General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe White House Tried to Suppress a Bombshell Study Because They Were Afraid of the PR
Contaminated water near military bases could be dire for service members, veterans, and families.
EMILY ATKINJUN. 22, 2018 3:13 PM
The Trump administration feared it would be a public relations nightmare: a major federal study that concluded contaminated groundwater across the country, especially near military bases, was more toxic than the government realized. Political aides to President Donald Trump and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt pressured the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry against releasing the results.
The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these numbers is going to be huge, an unidentified White House aide wrote, according to Politico. The impact to EPA and [the Defense Department] is going to be extremely painful. We cannot seem to get ATSDR to realize the potential public relations nightmare this is going to be. The study was not released.
That is, until Wednesday. Amid a media firestorm about the administrations immigration policy, the ATSDRa division of the Department of Health and Human Servicesquietly published its 852-page review of perfluoroalkyls, or PFAS, which are used in everything from carpets and frying pan coatings to military firefighting foams, according to ProPublica. All told, the report offers the most comprehensive gathering of information on the effects of these chemicals today, and suggests theyre far more dangerous than previously thought.
These chemical compounds pose health risks to millions of Americans. Theyre in roughly 1 percent of the nations public water supply, according to the EPA; in roughly 1,500 drinking water systems across the country, according to the Environmental Working Group. People who drink from these systems, even if their exposure to PFAS is low, now have a potentially increased risk of cancer; of disruptions in hormones and the immune system; and of complications with fetal development during pregnancy.
more
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/06/the-white-house-tried-to-suppress-a-bombshell-study-because-they-were-afraid-of-the-pr
Cha
(298,154 posts)or couldn't even if they did "CARE".. they gave all the money away to trump and the Billionaire$$$$$$$$
red dog 1
(27,942 posts)Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)mopinko
(70,395 posts)that has been my thought in all these stories about the military taking these kids.