We could have prevented the epidemic, but the monitor was a little high on the wall.

This failure to find out what happens when the rubber meets the road is, as we never tire of pointing out, a common shortcoming of Washington. Another Times story, which like the FDA one, was buried on a back page, reveals that the EPA is failing to check up on the performance of the Bio Watch air monitors that have been installed in 30 metropolitan areas to detect the release of such biological agents as anthrax, smallpox, and plague. The EPA'S inspector general has found that some of the monitors am installed too high or too low, others too far apart or with obstructed air passages, and that in any case not enough care is taken to make sure that the monitors are regularly inspected and properly maintained.