U.S. Unprepared for Next Attack, New Study Says

WASHINGTON-The federal government may be unprepared for future environmental disasters on the scale of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, according to a new report that criticizes the Bush administration's latest effort to decontaminate apartments near the World Trade Center.In a study released yesterday, the Government Accountability Office concludes that unless federal agencies develop better plans for handling environmental crises, "the nation may face the same challenges after future disasters" as it did when the collapse of the twin towers blanketed the streets and buildings of Lower Manhattan with toxic dust and debris nearly six years ago.Studies over the past year have begun to show links between the toxins released during the collapse and respiratory illnesses suffered by people who worked and lived in the area, particularly the rescue workers who toiled for weeks at ground zero.The GAO report examines a voluntary program that the federal Environmental Protection Agency began in January to test and clean apartments near ground zero following concerns that its initial decontamination attempts were inadequate.Senator Clinton and two New York lawmakers seized on the findings yesterday to escalate their long-running criticism of the Bush administration's response to the attacks. At a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday afternoon to release the report, Mrs. Clinton said the study "confirms our worst fears about the Bush administration's incompetence and indifference" in responding to the health threats posed by the trade center collapse."EPA's first testing and clean-up program was an utter failure, mere window dressing, and today's GAO report confirms that the second program is no better," Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes the trade center site, said.

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