|
EPA Is Not Performing Its Homeland Security Duties
EPA has the lead in several important homeland security areas: e.g., water and wastewater industries; use, handling, storage, release and disposal of chemicals and chemical wastes at industrial facilities; indoor air; and anthrax contamination cleanups. EPA's Inspector General recently issued an alarming report which concludes that EPA is not performing its duties. Based on the IG Report, if we have to rely on EPA then we are not safe.
The Report is entitled EPA's Homeland Security Role to Protect Air from Terrorist Threats Needs to be Better Defined. Among the deficiencies identified in it are
-
EPA's failure to clean up anthrax-contaminated buildings to the point where they are safe to use again;
-
EPA's failure to receive funding adequate to address any terrorist air threats;
-
EPA's failure to produce a Safe Building Research Action Plan that can pass peer review by the National Academy of Science; and
-
EPA's failure to produce a data base that can track the Agency's homeland security efforts (i.e., EPA literally does not know what it's doing and has done in this area).
Someone in the Federal Government has to do what EPA is supposed to do in order to protect the public from terrorist attacks. If EPA cannot or will not perform these duties, then some other agency should be made responsible for them.
Click for EPA IG Report.
|
