issue had become an albatross for Bush and 9/11 gave them a way to get out," Olson recalls. "I don't think anyone ever read the new NAS study. Everybody just forgot about it."
Several studies, including six by the National Academy of Science (NAS), indicate that arsenic is a potent carcinogen. Bush's problem, of course, is that much of the arsenic in our drinking water is the result of mining activities. And in 2000, the mining industry shoveled $5.6 million in Republican Party campaign chests, with Bush receiving the lion's share of it. He also narrowly lost New Mexico, the big mining state, and the white house wanted to curry favor with the powerful mining interests there.
In 2001, Christine Todd Whitman announced that the EPA would suspend a Clinton era reducing the amount of arsenic allowable in public drinking water supplies. The decision was faxed to New Mexico officials only, as the administration was trying to avoid publicity, but still trying to please mining industry officials.
And then the New York times heard about it. Chaos ensues.
Whitman justified the arsenic rollback, saying she wanted to verify the science behind Clinton's standard. The study, released by NAS found that the EPA had UNDERESTIMATED the cancer risks of arsenic by about tenfold. Whitman, who had pledged that her EPA would follow the science, was now faced with the prospect of dropping standards even lower that the Clinton administration had suggested.
The next morning, the NAS study was a top story in the Washington Post. The New York Times ran a 1,000 word article. A D.C. press conference was scheduled to go underway later that day.
Just before the press conference, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. The press conference was canceled, Washington shut down that day, and a new era in Washington history began. On Halloween 2001, Whitman quietly closed the comment period on arsenic before it was completed and announced that the EPA would not change the Clinton standard after all. "The issue had become an albatross for Bush and 9/11 gave them a way to get out," Olson recalls. "I don't think anyone ever read the new NAS study. Everybody just forgot about it."