From: nytr@olm.blythe-systems.com
Subject: NYC knew Ground Zero air was unsafe
[This is NEWS? The EPA warnings (and coverup) about the area were
well known only a few weeks after the attacks. It wasn’t just commercial
interests — the US government and the City wanted to prevent panic by
people living in the area, and those who worked or went to school there.
Dust from the closed buildings was toxic. Many office buildings were
closed for weeks while new air filtration systems were installed. Fires
continued burning for months after the attacks, as well. People who were
paying attention knew perfectly well — from leaks inside the EPA — that
many toxic chemicals besides asbestos were a hazard. See, for example:
Unfortunately, the Dogs Don’t Have Masks (9/28/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/nbsch
Trade Center Air Quality Worries Some (10/10/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/l8zhr
NYC Air: The Smell of Chemical Warfare in the Morning (10/26/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/g6n2c
Leukemia Just One Joy of WTC Fallout (10/27/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/hop3m
Unnecessary Hazards to Workers at Ground Zero (10/27/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/ffa5e
Fire at WTC Site May Smolder for Months (NY Daily News via NYTr 11/2/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/gv2wa
Ground Zero: Labor Safety & Environment Updates (11/20/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/ffa5e
911: Lies Our Govt Told Us, part I (11/20/2001)
http://tinyurl.com/jyrsg
US EPA Comes Under Fire for Misleading Public on WTC Attack Pollution (RHC
via NYTr 2/13/2002) http://tinyurl.com/p5qq9
-NY Transfer]
“The documents were made public two days after Mount Sinai Medical Center
released a study showing that 70 percent of World Trade Center rescue
workers have developed serious and persistent respiratory illnesses from
exposure to toxic dust.”
CNN – Sep 7, 2006
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/07/nyc.air/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Memos: NYC told Ground Zero air was unsafe
NEW YORK (CNN) — The city allowed people to return to Manhattan after the
collapse of the World Trade Center towers even though officials were told
the air was not yet safe, according to an internal memo from a New York
City Health Department official.
The October 6, 2001 memo states that the city Office of Emergency
Management — called OEM — and the Department of Environmental
Protection — referred to as DEP — disagreed over the air quality
following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. But it suggests
commercial interests trumped safety concerns.
Kelly McKinney, associate commissioner of the health department, wrote
that the mayor’s office was under pressure from building owners and
business owners to open more of the “red zone.”
“According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of Ground Zero are
suitable for re-occupancy. DEP believes the air quality is not yet
suitable for re-occupancy. I was told the mayor’s office was directing OEM
to open the target areas next week,” McKinney wrote.
In a letter dated the day before the memo was written, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency told the city’s health department that
there were concerns about worker safety at the World Trade Center site.
“In addition to standard construction/demolition site safety concerns,
this site also poses threats to workers related to potential exposure to
hazardous substances,” including building materials, hazardous materials
stored in the buildings and combustion products emitted from the
smoldering rubble, the letter states.
The two documents are proof that “EPA officials were aware of the severity
of the danger at Ground Zero in contrast to their public statements at the
time,” said Joel Kupferman, an environmental lawyer with the Environmental
Justice Project who obtained the documents through Freedom of Information
Act requests.
Calls to the New York City Health Department were referred to the New York
City Law Department.
Gary Shaffer, deputy chief of the department’s World Trade Center unit,
said in a statement that New York “stuck firm to requiring that before a
site could be opened, there had to be two consecutive days of asbestos
fiber counts below the DEP level of concern.”
“All Mr. McKinney’s memo shows is that even when these stringent standards
were met, reopenings were still discussed before being finalized,” the
statement says.
The documents were made public two days after Mount Sinai Medical Center
released a study showing that 70 percent of World Trade Center rescue
workers have developed serious and persistent respiratory illnesses from
exposure to toxic dust.
Also, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, introduced legislation Thursday
that would give new federal health benefits to first responders, recovery
workers and residents of lower Manhattan who have developed 9/11-related
illnesses.
The 9/11 Comprehensive Health Benefit Act would extend Medicare benefits
to people suffering from medical or mental health problems associated with
exposure to toxic chemicals at Ground Zero.
A companion bill will be introduced in the Senate by Hillary Rodham
Clinton, D-New York.
—
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“Our German forbearers in the 1930s sat around, blamed their rulers, said ‘maybe everything’s going to be alright.’ That is something we cannot do. I do not want my grandchildren asking me years from now, ‘why didn’t you do something to stop all this?” –Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst of 27 years, referring to the actions and crimes of the Bush Administration
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