2004

DECEMBER

• Children's Health Article: The Effects of the World Trade Center Event on Birth Outcomes among Term Deliveries at Three Lower Manhattan Hospitals ... Women in the first trimester of pregnancy at the time of the WTC event delivered infants with significantly shorter gestation (-3.6 days) and a smaller head circumference (-0.48 cm), compared with women at later stages of pregnancy, regardless of the distance of their residence or work sites from the WTC. The observed adverse effects suggest an impact of pollutants and/or stress related to the WTC disaster and have implications for the health and development of exposed children.... (Environmental Health Perspectives, by Sally Ann Lederman, Virginia Rauh, Lisa Weiss, Janet L. Stein, Lori A. Hoepner, Mark Becker, and Frederica P. Perera, December 2004)
• E.P.A. attempts to clarify role at Deutsche Bank ... The Environmental Protection Agency plans to take a leadership role in the deconstruction of the contaminated Deutsche Bank building across from the World Trade Center, although the agency has yet to respond to a letter from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. calling for the E.P.A. to lead the environmental aspects of the cleanup. ... that agency administrator, Michael Leavitt, has yet to respond to L.M.D.C. president Kevin Rampe's Dec. 13th letter, which followed two letters of a similar nature from United States Rep. Jerrold Nadler. "We're still waiting to hear back from them," she said. "We have not formally responded to their letter," said Mears. "We already have taken a leadership role." ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, Dec. 31, 2004 - Jan. 6, 2005)
  
• Toxic shocks: More deceptions about post-9/11 health threats are emerging (Vermont Guardian, By Albert Huebner, December 30, 2004)
• Demolition Dust Storm ... The Environmental Protection Agency is refusing requests from state and federal officials to police the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building to ensure lower Manhattan isn't poisoned by the toxic dust that's been inside the building since 9/11. The federal agency also shocked government officials and members of its lower Manhattan expert advisory panel when it backtracked last week from a pledge to coordinate responsibilities of all city, state and federal agencies involved in the razing. The EPA said the eight agencies it contacted were not interested in a formal agreement coordinating their efforts. ... Another building, 4 Albany Street, which is owned by Deutsche Bank, is currently having demolition plans drawn up. And CUNY officials hope to have the college's Fiterman Hall, on Barclay Street, demolished as well. ... "This is exactly what happened after 9/11 with the EPA ducking its responsibility," said Nadler. ... "While EPA was not able to finalize a formal memorandum of agreement with our partner agencies, we continue to play a leadership role," Callahan said. ... (NYPost, by Sam Smith, December 26, 2004)
• EPA won't monitor Deutsche Bank demolition ... The Environmental Protection Agency has rejected state and federal requests to monitor the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building, adjacent to Ground Zero, and stepped away from agreements to coordinate with government agencies in the razing of the building. .... (NYPost/AP, December 26, 2004)
• "Gold Standard" for Remediation of WTC Contaminations (New Solutions, by the Technical Working Group, December 22, 2004)
• New York Asks EPA to Oversee Razing of Deutsche Bank Building ... Lower Manhattan redevelopment officials say they want the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take a greater oversight role in the dismantling of the Deutsche Bank tower, which is filled with toxins from the World Trade Center attack. Residents of nearby buildings and U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler asked the U.S. agency to take charge of the demolition and have monitors on the site whenever work is taking place to protect the surrounding neighborhood from accidental contamination. EPA has promised a ``regular'' presence, not a continuous one. ... (Bloomberg News, by David M. Levitt, December 21, 2004)
  
• Rescuer's 9/11 claim is booted ... A World Trade Center worker who rushed from home on Sept. 11, 2001, to help rescue victims of the terror attacks has been denied workers' compensation because he wasn't ordered to the scene by a boss, a court ruled yesterday. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Port Authority and the state Workers' Compensation Board - and against Christopher Duff's workers' compensation claims for psychological injuries. ... (NY Daily News/AP, 12/17/04)
• New Region 2 EPA director ... The new acting regional director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency once led the Superfund program and was in charge of the organization's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Kathy Callahan has more than three decades of experience with EPA Region 2, which administers federal environmental programs in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally recognized Indian nations. Callahan began her new duties Nov. 26, replacing Jane Kenny, who resigned to take a private-sector job. ... (The Journal News, by Laura Incal Caterra, December 17, 2004)
• Characterization of Background Concentrations in Upper Manhattan, New York Apartments for Select Contaminants Identified in World Trade Center Dust ... Residential indoor concentration of asbestos, lead, synthetic vitreous fiber (SVF), crystalline silica, calcite, gypsum, dioxin, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in 25 residences and 9 building-interior common areas in upper Manhattan, NY. This was done to characterize the background levels of contaminants, identified in dust related to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, at locations that were minimally impacted by the dust fallout. The study was initiated due to the paucity of background concentrations on building-related materials and combustion byproducts in urban residential dwellings. Asbestos, lead, SVF, crystalline silica, and dioxin were detected at very low concentration at some locations, and many samples tested below their respective analysis detection limits. Almost all of the environmental samples for PAHs, calcite, gypsum, and certain other building materials tested below their respective analysis detection limits. A comparative analysis to the limited literature data showed general agreement with the values found in this study. This study provides insight into the levels of these contaminants in lower Manhattan residential buildings prior to the attack, and these data will serve to enhance the available database for characterizing indoor environments for these contaminants. ... A comparison of residential space results to common space results showed that with the exception of alpha-quartz in air, which was higher in the residential spaces, the mean values for the common spaces were similar or greater than the mean values for the residential spaces. Additionally, the frequency of detection was generally higher for the common spaces when compared to the residential spaces. Based on frequency of detection, the most frequently detected compounds in bulk dust samples and wipe samples were lead and alpha-quartz. Additionally, total fibers in the air, based on PCM, were frequently detected. This is in contrast to a much lower frequency of detection of asbestos for air samples using TEM, which can distinguish between asbestos and nonasbestos fibers, and for air samples analyzed for SVF. This indicates that although fibers were detected in the air samples, the majority of the fibers were neither asbestos fibers nor SVF. ... There were some differences observed between the residential spaces and the common spaces, both in frequency of detection and in the measured concentrations. A variety of factors may influence these differences, such as activity patterns, amount of foot traffic, type, and frequency of cleaning. These factors may differ between these spaces, and some combination of these factors may be responsible for this observation. Although there are physical and usage differences between residential and common spaces, the overall results were similar for the two types of spaces. Therefore, assessing exposure to contaminants in indoor environments, at least in this limited study, the results for the two different spaces were combined to estimate concentrations to which an individual may be exposed on a daily basis. ...(Environmental Science & Technology, Published by the American Chemical Society, December 15, 2004, requires membership)
  
• Plan Unveiled for Cleanup of Building at 9/11 Site ... efore the shrouded Deutsche Bank tower opposite ground zero can be taken down, it must first be stripped to its structural bones; cleaned of materials that contain asbestos, World Trade Center dust and other potentially hazardous contaminants. What that means is emptying 40 floors of ceiling tiles, gypsum wallboard, carpeting, sprayed-on fireproofing, fiberglass insulation, bathroom fixtures, built-in cabinetry. It includes taking down the netting that now covers large parts of the tower and erecting the crane that will be used in dismantling the steel framework. ... The plan calls first for the removal of dust and the collection of contaminated materials by workers in protective gear, beginning at the top of the building and working down, with four-floor sections of the tower isolated at any time under "negative pressure." Exhaust systems within these areas will make the air pressure lower than it is outside, so that if the protective barriers develop a leak, contaminated air will not be expelled. (NYTimes, by David W. Dunlap, December 14, 2004)
• LMDC releases plan for deconstruction of damaged bank tower ... NEW YORK (AP) In order to dismantle the steel frame of the badly damaged Deutsche Bank tower, still sitting adjacent to ground zero, workers must empty 40 floors of materials like fiberglass insulation, fireproofing and other items that contain hazardous materials like asbestos and World Trade Center dust. ... (NYNewday, December 14, 2004)
  
• 130 Liberty/Deutsche Bank: Draft Phase I Deconstruction Plan (LMDC, 12/13/04)
• Demolition Of Deutsche Bank Building Moves Forward ... More than three years after it was heavily damaged in the World Trade Center attack, plans for demolishing the Deutsche Bank Building are moving forward. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation on Monday is releasing the first part of the deconstruction plan for the 40-story building. The plan, which is expected to focus on interior cleaning, will be reviewed by regulatory agencies, including the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the city's Department of Buildings. The public will also be able to comment on the plan. ... (NY1, 12/13/04)
  
• Bush nominates Leavitt for health secretary ... President Bush has nominated EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt to replace Tommy Thompson as Health and Human Services secretary. ... (CNN, 12/13/04)
  
• A Study to Evaluate Possible Ongoing Impacts of the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers to the Indoor Environment. ... This talk will describe the study design, the procedure to interpret and act on results of the survey, and the public process used to debate the challenging issues that have arisen. ... (Society for Risk Analysis Conference, December 5-8, 2004 -- Palm Springs, California, M. Maddaloni, M. Lorber; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Response and Recovery Operations Region 2; Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment )
  
• The World Trade Center Health Registry ... Some critics say the money could be better spent on direct services. The registry was intended strictly as a scientific inquiry, with no promises of treatment for enrollees. "There was no direct benefit to individuals" for enrolling, said Health Commissioner Frieden, "but there will be a major direct benefit to New York City as a whole and to other jurisdictions [that] deal with natural or manmade disasters in the future." In other words, registry data might someday help society bone up in preparation for the next 9/11. The problem is, individuals still suffering from the last 9/11 think they are long overdue for some direct benefits. Community members have expressed frustration that some victims of 9/11 struggle with immediate healthcare and financial burdens that have not been addressed to this day. ... (Gotham Gazette, by Michelle Chen, December, 2004)
  

NOVEMBER

• Viewpoint: Anatomy of the 9/11 risk-communication fiasco ... Sept. 11, 2001, awakened Americans to the horrors of terrorism. The images of terror are still vivid, even a few years later. That day, too, the nation also witnessed a new kind of horror, although most people didn't realize it at the time: An environmental health emergency — as well as a communications fiasco in reporting it. With few exceptions, the major media failed to warn the public of the dangers in the smoke and dust following the building collapses. More importantly, the government's communications to the public deliberately downplayed environmental concerns, according to recent investigations, casting a harsh light on what can happen in a terrorist attack. ... (Francesca Lyman, November 2004)
  
• The WTCHR Quarterly Enrollment Update: Data Through Friday, September 10, 2004 (NYCDOHMH, November 2004, Volume 2,1)
• CT scans explain mysterious 9/11 cough ... Inhaling toxic dust from the World Trade Center disaster on 11 September 2001 has damaged some rescue workers' lungs more than years of smoking, US scientists reveal. Using an unconventional chest scan for the circumstances, researchers were able to capture visual signs of the severe respiratory problems that doctors could not otherwise have diagnosed. Hundreds of people have been tested and treated for respiratory problems - or "World Trade Center cough" - since New York City's twin towers fell, most of them suffering from asthma-like breathing difficulties. Some people, however, maintained persistent but unidentifiable coughs that could not be picked up using standard chest computed tomography (CT) scans. ...(NewScientist, by Anna Gosline, 30 November 2004)
  
• USEPA:  Response to WTC Community 7 Principles letter ... Key Findings: Nearly half of adult enrollees reported new or worsened sinus problems/nose irritation/post nasal irritation (47%) after 9/11/01; Other common respiratory complaints included shortness of breath (42%), wheezing (38%); persistent cough (37%), and throat irritation (38%); One in four enrollees (26%) reported new or worsened heartburn, indigestion or reflux symptoms. ... (November 30, 2004)
• Air Trapping Detected on End-Expiratory High Resolution CT in Symptomatic World Trade Center (WTC) Rescue and Recovery Workers ... Air Trapping Detected on End-Expiratory High Resolution CT in Symptomatic World Trade Center (WTC) Rescue and Recovery Workers (Radiological Society of North America, Inc., 11/30/04)
• 9/11 helpers sue feds over air quality 'lies' ... Several Ground Zero workers sued the federal government yesterday for allegedly lying about air quality after the World Trade Center attacks. The suit accuses officials of the Environmental Protection Agency of making misleading public statements about the level of dangerous contaminants released into the air after the twin towers were destroyed in a terror strike. ... Their attorneys are asking a judge to classify the case as a class action to include all workers sent to Ground Zero after the attacks. Among those named as defendants are former EPA director Christie Whitman and officials from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. "These people had symptoms that just didn't fit the typical pattern. They weren't treated at first because there wasn't any objective evidence of what was wrong," says lead author David Mendelson at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, US. So Mendelson's team turned to a technique called end-expiratory CT. In a normal chest scan, patients are asked to take a deep breath and hold it. In end-expiratory scans, patients take in a deep breath and release it slowly. In a healthy individual, the entire chest should be seen on the scan as an even grey colour -- the CT representation of moving air. The doctors scanned 29 rescue and recovery workers with unexplained symptoms. In 25 of these they saw splotchy black patches deep down in the finer, branching tubes of their airways. Black spots mean that air is trapped and stagnating in the lungs, making it difficult for the patients to breathe freely. Pulverised cement: In order to gauge the severity of the air-trapping pattern, the authors developed a visual scale that ranged from 0 to 24. Mendelson says that smokers would probably fall somewhere between 0 to 4 on his scale. The World Trade Center rescue workers, however, averaged 10.55. The extent of air trapping was found to reflect the amount of time each worker was exposed to the dust and debris of the buildings' collapse. The most likely culprit behind this type of airway disease is pulverised alkaline cement, says Mendelson, who presented his findings at the Radiological Society of North America's meeting in Chicago on Tuesday. All of the subjects are now being treated with anti-inflammatory drugs.Richard Russell, of the British Thoracic Society in London, UK, is not surprised by the degree of lung tissue damage caused by exposure to the fine cement dust, which is capable of penetrating deeply into the lungs and damaging the delicate tissues found there. But he warns that the rescue workers" breathing problems might be permanent: "This is a physical problem that's not going to go away with simple anti-inflammatories," he says. "We'll just have to watch and see if the patients get better over time and make sure they're not smoking." .... (NY Daily News, by Thomas Zambito, 11/24/04)
• New acting regional administrator for EPA ... Kathy Callahan has been named the new acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency region that includes New York state. Callahan replaces Jane Kenny whose previously announced retirement takes effect on Nov. 26.... (Business Review, 11/24/04)
  
• Thousands Near 9/11 Attack Reported Ill Effects, U.S. Says ... More than three years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, city health officials released data yesterday from a two-year study showing that thousands of people in the vicinity of the towers on Sept. 11, 2001, said they had increased respiratory problems and suffered higher rates of emotional ... (NYTimes, by Marc Santora, November 23, 2004)
  
• Thousands Near 9/11 Attack Reported Ill Effects, U.S. Says ... More than three years after the World Trade Center was destroyed, city health officials released data yesterday from a two-year study showing that thousands of people in the vicinity of the towers on Sept. 11, 2001, said they had increased respiratory problems and suffered higher rates of emotional ... None of the registry members received medical examinations as part of the survey, and there is no federal treatment program currently available for those who may be ill. .. In fact, financing for treatment, as well as the federal government's initial reaction to possible air quality problems around ground zero, have been heatedly debated since the Environmental Protection Agency announced soon after the attack that it was safe to return to the area.... (NYTimes, 11/23/04)
• NYDIS & Mount Sinai Collaborate to Distribute Urgently Needed Assistance to WTC Ground Zero Recovery Workers: WTC Rescue & Recovery Workers to Benefit from Pilot Project Launched to Provide Metrocards for Doctor's Visits, and Food and Clothing Vouchers this Holiday Season ... New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) today announced a new grant program to assist WTC Ground Zero Recovery workers who are now unable to meet their basic needs, in many cases because their medical condition has become so severe. They now suffer from chronic health effects as a result of their recovery work at Ground Zero. These WTC rescue and recovery responders are receiving care through the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine's (COEM) privately supported World Trade Center Health Effects Treatment Program. Thanks to the generosity of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), NYDIS has been awarded $375,000 to help recovery workers and volunteers meet basic needs. Many are now unable to work at all and some are without appropriate health insurance, rendering them unable to provide for themselves and their families. ... (NYDisaster Interfaith Services, November 23, 2004)
  
• Many face lung woes after 9/11 ... Most of the 70,000 people who worked or lived near Ground Zero suffered from wheezing, shortness of breath or coughing spells after the 2001 terror attack, a report released yesterday shows. About 8% of those interviewed said they continue to experience "psychological distress." The data offers the first glimpse into the World Trade Center Health Registry, which was created to track the health of 9/11 rescue workers, volunteers and nearby residents. In releasing the first quarterly report yesterday, Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said the results were "not surprising." "What this shows is that tens of thousands of people had significant lung symptoms around the time of exposure to the WTC," he said. Between half to two-thirds of the registered adults had at least one symptom after the attack, and many reported multiple respiratory problems, a Health Department spokesman said. Specifically, 44% of the men and 50% of the women reported sinus problems, nasal or postnasal irritation. In addition, 41% of the men and 43% of the women reported shortness of breath. The inquiry so far has focused only on symptoms people experienced directly after the attacks - not on whether the problems lingered. "We have no final determination of whether these problems are continuing to this day," Frieden said.(NYDaily News, by Lisa L. Colangelo, November 23, 2004)
• 9/11 worsened people's respiratory symptoms (Medical News Today, 23 Nov 2004)
• NYDIS & Mount Sinai Collaborate to Distribute Urgently Needed Assistance to WTC Ground Zero Recovery Workers ... WTC Rescue & Recovery Workers to Benefit from Pilot Project Launched to Provide Metrocards for Doctor's Visits, and Food and Clothing Vouchers this Holiday Season ... (November 23, 2004)
  
• Induced Sputum Assessment in New York City Firefighters Exposed to World Trade Center Dust ... New York City Firefighters (FDNY-FFs) were exposed to particulate matter and combustion/ pyrolysis products during and after the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse. Ten months after the collapse, induced sputum (IS) samples were obtained from 39 highly exposed FDNY-FFs (caught in the dust cloud during the collapse on 11 September 2001) and compared to controls to determine whether a unique pattern of inflammation and particulate matter deposition, compatible with WTC dust, was present. ... In conclusion, IS from highly exposed FDNY-FFs demonstrated inflammation, PSD, and particle composition that was different from nonexposed controls and consistent with WTC dust exposure.(Environmental Health Prespectives, by Elizabeth M. Fireman,1,2,3 Yehuda Lerman,3,4 Eliezer Ganor,5 Joel Greif,1,3 Sharon Fireman-Shoresh,6 Paul J. Lioy,7, Gisela I. Banauch,8,9 Michael Weiden,8,10 Kerry J. Kelly,8 and David J. Prezant8,9, November 2004)
• Most WTC Health Registry Enrollees Reported New or Worsened Respiratory Symptoms After 9/11: Data also show mental health symptoms present among enrollees at significantly higher rate than NYC average; further analyses needed to determine whether health symptoms persisted post-9/11/01 ... (NYCDOHMH News Release, November 22, 2004)
• E.P.A. waits for permission to test its offices ... The Environmental Protection Agency's "World Trade Center environmental retesting plan' is mired in bureaucracy delays, and the agency has not even received permission to test its own Lower Manhattan offices. At a Nov. 15 E.P.A. Expert Technical Review Panel meeting, representatives from the E.P.A. announced that in order for the agency to identify a "signature' -- a defining trait that differentiates W.T.C. disaster dust from regular New York City dust -- it needs access to buildings both near the W.T.C. disaster and far outside of the dust plume's reach. ... (Downtown Express, By Ronda Kaysen, Nov. 19 - 25, 2004)
  
• FEDS' WTC PLAN SCRUBS CLEANUP FOR DOWNTOWN ... The federal government doesn't want to do any more windows -- even if they're still contaminated from the World Trade Center attacks. Three years after the Twin Towers' collapse and eight months after convening an expert panel to plan further 9/11 cleanups, the Environmental Protection Agency is offering a new proposal to test for hazardous material downtown -- but it doesn't include a cleanup plan. That's a change from the agency's previous approach to downtown contamination -- and, critics say, a fatal flaw "There has to be a commitment from the EPA that there will be proper cleanup afterwards," said Catherine McVay Hughes, a downtown resident and member of the expert panel, which also included scientists and government employees. "With no guarantee, I would not participate, and I don't think smart New Yorkers would." ... (NYPost, by Sam Smith, by November 14, 2004)
• EPA May Change WTC Decontamination Policy ... Some Lower Manhattan buildings that may have been contaminated by the destruction of the World Trade Center may not be cleaned if the federal government gets its way. According to the New York Post, the Environmental Protection Agency is offering new proposals to test for hazardous material Downtown, but the plans make no mention cleanup. Dropping a cleanup plan would run counter agency's previous approach to decontamination efforts in Lower Manhattan. Critics say the EPA's new proposals are flawed and not comprehensive. An EPA spokesperson told the Post that it's presumptuous to discuss cleanup efforts when it's unclear if contamination still exists. The report also says the city is balking at further cleanup plans because of the cost and possible lawsuits. (NY1, November 14, 2004)
• Viewpoint: Anatomy of the 9/11 risk-communication fiasco ... Many New Yorkers and observers of the issue came to feel -- and continue to feel — that the government misled the public, prompting the press to leave the subject alone, and causing a buildup of public distrust. Thousands of workers and residents still suffer respiratory ailments from breathing the contaminated air.[7] So how the government responded two years ago is more than just an academic question. ... Congressman Nadler and other advocates in downtown New York say they feel vindicated by the EPA inspector general's two reports and are glad they were finally released. But Nadler points out that while EPA has now vowed to do a better job of risk communicating in the future, the agency has refused to solve the glaring failing identified in the IG report: A full cleanup of the dust in New York, as required under presidential directive after a terrorist incident. (Society of Environmetnal Journalists, by Francesca Lyman, November 2004)
  
• New Study Puts Sept. 11 Payout at $38 Billion ... The study also found that about $660 million was distributed to people who sought help because of exposure to dust and other potential health hazards near ground zero. Again, the federal fund, known as the Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, provided the bulk of the compensation - roughly $380 million tax-free. But as a caveat, the study warned that "a major unknown is whether resources will be available to pay for health care for respiratory injuries that might appear in the future." ...(NYTimes, November 9, 2004)
• Vote Awaited on Choice of Firm to Restore Fiterman Hall Near Ground Zero ... The fate of Fiterman Hall in Lower Manhattan, which has been unclear since the building was badly damaged during the attack on the World Trade Center, may be settled this month with a choice of architects to design its replacement.... board of trustees of the City University of New York, which will vote on the matter in three weeks. Fiterman Hall serves the Borough of Manhattan Community College, a unit of CUNY. ... Estimates to replace the building have ranged up to $274 million, though it may be lower. Insurance will pay for some of the project, but full financing - perhaps the key impediment - has not been entirely settled. ... Fiterman Hall, however, remains a wreck. Much of its south facade is exposed as a structural skeleton, sections of white brick alternating with gaping dark holes. Black netting shrouds some of the building. ... (NYTimes, by David Dunlap, by November 9, 2004)
  
• E.P.A.'s 9/11 leader to leave: Change for the Clinton-Bush panel unveiled the day after the election ... Paul Gilman, chairperson of the E.P.A. World Trade Center Expert Technical Panel will resign at the end of the month to the surprise of many -- and relief of some. Gilman, also the assistant administrator for research and development for the Environmental Protection Agency, will leave the agency on Nov. 30, according to Michael Brown, a spokesperson for the E.P.A. As head of the panel, Gilman steered 16 government and independent experts in devising recommendations for the E.P.A. to measure the environmental impact of the World Trade Center disaster. The panel was well received by community leaders who had criticized the agency's initial response to 9/11 and its subsequent program to clean and test Downtown apartments for asbestos. Gilman and his colleagues indicated in July that they were moving to institute a new testing program that included apartments, offices, firehouses and schools south of Houston St. opposed to the first program, which only included apartments up to Canal St. At the time Gilman told Downtown Express that it would cost about $12,000 per unit and no more than $9.6 million in total. The program was called a step in the right direction by many E.P.A. critics, but the agency has not yet approved the plan and advocates are beginning to step up the pressure to have it implemented. ... "The panel's work is not complete, but I have received assurances from E.P.A. that the panel will continue uninterrupted after Dr. Gilman's departure," Senator Clinton said in a statement e-mailed to Downtown Express. Clinton, who got the E.P.A. to create the panel by holding up the Senate confirmation of E.P.A. administrator Michael Leavitt last year, added that "the panel has made progress" during Gilman's tenure. ... "Is this going to lead us to the E.P.A. taking proper action or is this going to lead us to have to make a dramatic regrouping?" said Kimberly Flynn, member of 9/11 Environmental Action. Gilman and the panel, she said, were generally responsive to community concerns, although the results that come back each month from the E.P.A. often do not reflect what have been discussed and agreed upon at the previous month's meeting. "We have two kinds of experiences with the panel. A lot of the panelists agree with the community at the meetings," she said. "In between meetings, ground that the community feels it has gained washes out." ... Brown said that Gilman waited until after the election to leave so it wouldn't be characterized as political. "In the vein of the 'Godfather,' he was made an offer that was too good to refuse in September," said Brown. Gilman decided, "The timing would be better if he waited until after the election. He didn't want others to characterize it as something other than it is," said Brown.... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, Nov. 5 - Nov. 12, 2004)
• EPA Science Advisor Stepping Down ... Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and the Agency's Science Advisor, has announced that he is stepping down at the end of November to accept a private sector opportunity. ... (News Release, November 4th, 2004)
  
• Research Chief Resignation Marks First EPA Departure In Expected Exodus ... EPA research chief Paul Gilman is the first of numerous political appointees expected to leave the agency following President Bush's reelection to a second term, after many of the appointees postponed their departures until after the election, agency and other sources say. Gilman, who served as assistant administrator (AA) of the Office of Research & Development, was also appointed as the agency's top science advisor by former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and continued in that role under current Administrator Mike Leavitt. Gilman sent a memo announcing his departure on the morning of Nov. 3, as it became clear Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) would not be able to win the state of Ohio. The memo is available on InsideEPA.com. The sources say many appointees delayed desired departures after the White House asked them last year, as the Bush re-election campaign was beginning, to stay with the administration until after the election. Some career staff may also speed their departures from the agency because of disappointment with the administration's policy priorities and unwillingness to work again under what they consider an environmentally unfriendly administration, agency sources say. ... (Inside EPA, Vol. 25, No. 25, November 5, 2004, password required)
  
• Review of Conflict of Interest Allegations Pertaining to the Peer Review of EPA's Draft Report, "Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution from the World Trade Center Disaster" ... (Report No. 2005-S-00003, November 4, 2004)
• Special Report Review of Conflict of Interest AllegationsPertaining to the Peer Review of EPA's Draft Report, "Exposure and Human Health Evaluation of Airborne Pollution from the World Trade Center Disaster" (Report No. 2005-S-00003 November 4, 2004)
• EPA Science Advisor Stepping Down ... WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development and the Agency's Science Advisor, has announced that he is stepping down at the end of November to accept a private sector opportunity.... (U.S. Newswire, 11/04/04)
• Research director resigns on heels of Bush victory ... In the first of what could be a number of changes at the U.S. EPA under a second Bush administration, the agency's top research official stepped down from his post this morning just as news of President Bush's re-election was announced. Paul Gilman, EPA's assistant administrator for research and development, offered few details about his decision to leave EPA effective Nov. 30. In a formal announcement, Gilman said he informed President Bush of his decision this morning, following up with an e-mail to agency employees this afternoon.The Bush administration has met fierce criticism from environmental groups and many in the academic community for its positions on a range of environmental issues ... In recent statements, Gilman has included among his staff's greatest accomplishments the confirmation of links between human health and exposure to fine particulate matter (PM). Through more sophisticated measurement and air modeling tools, Gilman said EPA has been able to achieve even greater certainty about where and how individuals are exposed to PM. ... (Greenwire, by Marty Coyne, November 3, 2004, password required)
• Critics Say Unclear EPA Role At Ground Zero May Undermine Cleanup ... EPA critics say the agency's recent reluctance to outline its possible indoor cleanup responsibilities for parts of Manhattan affected by the World Trade Center attacks three years ago may undermine upcoming efforts to test the area for contamination, since property owners and businesses may avoid testing if it could require them to pay for cleanups. EPA last month revised its plan for testing indoor air in lower Manhattan in response to recommendations by an agency-convened panel of experts, which included broadening the geographical scope and type of pollutants to be tested. But a coalition of labor unions, community groups and environmentalists is strongly opposing the agency's revised plan, saying it does not include an adequate cleanup commitment by EPA, which could undermine the testing effort if it remains unclear who will pay for an eventual solution at the site. EPA is seeking comment on the draft sampling plan and will discuss public response at an advisory panel meeting Nov. 15. EPA will begin recruiting Manhattan participants for the expanded testing next year, an agency source says. ... But the group's effort is drawing support from key New York lawmakers Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Democrats who both issued statements last week calling on EPA to pledge to a cleanup. While agency critics and congressional sources acknowledge EPA is significantly expanding its testing plans, they are concerned the plan lacks any detail on how EPA and New York City officials will handle a cleanup if warranted by the testing information. The agency has not affirmed its authority to gain entry into commercial buildings and require or conduct cleanups, several critics say, and may disqualify for cleanup buildings that have high levels of specific WTC-related contaminants but do not meet a proposed agency threshold for cleanup. ... But agency officials explain that while the revised plan "doesn't speak to cleanup," EPA will proceed to cleanup if there is strong evidence from the testing that people are facing significant risks from contamination, even if the contaminants at issue are not part of any specific WTC "signature." As part of the expanded testing effort, EPA will try to establish a "signature" or chemical marker that will serve as an indicator of World Trade Center-related contamination. ... The agency is trying to determine if it has the authority to test in buildings against the wishes of the owner, the source says. But a key WTC panel member says lack of clarity over who will be responsible for cleanups as a result of testing may act as a "tremendous disincentive" for participation in the voluntary testing program, which already is facing weak participation and may provide only limited findings. ... (Inside EPA, November 2, 2004, password required)
• Many Saw Free Air-Conditioner in Post-9/11 Clean-Air Program ... n the spring of 2002, as the weather warmed up for the first time since the 9/11 attack, federal and state officials announced a plan to reimburse New Yorkers who replaced air-conditioners damaged by dust and debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center. People who bought air purifiers to rid their apartments of microscopic particles from the fallen buildings would receive government money as well.... In the spring of 2002, as the weather warmed up for the first time since the 9/11 attack, federal and state officials announced a plan to reimburse New Yorkers who replaced air-conditioners damaged by dust and debris from the collapse of the World Trade Center. People who bought air purifiers to rid their apartments of microscopic particles from the fallen buildings would receive government money as well.... The audit criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York State, saying that they "reduced managerial controls and increased the risk of abuse." In all, the audit said, decisions by agency and state officials "greatly increased the number of apparently fraudulent applications." Some people who applied for - and received - money were miles from ground zero. And a program that had been budgeted for $15 million ballooned to more than $45 million. ... The audit said the agency and the state "took action to address suspected fraudulent applications" once problems had been identified. The audit also said there was no evidence that anyone who was eligible had been denied air-quality equipment....(NYTimes, by James Barron, November 2, 2004)
  

OCTOBER

• NADLER TO BUSH: CLEAN UP WTC CONTAMINATION: Calls on Commander-in-Chief to Stop EPA's Dereliction of Duty and Protect Public Health ... WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) issued the following letter to President Bush asking him to order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to follow its legally mandated procedures to clean up hazardous contamination from the terrorist attacks in New York, and adequately protect the public health and environment. The letter follows recent pleas to EPA by community groups frustrated by the agency's failure to act three years after the terrorist attack. Despite the continued presence of contamination in buldings such as the Deutsche Bank across from the WTC site, and the creation by EPA of a technical review panel over one year ago, the agency has yet to perform a comprehensive testing and clean up program adequate to protect public health. ...(News Release, October 29, 2004)
• World Trade Center indoor air quality sampling plan released for comment (Capital Reports, 10/28/04)
  
• NY Attorney General's Office Accepts Unprecedented Citizens' Complaint Demanding Criminal Inquiry into 9/11 Crimes (USNewswire, News Release, 10/28/2004)
  
• 9/11 first-responders: Penn State team analyzes effects of inhaled toxins ... "We think of police officers as being in physical danger from bullets and other kinds of violence, not from inhaling toxins," said Rebecca Bascom, professor of medicine at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. "With the threat of terrorism, we now have to worry about the lung and cardiovascular health of first-responders."Bascom and a team from the Penn State College of Medicine are working with the Living Heart Foundation to analyze heart and lung screening test results of more than 1,760 rescue and relief workers. ... "The major problems we saw were mental stress, exhaustion, breathing difficulties, hypertension and (manifestations of coronary artery disease)," said Arthur J. Roberts, Living Heart Foundation president and chairman noted. Roberts added that follow-up studies showed that mental stress and breathing difficulties persist, but more cardiovascular research is needed to determine long-term complications. Bascom and team members are looking for trends and information that will better prepare the medical community to respond to future disasters. One promising area is the possibility of using the data to develop a risk score for inhalation injuries, similar to the burn score (first-, second- and third-degree), Bascom said. Doctors use the burn score to quickly assess tissue damage, deliver appropriate treatment and determine prognosis. An inhalation risk score (high, medium, low) could lead to a more precise diagnosis and treatment plan, as well. (Penn State, October 27, 2004)
• Clinton Calls on EPA to Implement World Trade Center Testing and Clean Up Program: Almost one year after Clinton secures White House commitment for the creation of an independent panel to evaluate indoor air quality issues stemming from 9/11, Senator calls on Administration to take immediate action ... New York, NY -- Today, almost one year after Senator Clinton secured the commitment of the White House Council on Environmental Policy to form the World Trade Center Expert Review Panel, Senator Clinton called on the Administration to take immediate action and implement a comprehensive testing and clean up program. The Bush Administration committed to the creation of the panel one year ago tomorrow, under pressure from Senator Clinton to address remaining health concerns about indoor air quality resulting from the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. These concerns followed an August, 2003 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Inspector General that criticized the EPA's response to the September 11th attacks. ... "The EPA also needs to work through the expert panel to examine unmet health needs." (News Release, October 26, 2004)
  
• COMMENTARY: A Timely Lesson in Horror Unvarnished ... I visited the bridge over which the atomic bomb had dropped. The Japanese had resolved the question of what memorial to build by constructing 64 of them. The largest is the memorial museum. Inside, glass cases displayed mementos. What surprised me was that the most powerful exhibits were medical. .. It suddenly seemed important to me that the museum contain such exhibits, on epidemiology and pathophysiology of the respiratory diseases that resulted from the attacks, and the psychiatric fallout, the post-traumatic stress disorder, grief reactions, depression and anxiety, the treatments (from support groups to Prozac) that were tried. Yet the current museum plans do not call for including this information. To my knowledge, it has not even been considered. Back in New York on the third anniversary of the attack, I searched the Medline database for "Sept. 11" and found 499 published scientific articles documenting effects of that day: increased symptoms of asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficits, increased cigarette and alcohol use, anger, sadness and visits to mental health professionals. ... Wars cause unanticipated disease - from shell shock to Gulf War syndrome ... (NYTimes, by Robert Klitzman, October 26, 2004)
• Seven Principles Letter to the EPA from the Lower Manhattan community: To Michael O. Leavitt (October 26, 2004)
• Report reveals truth about 9/11 fallout: PEF partners with Sierra Club in Ground Zero cleanup ... Three years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, crews continue working around Ground Zero, and the dust and fumes from demolition and construction may cause health-threatening pollution. So, PEF members from the state Department of Health (DOH) and Public Service Commission (PSC), who are slated to move to lower Manhattan next year, have teamed with the Sierra Club and other organizations to fight for cleaner air."PEF is working with a number of downtown organizations to make sure air quality is safe for our members," said Paul Stein, PEF Division 199 council leader. ... "Our concern is the buildings be carefully demolished to prevent the release of contaminants into the air," Stein said. "The Sierra Club has credibility and the ability to get press if proper standards aren't met." By next March, approximately 350 PEF members from DOH and PSC who are now assigned to other locations will be relocated to 90 Church Street. "We want to make sure the air we will be breathing on a daily basis is safe," Stein said. "We are appalled by the reckless disregard for the health of workers and residents in lower Manhattan by the EPA and other governmental entities. The EPA testing was very incomplete.".... Strength in numbers: "Without the cooperation of the Sierra Club, the Civil Service Employees Association, 9/11 Environmental Action, NYCOSH and union activists from the New York City Housing Authority and the U.S. Postal Service, which are also located at 90 Church Street, we wouldn't be as successful," Stein said, referring to the unions' winning campaign to get double-pane windows and higher efficiency filters on all air-distribution units at 90 Church Street. Stein said the topic of indoor air quality will remain on the labor-management committee agenda until all the issues are resolved."We've made significant progress with management," Stein said. "The next step is to make sure there is clearance testing of all the air intakes and air-handling units and to receive the results of those tests." (The Communicator, by Deborah a. Miles, October 2004)
  
• Ground Zero Community Wants Answers, Cleanup for Lingering 9/11 Contamination ... The letter urges EPA to conduct comprehensive testing for indoor contamination, not only in southern Manhattan but also in neighborhoods of Brooklyn that were covered by the dust cloud. It calls on EPA to commit to clean up contaminated buildings as warranted; assert authority over environmental safety during demolition of 9/11-contaminated structures such as the Deutsche Bank building; and support long-term medical monitoring, and care as needed, for people exposed to the World Trade Center pollution. While EPA has published a proposed design for indoor testing, community representatives note that it falls short of the mark for a credible program. They expressed strong disappointment that EPA had promised to work in partnership with the community, yet did not engage in a dialogue with them before publishing the protocol. ... (Occupational Hazards, 10/26/2004)
  
• Ground Zero Community Urges Answer from EPA Before Election: Cites Anniversary of White House Commitment to Consider Testing and Cleanup of 9/11 Contamination (News Release, October 26, 2004)
• World Trade Center Indoor Air Quality Sampling Proposal Circulated, U.S.Environmental Protection Agency Seeks Public Comment ... (U.S. Newswire, EPA News Release,10/21/2004)
  
• World Trade Center Indoor Air Quality Sampling Proposal Circulated U.S. EPA Seeks Public Comment ... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released for public comment a draft sampling plan for lower Manhattan to determine if the area has contaminants from the collapsed towers at levels of concern. The panel has met seven times since March primarily to address the development of a design for a sampling program to determine the geographic extent of WTC impacts to the indoor environment.... (News Release, October 21, 2004)
• Poisons, Begone! The dubious science behind the Scientologists' detoxification program for 9/11 rescue workers ... Critics contend that the regimen lacks any scientific basis. But some former participants, with whom I spoke during a daylong visit to the clinic, believe that the program has dramatically improved their health and are lobbying local officials, as well as members of Congress, to support it with public funding. (To date, at least $30,000 in city money has been allocated; this money appears in the most recent city budget, and an additional $300,000 from city sources is potentially in the offing, according to Councilwoman Margarita Lopez. The program has also received $2.3 million in funding from private donors, including Cruise.) Program advocates, including former patients, staff doctors, and spokespeople for the clinic, are also reaching out to physicians by setting up informational meetings in an effort to gain mainstream acceptance. (Slate, by Amanda Schaffer, Oct. 21, 2004)
• METRO BRIEFING: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut ...MANHATTAN: E.P.A. OFFICIAL TO QUIT The federal official overseeing the controversial cleanup and environmental testing of apartments near ground zero has submitted her resignation. In a letter dated Oct. 12, the official, Jane M. Kenny, said she would leave her job as the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 administrator on Nov. 12 for a "new opportunity," but was not more specific. Ms. Kenny, who was appointed to her post in 2001, has rejected claims that residents and workers were allowed to return to the area around ground zero too soon. She also oversaw the cleanup and testing of thousands of apartments in Lower Manhattan, some of which will have to be retested. (NYT, October 14, 2004)
  
• EPA discusses WTC contamination: Some at meeting of expert panel call for testing and cleanup timeline ... Some in attendance at St. John's University on Murray Street wanted a timeline for a comprehensive testing and cleanup of buildings affected by toxic dust -- which may have contained lead, asbestos and other harmful elements -- that includes the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and parts of Brooklyn. They are worried about further contamination when other buildings near Ground Zero are demolished. 'We need a definitive statement from the EPA on if they will do the testing, if they will follow up with cleanup, and will they oversee the demolition of buildings, ' said Suzanne Mattei, New York City Executive Director for the Sierra Club.Only the EPA -- with its federal resources -- is equipped to handle the scope of theseprojects, Mattei said.. (Metro, by Amy Zimmer, October 6, 2004, PAGE 8)
• Report reveals truth about 9/11 fallout: PEF partners with Sierra Club in Ground Zero cleanup ... Three years after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, crews continue working around Ground Zero, and the dust and fumes from demolition and construction may cause health-threatening pollution. So, PEF members from the state Department of Health (DOH) and Public Service Commission (PSC), who are slated to move to lower Manhattan next year, have teamed with the Sierra Club and other organizations to fight for cleaner air. “PEF is working with a number of downtown organizations to make sure air quality is safe for our members,” said Paul Stein, PEF Division 199 council leader. ... (The Communicator, by Deborah A. Miles, October 5, 2004)
• 130 LIBERTY STREET: DEUTSCHE BANK (RJLEE Group Report)
• Falling Glass Is a Surprise ... The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) released an initial environmental study last month that confirmed high levels of contaminants in the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street, whose "deconstruction" is to begin later this year. But environmental hazards are not the only worries for people who live in the shadow of the office tower, which was badly damaged when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. ... Susan Fox said she was on the street near her home at 120 Greenwich Street on Sept. 26 when she heard a crash. Fox said she was impressed by the LMDC's quick response, but that the incident called into question the agency's knowledge of the building's condition."It certainly emphasizes the reality of the dangers that they themselves are unaware of," she said. ... Still to be developed is a detailed deconstruction plan, with the specific safety measures that will be used. That plan will be prepared and overseen by the Gilbane Building Company. The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the city's Department of Environmental Protection will review the plans before deconstruction begins, Peterson said. The work may begin as soon as November. "We're confident we can go to the regulators and come up with a plan to do this quickly," she said. Peterson said the LMDC would work with the New York City Office of Emergency Management to develop an emergency evacuation plan. The LMDC also announced a 24-hour emergency telephone number, 917-715-6790, that will reach a Gilbane representative. ... (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders, October 2004)
  
• Poll Finds City Residents Concerned About Health Effects Of 9/11 ... City residents remain concerned about the long term health effects from 9/11 and appear to be losing confidence in the cleanup effort, according to a new Pace University Poll. The poll found 59 percent of Lower Manhattan residents think the events of September 11th created a long term health risk for themselves and their neighbors. Fifty-two percent say they are not reassured by government studies addressing the issue. Pollsters also say downtown residents are not happy with the environmental cleanup or the monitoring of air quality; while 39 percent said they thought it was going well. That's down from high of 61 percent in the summer of 2003. Also, only a quarter of those polled said they believe the Environmental Protection agency and its reports on the air quality in Lower Manhattan. The results are based on telephone interviews conducted between August 12 and August 31, 2004, which included 539 people who live below 14th Street. ... (NY1, October 01, 2004)
  
• Glass falls from Deutsche, shutting streets and pedestrian bridge ... Glass debris fell from the former Deutsche building on Sunday, Sept. 26, landing on Greenwich St., and causing the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which now owns the contaminated building, to close down the surrounding streets for several days. The falling debris -- the first incident of its kind since the L.M.D.C. purchased the building on Aug. 30 with plans to deconstruct it -- has raised some community concerns about how pertinent information will be relayed to local residents and employees.... Lauricella said: "[The L.M.D.C.] needs to be straightforward with people about the risks," he said, "Given the foot traffic that goes by there, one would hope that they'll go the extra mile to make sure that the people who work and live in the immediate vicinity are protected." ... (Downtown Express, By Ronda Kaysen, October 01 - 07, 2004)
  

SEPTEMBER

• Residents Weigh In On How To Safely Tear Down Deutsche Bank Building ... A building heavily damaged on September 11th must come down, but the question is how. Tests show the Deustche Bank building is full of asbestos and other contaminants and people who live downtown are worried again about their safety. Dozens showed up Thursday at a meeting to hear about plans to tear the building down. NY1's Monica Brown has details. ... In it are the details of the levels of asbestos, dioxin, lead and other contaminates in the building. At a public information session Thursday night, about 80 residents of Lower Manhattan listened to the LMDC's plan to raze the building. ... The corporation says it will continue to keep the community informed of its plans. The public comment period will run through October 13th. (NY1,by Monica Brown, September 24, 2004)
  
• Pace Poll Survey Research Study ... Residents' greatest skepticism, however, relates to public health and the long-term 9/11 health risks. Only 39% believe the cleanup and monitoring of air quality went "very" or "somewhat" well compared to 61% who thought so in July 2003. In part, these concerns may arise from the public's distrust of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Only 20% of Lower Manhattan residents have any confidence in the EPA's integrity. A strong majority (59%) believes that residents of Lower Manhattan face a long-term health risk from the effects of 9/11. Nearly 1 in 4 (23%) have consulted a doctor about this risk, another 23% have discussed the issue with a friend while 10% have researched the issue on their own. More than 1 in 10 residents (14%) now have joined the World Trade Center Health Registry, double the 7% we found in our February Tracker. (September 23, 2004)
• EPA ISSUES PRE-ELECTION GAG ORDER TO STAFF: EPA Directs Employees to "Refrain From Answering" Media Inquiries ... Washington, DC, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has directed to its staff to "refrain from answering" inquiries from the news media in order to "prevent EPA management from being surprised by news coverage," according to an agency memo released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).....(News Release, September 22, 2004)
  
• This tragic day belongs to no campaign ... How can you sell what you don't own? I'm talking about 9/11. The other day, as the anniversary of the attack was approaching, I found myself lying in bed with a case of double pneumonia. The diagnosis had surprised my doctor because I'd never had serious chest ailments before. "Look," I said to my wife as I turned on the television in our Battery Park City apartment. "It's Christie Whitman at the Republican Convention!" Was this a cough-medicine induced hallucination or was it indeed the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who had assured us in the days following 9/11 that the smoke- filled air of lower Manhattan was safe to breathe? We wondered whether it was really OK for our young children as they slept at night across from the fires that burned for months at Ground Zero. Were the thick noxious clouds nothing to worry about? My wife assured me that Whitman was not a vision brought on by my reduced lung capacity. ... (NYNewsday, Thomas S. Goodkind, September 14, 2004)
• 9/11 dogs unharmed by sites, study finds ... Search-and-rescue dogs deployed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have suffered no serious illnesses from exposures to the disaster sites, a finding that offers hope for 9/11 emergency workers worried about their own health, researchers say. "Overall, the lack of clear adverse medical or behavioral effects among the 9/11 dogs is heartening, both for the animals and the human rescue workers," said Cynthia Otto, an associate professor of critical care at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and lead researcher for the study. The researchers tracked the health of 97 dogs and handlers from the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the Staten Island landfill where debris from ground zero was further searched for human remains. They compared the dogs with some rescue dogs that were not deployed for 9/11-related work. "Since dogs age more rapidly that humans, they can serve as sentinels for human disease. We are encouraged that we do not see significant increases in cancer and respiratory diseases," said Otto, whose report appears Wednesday in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.... ( Startribune, Lee Bowman, Scripps Howard News Service, September 19, 2004)
• Public process to dismantle Deutsche building begins ... Following the release of a new environmental study confirming high levels of contaminants in the badly damaged former Deutsche Bank building opposite the World Trade Center, the Lower Manhattan Development Center announced plans to begin the building's deconstruction sometime in November, although the specifics of how the building will come down -- and how residents and workers will be protected -- remain to be seen. ... When board member Catherine Hughes said she heard the plan was to start the project on Nov. 1, Peterson did not object. With deconstruction plans scheduled for public release sometime after Oct. 13, the work schedule appears overly ambitious to some. "I have never heard of six agencies working together in a year to complete a deconstruction," said Pearl Scher, a C.B. 1 member... Many residents voiced concern saying it was unprecedented to take down such a large contaminated building in a city. "A demolition of such a contaminated building in such a densely populated area has never been done before," Catherine Hughes told Downtown Express. (Downtown Express, By Ronda Kaysen, September 17-23, 2004)
  
• W.T.C. health studies discussed at forum ... Three years after the World Trade Center attack, evidence is mounting that significant health effects plague those who lived or worked near the disaster, researchers reported at a conference last weekend. ... John Reynolds, a Tribeca resident, said that he still suffered from a persistent cough that he said began when the cloud of dust from the disaster tumbled over him. "I'm here for answers," Reynolds said. "So far, I haven't found any. I've been to six doctors and they all throw up their hands and say they just don't know what caused my cough."... (Downtown Express, By Sascha Brodsky, September 17-23, 2004)
  
• Feature: Fallout: Three years after the World Trade Center attacks, thousands of cops, ... Two weeks later, Walcott was in the hematologist's office with a two-foot needle plunged into his tailbone, trying to keep still as the doctor scraped out samples of his bone marrow. It took just minutes to deliver the diagnosis: acute myelogenous leukemia, a white-blood-cell cancer. The doctor ordered Walcott straight to the hospital, where he stayed for 22 days undergoing chemotherapy. He lost his hair, coughed up dark chunks of blood, and watched the whites of his eyes turn red. His immune system was so compromised he was allowed only one visit with Colleen, then 11 months old, who stayed in her stroller under a plastic veil. ... "When I got diagnosed," says Walcott, "I was going crazy. I'd never been sick. But I'll never forget: I had a variety of doctors and nurses, and a question they all asked -- which I found crazy at the time -- was, "Were you ever exposed to radiation or benzene?" They wanted to know if I worked in an airport or if I delivered airline fuel. And I was like, ‘No.’ ” (New York Magazine, By Jennifer Senior, September 20, 2004)
  
• 9/11 Contamination Is High at Bank Tower, Study Says ... new environmental study of the former Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero, independent of the bank and its insurers, has confirmed the presence of high levels of asbestos, dioxin, lead and other contaminants throughout the unused 40-story tower. The study was conducted by the Louis Berger Group for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which took over the building on Aug. 31 and plans to begin razing it by the end of the year. Though it has long been known that the tower was contaminated, the findings released yesterday will almost certainly add to the expense and complication - both structurally and politically - of dismantling the building....Berger, an engineering and environmental consulting firm in East Orange, N.J., found high levels of quartz, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chromium and manganese in the building. Now that the corporation owns the building, samples will also be gathered from behind walls and in other hollow spaces.... Kimberly Flynn, an environmental advocate, asked how unusual it was to tear down such a large building with so many contaminants. Tom Lewis of Berger answered, "If you break it into bite-sized pieces, the contaminant aspect will be addressed."... the development corporation acquired the property for $90 million...It now seems likely that the price tag for demolition will exceed $45 million... For a yardstick, Berger used two federal criteria for concentrations of contaminants in residential buildings: one for estimated existing levels in Manhattan and the other for target cleanup levels around the trade center site. Though "not directly applicable to a commercial deconstruction project," Berger said, they "put the results of this study into relative context." ... Using these criteria, Berger found excessive asbestos in 24 of the 31 floors it tested, or 77 percent. It also found excessive levels of dioxin (in 99 percent of the samples), lead (97 percent), quartz (94 percent), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (80 percent), chromium (30 percent) and manganese (21 percent).... (NYTimes, by David Dunlap, September 15, 2004)
  
• High Contamination Found At Deutsche Bank Building ... A new environmental study finds high levels of contamination at the Deutsche Bank building across the street from the World Trade Center site, which is slated for demolition. The report, released at a public hearing Tuesday night, said the 40-story building, which was heavily damaged in the September 11 attacks, contains dangerous levels of asbestos, dioxin, lead and other contaminants. An independent company conducted the study for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which bought the building last month and plans to begin razing it by the end of the year. ... (NY1, September 16, 2004)
  
• 'TOXIC' WTC SUIT ... Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Silverstein, said the cleanup was conducted by the city and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "We had no control over that operation and no ability to supervise what safety precautions were taken," he said. ... The suit was filed Friday, the last day before a federal three-year statue of limitations expired for lawsuits related to the terror attacks, and made public yesterday. (NYPost, by Dareh Gregorian and Tom Topousis)
  
• 9/11 workers' suit claims toxic exposure: 800 say they are ill because city and others failed to guard them ... More than 800 rescue and cleanup workers from Ground Zero have filed the largest post-9/11 class-action lawsuit, contending they were exposed to deadly toxins and not provided with adequate safety equipment. The lawsuit claims Silverstein Properties, which leased the World Trade Center, and four construction companies hired to oversee the removal of the 1.5 million tons of debris "should have known that safety precautions were needed to protect the rescue workers and cleanup workers ... and anyone else exposed to the caustic dust from the airborne contamination, toxins and other substances." ... The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Friday, the last day set by a federal three-year statute of limitations for lawsuits related to the terrorist attack. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the city of New York and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also will be named as defendants pending proper notification procedures. ... Worby said the plaintiffs -- many of whom are from New Jersey -- have been diagnosed with cancer, respiratory illnesses, skin lesions and other ailments after being exposed to contaminants like dioxin, asbestos, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls and lead in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "If you were there five minutes or a year, please go see your doctor and get some type of medical testing," said John Walcott, a New York City detective who says he has contracted leukemia. "I live my life by the hour." Between 75,000 and 100,000 workers at Ground Zero and hundreds of thousands more people living and working in the area were exposed to airborne toxins ... "We are here today to tell you that the testing of these hundreds of thousands of people is urgent," said Worby, who expects the cost for such testing to be as much as $1 billion.... Last week, the Port Authority joined a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, contending the kingdom provided direct or indirect aid to al Qaeda before the attacks. ... (Star-Ledger, by Ron Marsico, September 14, 2004)
  
• Firefighters accepted all risks at ground zero ... The firefighters anticipated the dust and asbestos. Crews brought along two-stage respirators that fit over their nose and mouth to block out particulates. And commanders mandated they be worn. Still, one-quarter of the Phoenix firefighters who went to New York after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, returned with diminished lung capacity. ... The diligence with the gear could be one reason Phoenix has not seen lingering health problems. Those who had diminished lung capacity returned to normal within a year, said Dr. Jim Fleming of the Phoenix Fire Department's health center. And there have been no cases of World Trade Center cough, the malady that has plagued the New York Fire Department. ... (Arizona Republic, Sept. 13, 2004 )
• Hundreds sue over health effects of World Trade Center cleanup ... Hundreds of people who worked on the World Trade Center cleanup have filed a class-action lawsuit against the leaseholder of the towers and those who supervised the job, alleging they did little to protect workers from dust, asbestos and other toxins in the air. The lawsuit, filed in federal court on Friday and made public Monday, was brought against Silverstein Properties and the four construction companies hired to oversee the removal of the 1.5 million tons of debris. ...While some of the plaintiffs suffer from afflictions ranging from tumors to heartburn, many say they show no symptoms from their work at the site, but have joined the suit because they fear they risk developing cancer in the future. ... (Ledge Inquirer/AP, by Karen Matthew, Sep. 13, 2004)
• 9/11 pollution 'could cause more deaths than attack' ... Asbestos was found at 27 times acceptable levels, and scientists found about 400 organic alkanes, phthalates and polyaromatic hydrocarbons - many suspected of causing cancer and other long-term diseases. ... (Independent, By Geoffrey Lean, Environment Editor, 12 September 2004)
  
• Misled over air quality, shortchanged in federal funding, union wants four more years Burning for Bush ... The long-term effect on the health of firefighters and others remains to be seen. Some 332 firefighters have developed the "World Trade Center cough"—an innocent-sounding name for a phenomenon that leaves its victims wheezing and gasping for breath. According to the Sierra Club, one firefighter was diagnosed as suffering from a condition called acute eosinophilic pneumonia. In his lungs, doctors found metal particles, silica, and degraded glass, along with 300 times the amount of asbestos fibers considered "a significant risk for asbestosis." ... (Village Voice, by Tom Robbins, September 14th, 2004)
• Health Effects of 9/11 ... The conclusions of the Government Accountability Office study described in "Study Finds Lack of Data on Health Effects of 9/11 Dust" (news article, Sept. 8) provide further evidence that the current federal administration failed to take proper action to protect New Yorkers from the World Trade Center attack's toxic aftermath. Sierra Club's recent report, "Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero," documents how the federal government avoided finding pollution hazards by not testing for them, and suppressed information on hazards when it did find them. The Government Accountability Office report reveals a similar pattern of irresponsible conduct with regard to measuring health effects from the attack. This is certainly one way to try to avoid dealing with the consequences of the human exposures that occurred. Unfortunately, the New Yorkers who are now sick from those exposures deal with the consequences every day. (NYTimes, September 11, 2004)
  
• Ailments still plague 9/11 search and rescue team : Local clinic to test those with health problems as part of study ... A Redwood City clinic has begun monitoring health problems suffered by members of an elite search and rescue team that helped out at the World Trade Center site in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Maladies ranging from bloody noses to pneumonia have been plaguing at least 10 members of California Urban Search and Rescue Task Force 3, said Task Force Leader Capt. Harold Schapelhouman, a division chief with the Menlo Park Fire Protection District. There could be others with health problems, but not everyone who was there wants to be part of the study Schapelhouman launched in June at Redwood City's Workforce Medical Center... Sixty-seven members of Task Force 3 worked 20-hour days digging through what was dubbed "The Pile" at ground zero. When they returned from their 13-day stay, 70 percent of them were ill, Schapelhouman said. There were bloody noses, coughed-up blood, and a number of respiratory infections. Six or seven of them caught pneumonia and around 20 complained of a dry cough that was termed the "WTC cough." ... (San Mateo County, by Malaika Fraley, September 11, 2004)
• 9/11-related stress blamed for jump in heart problems .... Cardiac patients from New Jersey and as far away as Florida felt the pain of the Sept. 11 attacks with an increase in irregular heartbeats, new studies reveal. People with implanted defibrillators, which shock the heart into a normal rhythm when it beats irregularly, were more than twice as likely to need the electrical charge in the month after the attacks. "It certainly supports the notion that mental stress, regardless of its cause, can have severe cardiac effects," said Dr. Jonathan S. Steinberg, the study's author and a professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a cardiologist at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. ... Stress increases the level of adrenaline in the blood, which can cause multiple cardiovascular crises: constricted blood vessels, clotting, and disturbances in the electrical signals to the heart. ... (Bergen, by Mary Jo Layton, September 11, 2004)
• WTC rescue workers still ailing, study finds ... Lingering respiratory difficulties plague nearly half of the rescue workers screened in an analysis of breathing problems after the Twin Towers' collapse, according to a government report released yesterday. The report from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of three examinations released in the past few days demonstrating that health effects from the terrorist attack may last for years. In the CDC's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report, Dr. Stephen Levin, lead investigator at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, found rescuers and Ground Zero cleanup workers are battling persistent sinusitis, asthma and a nagging cough three years later. ... "We don't have an easy answer for the persistence" of the cough, said Levin, co-director of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mount Sinai. He attributed upper and lower respiratory problems to inhalation of pulverized concrete that burned and permanently scarred nasal, bronchial and lung tissue. Other destructive compounds included pulverized glass, acids and dust. "Many of our patients tell us that since their World Trade Center experience, whenever they are exposed to vehicle exhaust, cigarette smoke or even cold air, they experience airway irritation," Levin said. (NYNewsday, by Delthia Ricks, September 10, 2004)
  
• Physical Health Status of World Trade Center Rescue and Recovery Workers and Volunteers --- New York City, July 2002--August 2004 ... These data indicated that a substantial proportion of participants experienced new-onset or worsened preexisting lower and upper respiratory symptoms, with frequent persistence of symptoms for months after their WTC response work stopped. These findings underscore the need for comprehensive health assessment and treatment for workers and volunteers participating in rescue and recovery efforts. ... (MMWR Weekly, September 10, 2004; 53(35); 807-812)
  
• Study: Dirty Air Lowers Lung Capacity ... New research shows that teenagers who grow up in heavy air pollution have reduced lung capacity, putting them at risk for illness and premature death as adults. In the longest study to date of pollution's impact on developing lungs, University of Southern California researchers followed children raised in communities around Los Angeles -- some very polluted, some not -- for eight years. They found about 8 percent of 18-year-olds had lung capacity less than 80 percent of normal, compared with about 1.5 percent of those in communities with the least pollution.... ``We're seeing air pollution effects on all kids, not just sensitive subpopulations,'' said lead researcher James Gauderman, associate professor of preventive medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine. The study was reported in Thursday's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. ... However, there's growing evidence that fine particles coated with acids, metals and other contaminants increase risk of heart and respiratory disease and death.... (NYTImes/AP, September 9, 2004)
  
• 9/11's Lingering Health Effects: Respiratory Difficulties, Mental Distress Continue (MSN/WebMD, By Miranda Hitti, Sept. 9, 2004)
  
• SEPTEMBER 11 Health Effects in the Aftermath of the World Trade Center Attack ... (September 8, 2004, GAO-04-1068T)
• SEPTEMBER 11 Federal Assistance for New York Workers' Compensation Costs (September 8, 2004, GAO-04-1013T)
• Sept. 11-related cancers may not appear for decades, doctors tell Congress ... A patchwork of post-Sept. 11 health screening programs will not detect any increases in more serious, long-term illnesses like cancer, experts told Congress on Wednesday. Doctors and government investigators told a House subcommittee it could take decades to pick up on all of the lingering health woes stemming from Sept. 11 and the cleanup effort around the World Trade Center.The two most common conditions found to date are lung damage and post-traumatic stress disorder. ... Rep. Jerrold Nadler, whose district includes the World Trade Center site, accused federal agencies of not doing enough to test and clean interior spaces in lower Manhattan. "I believe residents are slowly being poisoned today," Nadler charged. ... (Newsday, September 8, 2004)
  
• U.S. Rep. Maloney: "Health Impacts from 9/11 Persist, Federal Response Remains Inadequate, Disorganized"... WASHINGTON, DC - Today, at a Congressional hearing about the health effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY) assessed the federal response to widespread illness and injury caused by the disaster, saying: "Based on today's GAO testimony, there is clearly no one in charge of coordinating the federal response to the 9/11 health emergency. No one is in charge and the inadequate, disorganized response is unfortunate evidence of that. The only thing more shameful than the poor federal response to 9/11 health impacts so far would be for the government to fail again at fixing the problems now." ... (News Release, September 8, 2004)
  
• Study Finds Lack of Data on Health Effects of 9/11 Dust ... Days before the third anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, federal agencies have yet to make a coordinated and comprehensive effort to study the health effects of the debris that filled the air in the weeks after the attack, according to a draft copy of a government study to be presented to Congress today. The study also shows that there is still no federal treatment program for those suffering from related problems. As a result, the ability to ever fully answer even the most basic questions about the health impact of that day on the public may have been seriously compromised. Moreover, there is no system in place that adequately tracks people's health with physical examinations, provides treatment and can make authoritative determinations about the impact. According to a continuing study by the Government Accountability Office, the various monitoring programs set up to address health concerns related to the trade center disaster "vary in their methods for identifying those who may require treatment," and "none of those programs are funded to provide treatment." ... The largest program set up to try to establish who might have been exposed is the World Trade Center Health Registry, created two years after the attack. Many labor unions and other groups discouraged people from signing up, expressing concern about how the data would be used. One year after the registry was created, only 55,226 people had been enrolled, according to the government study. The registry does not provide physical examinations or formal treatment. ...It also cites other research that shows how screenings across a wide swath of those who were in the downtown area in the days after the attack - including carpenters, police officers and truck drivers - show similar respiratory problems. ...(NYTimes, by Marc Santora, September 8, 2004)
• Nadler: GAO Report Confirms Health Risk Following 9/11: EPA's Inaction, False Assurances Led to Illness of First Responders, Residents ... The GAO Report also found that the people living and working in Lower Manhattan experienced health effects similar to first responders, and that almost 75% of respondents living near the WTC site experienced respiratory symptoms. The only assistance for these residents is the health registry, which does not provide any actual medical treatment. ... (September 8, 2004)
  
• A Sociologist With an Advanced Degree in Calamity .... Many of the negative findings have been documented in the 9/11 commission's report and the McKinsey & Company Report on fire and police operations. One really big risk-communication problem came from the federal government and not the city, when the E.P.A. minimized the bad air quality after the attacks. In many disasters, you find people not listening to what is happening in the field and getting in front of the situation by saying, "Oh, there's no problem." This can destroy trust in authority. (NYTimes, by Claudia Dreifus, September 7, 2004)
• In a Speck of 9/11 Dust, a World of Chaos ... hen David Scharf first examined dust that another photographer had scooped up from her quarantined apartment 350 feet from the collapsed World Trade Center, he was a bit spooked. ... The dust contained mostly ash and fiberglass and an occasional thread of asbestos. "It was an extremely high-energy, high-temperature event," he said. "Everything organic was incinerated." He has captured images of the dust in a series of prints (this one magnified about 275 times) that seem to show chaos itself. (NYTimes, by Jenna m. McKnight, September 7, 2004)
  
• Maloney Files Bill To Compensate Bypassed 9/11 Injured Workers ... Citing misguided regulations and misinformation about the air quality at Ground Zero immediately following the September 11 World Trade Center attacks, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney has introduced legislation to extend the compensation fund that covered rescue workers and remove the regulations which had blocked many injured workers and area residents from eligibility for funds. Maloney's legislation would: -Amend eligibility rules so that responders to the 9/11 attacks who arrived later than 96 hours could be eligible if they experienced illness or injury from their work at the site. -Amend eligibility rules so that those who did not seek immediate medical verification for their illness or injury from the disaster, but who have since obtained medical evidence, would be eligible. *Extend the deadline for applications to allow those with either late-onset illness from the disaster or those who were never informed of their eligibility for the Victim Compensation Fund to consider applying. (Western Queens Gazette, by John Toscano, September 3, 2004)
  
• Editorial: Downtown questions for President Bush ... The Environmental Protection Agency panel developing a new cleaning and testing program for the areas affected by 9/11 seems to be on the right track, but will your E.P.A. avoid the pitfalls of the first program by disclosing understandable information sooner and making it clearer? Will your E.P.A. officials warn residents and office workers in buildings where dangerous levels of lead and asbestos are found down the hall or in another building? Will you come clean with what the E.P.A.'s admitted environmental "mistakes" were? ... (Downtown Express, August 27 - September 02, 2004)
  

AUGUST

• Republican Focus on 9/11 Ignores Failures in the Aftermath: Sierra Club releases two print ads profiling workers and residents with chronic health problems ... New York, NY: While friends of the Bush administration invoke the heroes of September 11, 2001 tonight, it is likely they will not discuss how President Bush mishandled the cleanup and misled the public about the safety of Ground Zero. Rescue and cleanup workers, area employees, volunteers, and residents were told the Ground Zero area was safe when administration experts knew the pollution was harmful. And now the Bush administration is turning the failures in the aftermath of 9/11 into official policy for handling future emergencies or attacks.... The 2 ads can be viewed at: http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/media/2004_aug30/911Ad.pdf and http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/media/2004_aug30/911Ad2.pdf (Sierra Club News Release, August 30 , 2004)
• TERRORIST ATTACKS: Hazard reports were blocked ... At the Republican Party convention in New York City, no doubt there will be a lot of talk about the heroism displayed on 9/11. It's a good time to recall that while caring people dug through the rubble, lies from Washington were ensuring their future ill-health, suffering and possibly early death. (The Springfield News-Leader, letter by Jean A. Blackwood, August 31, 2004)
• Religious Groups Call For More Aid To 9/11 Victims, Families ... A local religious organization says it wants more help for victims and families of 9/11. Members of New York Disaster Interfaith Services gathered at City Hall Thursday to present their report. Some of the report's recommendations to help those in need include providing federal health insurance for recovery workers who are ill because of the clean-up at the World Trade Center site, and using the $1billion remaining in the Community Development Block Grants to invest in low-incoming housing, jobs programs and health programs for residents... (NY1, August 28, 2004)
  
• COVER PHOTO ... Environmental groups critical of the Bush administration's post-9/11 cleanup of the neighborhoods surrounding the World Trade Center site gathered Thursday on Wall St. at Federal Hall, the place where George W. -- Washington, that is -- was sworn into office. The groups began an eight-day vigil that will run through the end of the Republican convention Sept. 2, from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. each day, at the corner of Liberty St. and Broadway. (Downtown Express, August 27 - September 02, 2004)
  
• Anti-war signs overlook the W.T.C. site ... "Like it or not, [the W.T.C. site] has been used for thousands of purposes, and it has been used to justify this war," said Stanke, who had his signs installed a few weeks ago. He and his neighbors are only now beginning to return to the building, which was badly damaged and contaminated by toxic chemicals as a result of the collapse of the Twin Towers.... (Downtown Express, by Josh Rogers, August 27 - September 02, 2004)
  
• The W.T.C. as a backdrop to the G.O.P. convention ... Consider the causes presented at the W.T.C.: the war on terror, the war on Iraq, rebuild the Twin Towers, build a 16-acre memorial, preserve the footprints, office tower safety, pleas to Washington for rebuilding funds, calls for funding for environmental cleaning of Downtown. (Downtown Express, by David Stanke, August 27 - September 02, 2004)
  
• New Yorkers to GOP: Don't Breathe the Air ... As conventioneers arrive, demonstrators at the World Trade Center site are holding a daily vigil to inform the nation that the area is still contaminated with toxics spread when the buildings collapsed ... (AlterNet, By Sunny Lewis, Environment News Service. Posted August 27, 2004)
  
• The elephants are coming, but not stampeding Downtown ... While Madison Square Garden will be the center of activity for the Republican National Convention next week, Downtown will also feel the impact of the event as delegations from American Samoa to Nebraska descend on local hotels. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, August 27 - September 02, 2004)
  
• Congresswoman Calls For Reopening 9/11 Victim Fund ... A bill on its way to Congress calls for reopening the federal Victim Compensation Fund. The fund has distributed all its awards and is no longer accepting applications. But hundreds of rescue workers say they developed illnesses after the deadline, while other applicants claim they were rejected on technicalities. New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney says the fund should be amended and reopened for three more years. (NY1, August 25, 2004)
• A presidential potpourri of cuts, blunders, stonewalls, deceptions, and distractions: The 10 Ways Bush Screwed New York ... 7 What could be worse than lying to GZ workers and residents about the air they were breathing? (Village Voice, by Wayne Barrett, special reporting by Daniel Magliocco, August 24th, 2004)
• Sierra Club releases report on environmental response to 9/11 ... The Sierra Club issued a report on Wednesday charging that federal agencies misinformed Downtown residents and businesses about the hazards of air pollution from the World Trade Center attack and failed to take proper action to prevent exposure to toxic vapors and airborne particles.... Nadler said he believed people in Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn were being 'poisoned' to this day, but when asked, he said he did not favor evacuating the areas. He repeated his call to have the E.P.A. begin a more stringent testing and cleanup program. ... (Downtown Express, By Albert Amateau and Josh Rogers, August 10 - 27, 2004)
  
• 14 WTC search and rescue dogs dead ... Fourteen search and rescue dogs have died since their exposure to toxic rubble from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack - including eight from cancer, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. But researchers believe there is no connection between the deaths and the chemicals they were exposed to. Despite the study's findings, some of the owners whose dogs have died still blame the toxic brew the dogs immersed themselves in during the hunt for survivors and remains. ... (NYDailyNews, by Heidi Evans, August 22, 2004)
• Dust must clear on veil of deceit (NYDailyNews, by Juan Gonzalez, August 19, 2004)
• Greens rip W on 9/11 air (NYDailyNews, by Juan Gonzalez, August 19, 2004)
• Government Cover-up on WTC Health Effects? (Institute for Public Accuracy, August 19, 2004)
  
• Government Accused Of Misleading Public About Air Quality After 9/11 ... The Sierra Club is calling on President George Bush to properly clean up the dust that still remains in residences and businesses and to fund long-term medical monitoring, treatment and assistance. ... (NY1, August 19, 2004)
  
• Sierra Club: Bush Endangered Lives of New Yorkers After 9/11 By Lying About Dangers of Toxic Fallout (Democracy Now, August 19th, 2004)
• Report: Bush Administration Failed Public Health ... As part of its criticism, the Sierra Club also cited a little known study in the July 2002 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that compared the health of federal employees working five blocks north of ground zero to their colleagues in Dallas. The study found that employees at the Department of Health and Human Services who were indirectly affected by the trade center collapse ``were more than likely to report constitutional symptoms'' such as eye, nose and throat irritation and headache, than those in Dallas. ... (1010Wins, August 18, 2004)
  
• How Our Government Allowed Hundreds of Civilians to Breathe Contaminated Air After 9/11 (Sierra Club, August 18, 2004)
  
• Report: Bush 'Reckless' on Post-9/11 Health Risks (Reuters, August 18, 2004)
• Group blames feds over 9/11 toxic smoke (Seattlepi.com, by Chaka Ferguson, August 18, 2004)
• Government blamed over 9/11 toxic smoke: People were not warned of health risks, Sierra Club reports (MSNBC/AP, August 18, 2004)
• Report: Bush showed 'reckless disregard' after 9/11 ... While the early focus was on asbestos, the more dangerous toxins were concrete dust and glass fibers -- the dangers of which were never highlighted to the public, the report concludes... (NYNewsday,by Graham Rayman, August 18, 2004)
• Report: Bush showed 'reckless disregard' after 9/11 ... While the early focus was on asbestos, the more dangerous toxins were concrete dust and glass fibers -- the dangers of which were never highlighted to the public, the report concludes... (NYNewsday,by Graham Rayman, August 18, 2004)
• Group blames feds over 9/11 toxic smoke (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 18, 2004)
• Upper Respiratory Symptoms and Other Health Effects among Residents Living Near the World Trade Center Site after September 11, 2001 ... Residents of the affected area reported higher rates of new-onset upper respiratory symptoms after 9/11 (cumulative incidence ratio = 2.22, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.88, 2.63). Most of these symptoms persisted 1 year after 9/11 in the affected area. Previously healthy residents of the affected area had more respiratory-related unplanned medical visits (prevalence ratio = 1.73, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.64) and more new medication use (prevalence ratio = 2.89, 95% CI: 1.75, 4.76) after 9/11. Greater impacts on respiratory functional limitations were also found in the affected area. Although bias may have contributed to these increases, other analyses of WTC-related pollutants support their biologic plausibility ... (American Journal of Epidemiology, doi:10.1093/aje/kwi233; August 17, 2005; Shao Lin 1*, Joan Reibman 2, James A. Bowers 1, Syni-An Hwang 1, Anne Hoerning 2, Marta I. Gomez 1, and Edward F. Fitzgerald 3)
• Journalist groups complain Homeland Security is skirting environmental disclosure rules (ENN/AP, By Elizabeth Wolfe, Associated Press, August 17, 2004)
  
• Controversial WTC Detox Program Expanded To Public (NY1, August 15, 2004)
  
• Diesel Exhaust Exposure Raises Ovarian Cancer Risk ... The risk of ovarian cancer increases with increased exposure to diesel exhaust, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Cancer. "Occupational exposure to diesel exhaust has been classified as probably carcinogenic and that to gasoline engine exhaust as possibly carcinogenic to humans," Dr. Johannes Guo, of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, and colleagues write. ... (Reuters, Aug 13, 2004)
• August 12 Indypendent: Foul Air Fallout (Indymedia, 13 Aug 2004)
• 9/11 health study wants you: City registry tracks 50,000, needs more ... But city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said more people are needed for the World Trade Center Health Registry, especially rescue and recovery workers, school children and people who lived in lower Manhattan on and after Sept. 11. Enrollment closes at the end of the month. "What we know from the published evidence on the short-term health effects is that both mental health impacts and respiratory impacts have been significant," Frieden said during a recent press conference at Battery Park. ... (NYDailyNews, by Lisa L. Colangelo, August 11, 2004)
• Book Review: An Air that Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana, Uncovered a National Scandal ... A wealth of investigative reporting exposes how environmental asbestos concerns were neglected by the Bush-Whitman Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the desire to get Wall Street going after September 11. ... (Environmental Health Perspectives, Volume 112, Number 11, August 2004, By Andrew Schneider and David McCumber)
  
• Air levels of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons after the World Trade Center disaster ... Because elevated PAH levels were transient, any elevation in cancer risk from PAH exposure should be very small among nonoccupationally exposed residents of NYC. However, the high initial levels of PAHs may be associated with reproductive effects observed in the offspring of women who were (or became) pregnant shortly after September 11, 2001. Because no PAH-specific air sampling was conducted, this work provides the only systematic measurements, to our knowledge, of ambient PAHs after the WTC disaster. (PNAS; August 10, 2004; vol. 101; no. 32; 11685-11688)
• City looks to make biggest health registry bigger ... The World Trade Center Health Registry has become the largest registry in U.S. history, but the more than 50,000 enrollees still fall short of the city's expectations for the program. In the three weeks remaining before the Aug. 31 cutoff, officials hope to enroll many more people, particularly Lower Manhattan residents. The effort aims to track the long-term physical and mental health consequences of the World Trade Center disaster. "The more people we get, the better the registry will be" in terms of accuracy and scope, said Dr. Thomas Frieden, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, at an Aug. 3 news conference. Several hundred thousand people meet the eligibility requirements, Frieden said. The second-largest registry in U.S. history was one that tracked 38,000 people exposed to radiation from the 1979 nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.Of the 50,000 participants in the W.T.C. registry, about 10,000 are residents who lived south of Canal St. on Sept. 11, 2001. Residents are of interest because they experienced the most prolonged exposure to the fine dust particles and other contaminants released in the World Trade Center collapse and subsequent fires, while rescue workers generally experienced a more intense exposure of shorter duration, Frieden said. Of the enrolled residents, the 10038 zip code is the most represented, with 2,917 participants. This area includes the Southbridge Towers housing complex, the Seaport, and parts of the Financial District and Chinatown. Tribeca, which is in zip code 10013, is next with 2,177 enrollees. Battery Park City, or zip code 10280, tied for third place with zip code 10002, or Knickerbocker Village on the Lower East Side and parts of Chinatown. ... (Downtown Express, by Elizabeth O'Brien, August 06 - 12, 2004)
  
• 2,420 Islanders enroll in WTC health registry: Total of 51,025 signed up with city Health Dept. survey designed to measure effects of 9/11 attacks (Staten Island Advance, by Lisa Schneider, August 04, 2004)
  

JULY

• THE WTCHR QUARTERLY ENROLLMENT UPDATE DATA THROUGH FRIDAY, JULY 2, 2004
• Special Report: E.P.A. plans to expand test program ... Community members and scientific experts applauded an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to expand testing for 9/11 contaminants to residences and workplaces north of Canal St....In compiling the list of contaminants, officials chose toxins not commonly found in urban environments, whose origins could be traced more definitively to 9/11. But some questioned the decision to exclude lead, which is common in cities and also in World Trade Center dust. "I strongly urge you to put lead back into your protocol," said Suzanne Mattei of the Sierra Club....In a further sign that the panel has embraced an expansive mandate, members agreed on Monday to monitor the dismantling of the Deutsche Bank building across from ground zero.Jeanne Stellman, a panelist and professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, said the E.P.A. must consider the Deutsche Bank building in the context of its own sampling program. Monday's proposal called for a free cleanup of units found to have elevated levels of contaminants. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, July 30 - August 05, 2004)
  
• EPA Awards $30 Million Dollar Grant for Particulate Matter Research ... today awarded the University of Washington with a $30 million grant to study the connection between air pollution and cardiovascular disease. The grant is the largest ever awarded by the EPA for scientific research, and will contribute to a better understanding of the long-term effects of breathing air contaminated by particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants. (News Release, July 29th, 2004)
• TC air quality stirs controversy: Environmental experts and residents alike wrestled Monday - sometimes with fervor - over toxic dust problems that have plagued New York City since Sept. 11, 2001. ... The two most controversial issues on the table at the fifth meeting of the World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel: proposed further testing for World Trade Center (WTC) dust around the city, and plans to demolish a building heavily damaged during the terrorist attacks. ... "Studies (done on WTC air contaminants) agree on the overall composition of dust, so for bulk dust, we know what the signature is," said Greg Meeker, panel member and research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. "We're looking to see how that signature changes with distance, elevation, indoor versus outdoor samples, and more." Several panel and audience members expressed concern over the area that's currently proposed for more air testing. Test areas - both past and proposed future ones - have been determined largely from viewing satellite and aerial photos of smoke visible after the attack. As a result, past and future tests focus only on limited areas of Manhattan...."My kids go to school in Brooklyn, and on Sept. 11, it was definitely snowing WTC debris there," said Cathy McVay Hughes, panel member and Manhattan resident. ... The proposed new testing plan developed by the panel was also questioned because of its plan to test only those buildings whose owners and tenants volunteered.... Several panelists agreed with Perilo's concern, saying the WTC panel should step in. "Deutsche Bank is not the only highly contaminated high-rise set for demolition, so this is something our panel should address," said David Newman of NYCOSH. David Prezant agreed. "I would view the demolition of this building as a test for the future," he said. "There's always talk of when the next terrorist attack will be - this could be a model of what's done with contaminated buildings. We may be forced to do this again." (Disaster News Network, July 28, 2004)
• NADLER STATEMENT ON NEW EPA TESTING AT GROUND ZERO: "A Step in the Right Direction, but the Devil is in the Details." ... "It has been almost three years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to finally be taking a step in the right direction to characterize the environmental impact from the collapse of the World Trade Center. I am extremely gratified that an EPA-led expert panel has proposed to expand testing for hazardous substances beyond the arbitrary boundary of Canal Street, and to include testing of commercial buildings and schools. While this decision is a positive sign, the following measures must also be taken to properly protect the people of New York: First, the test methodology used in this new round of tests must be the more sensitive, accurate test methods used by EPA at other hazardous sites around the country, such as at Libby, Montana. Second, the EPA must test for all contaminants known to be present at the WTC, such as lead, mercury, asbestos, dioxins, and PCBs. Third, the agency must test the dust as well as the air, so that all pathways of exposure are considered. All of this testing must be done in accordance with federal health and safety laws, and in a public and transparent manner so that the public can properly assess the results.... The statements made by EPA officials bring hope to the people living and working around Ground Zero, but as with all things, 'the devil is in the details.' EPA officials have indicated they will characterize entire buildings, and not just a single unit. This characterization must include the ventilation and duct work, which can be a source of recontamination. They have also signaled a willingness to conduct tests in Brooklyn. It is imperative that testing in Brooklyn become a reality. EPA must budget the necessary funds to perform these activities thoroughly and expeditiously. I am also pleased that the EPA has said it will investigate the environmental and health risks at the Deutsche Bank building. I hope that no action is taken to demolish the building until the EPA completes its work at the building, and develops a contingency plan to manage the potential release of hazardous materials, consistent with the agency's mandate under federal law. (News Release, July 28, 2004)
• Dr. Clinton Versus the Ground Zero Cough ... Joseph Lebretti and David O'Neal discovered that they lived on the same Pennsylvania country road while working the night shift together in the fall of 2001, digging through the wreckage at Ground Zero. Their lives ran parallel courses for three months with Lebretti, a Local 580 ironworker, and O'Neal, a day laborer in Local 79, consumed by the toxic life of the pile. Since then, both men have been diagnosed with chronic lung disease. O'Neal is on the waiting list at Mount Sinai Medical Center for a lung transplant. Lebretti has visited the occupational safety specialists at Mount Sinai more than 30 times. He was first sent to the East Harlem clinic by his union, which encouraged its members to be examined there as patients of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program. He got a four-hour exam, consisting of an exposure interview, a psychological examination, and a comprehensive physical exam including a full chest X-ray, breathing tests, and a bronchodilator. He was luckier than O'Neal—diagnosed with an upper-respiratory infection, chronic lung disease, sleep apnea, and metal in his blood....Patients like O'Neal and Lebretti thank the doctors. Who do the doctors thank? Who do the unions thank? Hillary Clinton. She's won the more than $100 million that runs the network of New York-area responder screenings Mount Sinai leads. The aid originated in two Clinton-drafted appropriations amendments, the first ($12.4 million) of which breezed through Congress in a post-9-11 aid package. The second $90 million, however, took eight months to pass before overcoming a threatened Bush veto. (Village Voice, by Christine Lagorio, July 27th, 2004)
• Scant Sign-Ups Hinder World Trade Center Health Registry ... Public-health officials had high hopes when they launched an effort last September to track the impact of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on the health of as many as 1.2 million people who were in lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. The project, funded with $20 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was hailed as a chance to hunt for patterns in the nagging coughs and other ailments among those most exposed to the smoke and debris from the attacks, as well as to note future cancer and disease rates over 20 years. .. Some medical experts complain that low participation in the registry means scientists and the general public may never get a complete picture of the long-term physical and psychological aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. "If you're going to detect increased rates of illness, you need a large population with high rates of participation," says Stephen Levin, a physician who runs a screening program at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital for Ground Zero workers and volunteers. Nearly half the 11,500 Ground Zero workers screened at Mount Sinai suffer from persistent respiratory problems, and 60% have psychological distress. The World Trade Center Health Registry, drawn from a much wider pool, needs to enroll 60% to 80% of those eligible if it is going to accurately detect changes in various illness rates, Dr. Levin and other experts say. The registry collects medical information from participants in a 30-minute telephone interview and provides them with a resource guide for medical assistance. The registry itself doesn't offer medical exams or treatment for those who are ill. Registry officials plan to contact participants periodically during the next 20 years. (SUBSCRIPTION, Wall Street Journal, by Betsy McKay, and Christopher Windham, July 27, 2004; page D4)
  
• Study Shows Air From 9/11 Didn't Inflate Cancer Risk ... The researchers found that P.A.H. concentrations in the samples captured shortly after the attacks soared to some 65 times the average levels measured in city air, and the types detected tended to be those most likely to come from a source like burning wreckage. Within 100 days, however, those chemicals were largely gone, as were the fires. From then until spring 2002, the samples contained declining amounts of the varieties associated with diesel exhaust, the researchers said, and by May of that year returned to amounts typical for New York City air. At least for these hydrocarbons, the duration of potential exposure was so short, compared with a typical lifetime, that "cancers from these chemicals is not something to worry about," said Dr. Stephen M. Rappaport, an author of the study and professor of environmental health at the University of North Carolina. The study, published yesterday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted by scientists at the university and the National Exposure Research Laboratory of the Environmental Protection Agency, in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The paper can be found online at pnas.org. (NYTimes, by Andrew C. Revkin, July 27, 2004)
  
• WTC dust is cleared of one danger ... Researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the Environmental Protection Agency measured cancer-causing chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, in four places around lower Manhattan. The study didn't gauge the threat from other carcinogens or the danger to emergency workers and cleanup crews, who may have been exposed to higher levels. ... Many rescuers and laborers developed other health problems right away, however, including "World Trade Center cough," believed to be caused by dust containing pulverized glass, cement and other irritants. ... About 75% of workers treated report persistent upper-respiratory ailments, such as sinus infections; 44% have lung complaints ... (USA TODAY, By Liz Szabo, updated 7/27/2004)
• Deutsche demo raises concerns ... Officials must take action to protect Downtowners from high levels of toxins in the Deutsche Bank building when the 40-story tower is dismantled across from ground zero, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said this week. The vacant building at 130 Liberty St., shrouded in black netting since 9/11, contains concentrations of asbestos in certain places that are nearly 150,000 times the acceptable level, according to court documents released by Nadler at a July 19 news conference.... Community board members and other residents voiced fears about the potential environmental impact of the deconstruction. "Those contaminants better stay within that perimeter," said Catherine Hughes, a Community Board 1 member who lives near the site. "Once it's out, it's hard to clean up." (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, July 23 - 29, 2004)
  
• Silverstein and air quality ... World Trade Center site developer Larry Silverstein will be sensitive to Downtown residents' environmental concerns about rebuilding the office towers because he has asthma, a Silverstein executive said Monday. "Larry is an asthma sufferer and one of those who gets it in terms of air quality," said Janno Lieber, executive vice president of Silverstein Properties, which is building the Freedom Tower at the site and 7 W.T.C. across the street. ... Residents and environmentalists have raised concerns about the high pollution levels during the planned construction of five office buildings at the site as well as the impacts after the complex is rebuilt. Many Lower Manhattan residents with respiratory ailments such as asthma experienced difficulties in the months that followed the destruction of the Twin Towers. (SCROLL DOWN, Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, July 23 - 29, 2004)
  
• 9-11 BUILDING A LOSS: NADLER ... Jerrold Nadler] (D-Manhattan) said the LMDC has underplayed the quantity of asbestos and other contaminants in the structure. LMDC officials said they are still conducting their own tests. "It is clear that the LMDC cannot be trusted to supervise the demolition of the building and to safeguard the public's health," Nadler said yesterday at a City Hall press conference. (NYDaily News, July 20, 2004)
• 9-11 Commission Report ... We do not have the expertise to examine the scientific accuracy of the pronouncements in the press releases. The issue is the subject of pending civil litigation. ... The EPA did not have the health-based benchmarks needed to assess the extraordinary air quality conditions in Lower Manhattan after 9/11. The EPA and the White House therefore improvised and applied standards developed for other circumstances in order to make pronouncements regarding air safety, advising workers at Ground Zero to use protective gear and advising the general population that the air was safe. Whether those improvisations were appropriate is still a subject for medical and scientific debate.[Footnotes to Chapter 10, "Wartime", (Section 10.1, "Immediate Responses at Home", beginning on page 326), page 555]
• Nadler says Deutsche Bank building at WTC site highly contaminated, calls for EPA intervention ...U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Monday released test results he said showed 150,000 times the acceptable level of asbestos in the vacant Deutsche Bank building at the World Trade Center site and said the federal government needed to intervene to make sure the planned dismantling of the building doesn't put nearby residents at risk. Nadler mentioned documents that Deutsche Bank cited in litigation with its insurers over who should be responsible for the cleanup, before a settlement brokered by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell left the building to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to dismantle. The LMDC, the agency supervising rebuilding at the World Trade Center site, agreed to buy the 40-story office tower for $90 million and pay $45 million to remove it. (July 19, 2004)
  
• Extraordinary Contamination in Deutsche Bank Building; Nadler Calls on EPA to Ensure Safety of Residents & Workers in Lower Manhattan ... Nadler recommends that the following measures must be taken to protect people living and working in Lower Manhattan: All test results from the building, unfiltered by government agencies, must be made public, for example on a website updated daily. Additional real-time testing of all contaminants known to be present in the building must be conducted in the surrounding area to detect any contamination released during the demolition. A disinterested, independent party must monitor the entire operation. Contingency plans must be put in place, and enforced, in the event that any of these contaminants escape during demolition. The hazardous waste from the site must be properly handled so that there is no release into the community during transport, and it must be disposed of in a legally licensed hazardous waste facility. In short, the site must be handled in a public and transparent manner, consistent with all applicable federal environmental and counterterrorism public safety laws. The EPA must also conduct comprehensive testing of all buildings contaminated by the collapse of the World Trade Center, and it must test for all substances known to present, such as those documented at the Deutsche Bank. (News Release, July 19, 2004)
• LAWSUIT PLANNED: Not breathing easy : Months after discovery of asbestos in school, Manhattan parents fear for their children's health ... "Any amount of any type of asbestos fiber should be of great concern to anyone exposed to it," said Deborah Addis, president of Boston-based Addis & Reed Inc., a consulting company. "Children, adults, anybody." By and large, though, experts said that short-term exposure to asbestos is probably not dangerous, except in high-dose areas, such as the World Trade Center site in the days and months after the terrorist attacks. (NYNewsday, Wil Cruz, July 18, 2004)
  
• Extraordinary Contamination in Deutsche Bank Building; Nadler Calls on EPA to Ensure Safety of Residents & Workers in Lower Manhattan ... According to the Deutsche Bank court documents, "Environmental test results show that a combination of contaminants known to be hazardous to human health, in quantities and concentrations unparalleled in any other building designed for office use, permeate the entire structure at levels which exceed by up to thousands of times the levels considered appropriate... For example, the concentration of asbestos present at certain locations in the building is almost 150,000 times the level considered appropriate." This level of contamination is reflective of conditions in the surrounding area. In the federally owned building at 90 Church Street, U.S. Government industrial hygienists found lead and other heavy metals, even after the building was cleaned. ...(News Release, July 19, 2004)
• FUROR OVER WTC 'LIES' ... "None of this is surprising," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan). "I've been saying the EPA and the city are lying through their teeth about this for years." "These are serious charges, and New Yorkers deserve a full and immediate response from the administration," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recently established a review panel to look at the EPA's work post-9/11. Attorneys representing cases brought by sick workers and residents say the allegations could have a monetary impact on their litigation. "This could support a claim for increased punitive damages," said Jeanne Markey, an attorney in the class-action suit against the EPA. ... The federal agency says the allegations raised in the memo are "unfounded and absurd." "The agency had one goal," said spokeswoman Mary Mears, "to see if there was a pattern of consistently high levels of asbestos. EPA's public statements were based on this data, which showed relatively infrequent exceedance." Mears also says the memo is in error claiming "overloaded" test results — many of which, the memo says, were not reported — mean the filters were so clogged with asbestos, they couldn't be read. It means, according to Mears, the filter was clogged, but not necessarily with asbestos. .. It also said the agency had found two examples so far of inaccuracies in the data reported online that were consistent with the memo's accusations. (NYPost, by Sam Smith, July 18, 2004)
• State workers to move to lower Manhattan ... Despite government workers' concerns about health conditions in a downtown building that was partly destroyed on Sept. 11, Gov. George Pataki announced that 730 state employees will move to the newly renovated 90 Church St. (CrainsNY, by Christine Haughney, July 2004)
  
• WTC Health Registry runs final media blitz (CrainsNY, by Christine Haughney, July 2004)
  
• Governor sends state jobs downtown ... Cleanup concern: Unions representing workers who are slated to move to Church Street are dissatisfied with assurances they've received from state officials that the building is clean and safe, said Denyce Duncan Lacy, a spokeswoman for the Public Employees Federation. The union has been asking since December for documentation showing whether "all the toxins were removed, or were some of them not removed but simply covered over," she said. The trade center, when it came down, blasted the building with asbestos and fiberglass-laden dust, among other contaminants, a situation exacerbated by the fires that continued to burn for weeks afterward. Boston Properties repaired the building by, among other things, ripping out and replacing all the interior walls.... (Bloomberg News, by David M. Levitt, July 17, 2004)
  
• 9/11 MEMO REVEALS ASBESTOS 'COVER-UP' ... An Environmental Protection Agency memo claims city and federal officials concealed data that showed lower Manhattan air was clouded with asbestos after the World Trade Center collapse. And officials sat on the alarming information even as they told the public it was safe to return downtown, the internal memo says. Testing by the city Department of Environmental Protection showed the air downtown had more than double the level of asbestos considered safe for humans, claimed federal EPA environmental scientist Cate Jenkins, who supplied the memo to The Post. The data, which Jenkins says she culled from state records, appear damning (NYPost, July 16, 2004)
  
• Final push to sign up for W.T.C. Registry ... To date, 47,000 people have signed up for the registry, which aims to track the physical and mental health consequences of the W.T.C. attack, ...The study aims to track participants for 20 years, but the exact duration depends on available funding, officials have said. The data collected can also prove useful to outside researchers who use it to begin more detailed analyses, Thomas said.... (By Elizabeth O'Brien, July 16 - 22, 2004)
  
• HUD APPROVES $176 MILLION PLAN FOR DECONSTRUCTION OF DEUTSCHE BANK BUILDING, CULTURAL PROGRAMS AND LOWER MANHATTAN TOURISM: Federal funding to help development of World Trade Center Memorial (HUD News Release, July 7, 2004)
  
• In Health Study, Interviewers Living 9/11 ... Raleigh, NC - Nestled in a small, single-story office complex, just off the expressway north of town, is a 10,400-square-foot room humming with the quiet chatter of nearly a hundred voices. Dozens of the men and women, seated in front of computers in long rows of tiny cubicles, are interviewing strangers more than 400 miles away-residents and workers of Lower Manhattan. (Tribeca Trib, by Carl Glassman (July/August 2004)
  
• Construction begins on the Freedom Tower ... Some relatives of the victims and others demonstrated near the site because they either thought construction was moving too fast without preserving the site's history, or it was proceeding without taking into account the environmental effects ... (Downtown Express, By Josh Rogers, July 9 - 15, 2004)
  
• Freedom Tower opponents ready for a fight ... Suzanne Mattei, who heads the Sierra Club's New York City office, said her concern is that officials will be reluctant to pause construction if air monitors indicate the activity is causing pollution levels to get too high. "In any construction project there needs to be an expressed commitment to stop and fix things if problems develop," she said. "Any time there is a project with political involvement, it's very hard to stop the forward motion when something goes wrong." Diane Dreyfus, an urban planner who lives Downtown, agreed. "You're building in the heart of a business district that has a lot of exposed residents," she said. "Ideally you'd furlough the residents and work only at night." (Downtown Express, By Josh Rogers, July 2 - 8, 2004)
  
• HUD APPROVES $176 MILLION PLAN FOR DECONSTRUCTION OF DEUTSCHE BANK BUILDING ... Federal funding to help development of World Trade Center Memorial (News Release, July 7, 2004)
  
• For some, it's a day of protest ... He was flanked by Jenna Orkin, co-founder of the World Trade Center Environmental Organization, which fears construction will stir up hazardous dust. (NY Newsday, by Josha Robin, July 5, 2004)
• Rebirth of the WTC ... Residents who feel their environmental concerns have been ignored, wage an ongoing campaign to get filters for air they say has lead to respiratory problems. "They're rushing ahead to promote the economy at the costs of people's health," said Jenna Orkin, co-founder of the World Trade Center Environmental Organization. (News Release, By Errol A. Cockfield Jr., July 4, 2004)
  
• Red Cross Announces $50 Million 9/11 Grant Program ... In a 2003 study of 12,000 World Trade Center Respondents conducted by Mt. Sinai's Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine: 75% suffered from upper-airway disorders such as sinusitis or laryngitis; 45% suffered from lower-airway disorders including asthma; 42% suffered from psychological disorders including depression or post-traumatic stress disorder;18% suffered from musculoskeletal disorders including carpal tunnel syndrome or lumbar spine sprain or strain. (News Release, July 01, 2004)
  
• Red Cross Provides Grants For 9/11 Relief Programs ... The Red Cross announced Wednesday it is making $50 million in grants available for programs that provide long-term relief from the September 11 attacks. So far, Mount Sinai Medical Center is getting $1.5 million to help people still suffering the after-effects of working at the World Trade Center site. The Red Cross is encouraging other organizations to apply for funding. For more information, call 1-877-746-4987 or go to www.redcross.org. (NY1, July 01, 2004)
  

JUNE

• Utah rescue dogs part of World Trade Center follow-up study ... Two of the 24 dogs taking part in the free imaging study, Ivey and a Labrador named Jake, live in Utah. A total of about 90 rescue dogs are also having their blood drawn and chest X-rays taken as part of the study in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania and the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation. So far, 10 dogs that worked as part of the 9-11 disaster team have been found to have cancer.... Still, no definitive link between the dogs and their work at the World Trade Center has been established. "You can't make any conclusions until the end of the study because statistically you have to look at everything: the age of animals, breed, locations of cancer, the normal risk," Stone said.... (The Salt Lake Tribune, By Elizabeth Neff, June 29, 2004)
• Fetuses Vulnerable to Air Pollution ... Babies in the womb are more sensitive than their mothers to health risks from air pollution, a new study finds. The study is part of a broader, multi-year research project that's examining the health effects on pregnant women and babies of a range of air pollutants, including vehicle exhaust, commercial fuels, tobacco smoke, residential pesticides and allergens. The research, by scientists at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York City, appears in the June issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. (HealthDayNews, June 29, 2004)
  
• E.P.A. panel continues to debate what to do ... Members of the public told an Environmental Protection Agency panel on Tuesday that the agency was losing time and jeopardizing their trust in its efforts to determine whether World Trade Center toxins remain in their communities. ... Community members pushed the panel on Tuesday to move beyond what they called its academic preoccupation with a W.T.C. dust fingerprint to the speedy application of a testing program that would sample for a wide array of contaminants. ... Michael Brown, an E.P.A. spokesperson, said after the meeting that the E.P.A. was exploring ways to engage an expert to facilitate community input and review of a sampling and testing plan. Brown also said the agency is also considering community members' demand for a transcript to be made of each panel meeting. ...Gilman said he has tried to focus panel members away from monetary concerns at this stage. He said some Federal Emergency Management Agency funds remained from the initial E.P.A. cleanup, but that he did not want to engage the scientific experts on the panel in financial discussions. "I'm trying not to have people talk about a budget context," Gilman told Downtown Express. "I want to hear what people believe to be the best approach—not the cheapest." (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, June 25 - July 1, 2004)
  
• Sick lungs, strong proof:: Post-9/11 air wasn't safe ... Like many on that terrible day, Roig, a project manager for an engineering consulting firm, was soon caught in the ferocious dust storm unleashed by the collapse of the first tower. Nearly three years later, Roig suffers from granulomatous pulmonary disease, a severe scarring of the lung. The disease has so reduced his breathing capacity that his pulmonologist recently advised him he may need a lung transplant. Roig, however, is one of the few people to demonstrate a direct link between his illness and toxic dust from Ground Zero. His doctor, Benjamin Safirstein, a pulmonologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center, concluded in a peer-reviewed scientific article published in Chest Journal in January 2003 that "exposure to dust at the WTC accounted for his illness." ... Roig, then 37, had returned to work in lower Manhattan on Oct. 3, and within two weeks he was suffering from shortness of breath, wheezing, severe cough and constant body aches. In November 2001, chest X-rays and a CAT scan revealed numerous abnormal nodules in Roig's lungs, but none of the doctors he initially consulted could explain their origin. A chest X-ray taken ayear earlier during a regular checkup had detected no problems. Roig eventually went to Safirstein, who advised him that only a lung biopsy could explain the source of the problem. Safirstein proceeded to collapse Roig's lungs and cut through his back to remove tissue samples. Safirstein then reported that an electron microscopy scan of the tissue and other tests had revealed "large quantities of silicates" in Roig's lungs - the kind of silicates found in World Trade Center dust.... Roig's worst symptoms were reduced substantially with months of steroid treatments, but the scarring of his lungs remains. Meanwhile, his breathing capacity has steadily worsened. "He's declined about 20% over the past three years," Safirstein said. "If he continues to decline, then we have a serious concern." (NYDailyNews, by Juan Gonzalez, June 22, 2004)
• DOWNTOWN DERELICTION ... When Gov. Pataki and a host of digni taries break ground for the Free dom Tower on July 4, a grim relic of 9/11 will cast a pall over the proceedings: the burned-out, 15-story hulk of Manhattan Community College's Fiterman Hall, a block north of Ground Zero. Astonishingly, neither Albany, City Hall nor CUNY, which owns the hall, seems to have any sense of urgency about repairing or rebuilding it — nearly three years after the terrorist attack. The delay is inexcusable.... As The Post's Steve Cuozzo reported, CUNY has $120 million in FEMA and insurance funds to repair the hall. However, it claims Fiterman can't be fixed, although city and state officials say it can be. CUNY wants Fiterman razed and rebuilt, which would cost more. ... One man can break the logjam: Gov. Pataki. The gov appoints a majority of CUNY's board members and has admirably spelled out timelines for rebuilding Ground Zero and other fixes nearby. ...(NYPost, June 18, 2004)
• Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals From the Expert Panel on Population and Prevention Science of the American Heart Association ... Air pollution is a heterogeneous, complex mixture of gases, liquids, and particulate matter. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a consistent increased risk for cardiovascular events in relation to both short- and long-term exposure to present-day concentrations of ambient particulate matter. Several plausible mechanistic pathways have been described, including enhanced coagulation/thrombosis, a propensity for arrhythmias, acute arterial vasoconstriction, systemic inflammatory responses, and the chronic promotion of atherosclerosis. (American Heart Association, 2004)
• WORLD TRADE CENTER HEALTH REGISTRY SURPASSES 40,000 ENROLLEES; IT IS NOW THE LARGEST REGISTRY OF ITS KIND IN U.S. HISTORY: Only Ten More Weeks Until the End of Registration Period (News Release, June 17, 2004 )
  
• CUNY'S REBUILD DELAY SLAMMED .... REAL estate players and downtown advocates are livid over the logjam that's holding up the repair or reconstruction of Fiterman Hall, the college building damaged on 9/11, which is still a blackened hulk right next to Larry Silverstein's new $700 million 7 World Trade Center.... As The Post has reported, CUNY, which owns the 15-story unit of Manhattan Community College, wants state funds to raze and rebuild the burned-out hall, claiming its insurance proceeds and FEMA money leave it $56 million short of $161 million needed to replace it. But both the city and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. believe the hall can be repaired with funds CUNY already has — an option they say the university is ignoring because it wants a new building entirely. (NYPost, June 15, 2004, by Steve Cuozzo)
• World Trade Center Health Registry Now Largest In U.S. History... The World Trade Center health registry has passed the 40,000 member mark, making it the largest public health registry in U.S. history. (NY1, June 17, 2004)
  
• Fire retardants' effects arouse safety debate (Boston Globe, By Stephanie Ebbert, June 14, 2004)
  
• LOCKHEED MARTIN WINS $143 MILLION EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND ENGINEERING CONTRACT WITH EPA: Company to Support the EPA's Environmental Response Team Centers ... Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has won a five-year contract to provide technical, analytical and information technology support for the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. The contract has a base value of $89 million, and a total value of $143 million. The Response Engineering and Analytical Contract (REAC) was awarded to Lockheed Martin in a recompetition of an existing contract the company has held since May 2000. On ready alert 24 hours a day, REAC teams respond to national and international incidents involving releases of oil and hazardous materials and uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. The company also stands ready to provide technical support in the event of deliberate release of weapons of mass destruction by a terrorist group. Lockheed Martin's REAC team supports activities performed by the EPA's Environmental Response Team (ERT) under the authority of several federal legislative requirements. These include the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act/Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (CERCLA/SARA); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); the Clean Water Act (CWA); Oil Pollution Act (OPA); and others. ... The REAC team has been called upon to conduct environmental analyses in the aftermath of numerous incidents. These included the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001...(June 8, 2004)
  
• 'Safe' levels of lead, cadmium ... Blood levels of two metals -- lead and cadmium – may increase the risk of peripheral artery disease -- even at levels currently considered safe, according to research published in today's rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. (American Heart Association, 7-Jun-2004)
• Film found on windows after 9/11 reveals higher level of pollutants ... Pollutant levels in lower Manhattan after Sept. 11 may have been higher than those reported by previous researchers, according to a study by Canadian scientists. Six weeks after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, film found on windows within one kilometer (.62 miles) of Ground Zero revealed high levels of PCBs, flame retardants and other organic pollutants. Concentrations of the chemicals were up to 10 times greater than New York City's normal background levels and possibly 100 times higher than surrounding rural areas. The report is scheduled to appear in the July 1 print edition of Environmental Science & Technology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society. "We were very concerned just after 9/11, as were most people in North America," says Miriam Diamond, a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto and lead author of the paper. "We were sitting around the lab shortly after the attack and said, 'Why don't we go down and use our simple method to see what the contaminant levels are like?'" Diamond's method involved "washing a bunch of windows" in lower Manhattan and then analyzing the resulting samples for four potentially toxic organic pollutants: polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs). "All the samples within one kilometer of the World Trade Center were high," Diamond says. "For the PAHs, PCNs and PCBs, they were about a factor of 10 relative to Brooklyn." A site in Brooklyn was used as a baseline for the New York City area because of its location 3.5 kilometers upwind of the towers. Diamond's earlier research in Toronto showed a similar factor of 10 difference between window films in urban and rural locations, so the concentrations near Ground Zero could have been as much as 100 times greater than surrounding rural areas, she deduces. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, many scientists converged on Manhattan to study the fallout from the attacks, including a team that suggested the potential risk of exposure from inhaling toxic organic compounds was lower than expected. The researchers reported no evidence of PCBs and, while they did find some PAHs, they said the particles were too big to pose a threat to human health. This earlier team may have detected lower levels because their samples were diluted by the large amounts of building material emitted in the initial explosion, according to Diamond. "By the time we got there six weeks later, we were picking up the signal of the slow burn, not the catastrophic expulsion of debris," she says.(American Chemical Society, June 3, 2004)
• E.P.A. panel considers its next step ... The Environmental Protection Agency's goal of retesting Lower Manhattan apartments by the end of June seemed remote this week as the agency's expert panel grappled with how to measure lingering contamination from the World Trade Center collapse. At its third public meeting on May 24, the 17-member panel of government and independent experts continued discussing whether World Trade Center dust has a chemical fingerprint that would distinguish it from normal urban grit. This so-called signature would help scientists determine what, if any, contamination remains from the World Trade Center collapse. ...But panelists have moved away from the retesting approach, which would gauge whether any recontamination occurred after the cleanup. Instead, they have argued for broader testing that would determine whether any W.T.C. toxins remain in areas exposed to the dust cloud, regardless of whether they resulted from recontamination or from the original event.... Panelists were told not to consider costs when designing the testing program, but at Monday's meeting members acknowledged that they needed to work with whatever resources are available. E.P.A. officials have not publicly named a dollar figure for the testing program but have acknowledged that the price tag will limit its reach. During a public comment session at Monday's meeting, one Battery Park City mother cut to the heart of the community's concerns about Downtown air quality. "The only question I asked was if it was safe for my children," said the mother of two, who requested anonymity. The panelists greeted her question with silence, she recalled with disappointment: "I was hoping to get some response." (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, May 28 - June 3, 2004)
  

MAY

• Predictors of Personal Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposures among Pregnant Minority Women in New York City (Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2004)
  
• Sickly saviors: Cancer shows up long after Sept. 11 ... Strahl is now battling a deadly throat cancer. His lung tests are also showing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dubbed the "World Trade Center cough" by medical experts. "They took out my voice box," said Strahl, a 21-year FDNY veteran who retired in August 2002, just months after doctors found a malignant neoplasm of the larynx in his throat. "My doctor feels it was definitely caused by 9/11. To me, I don't know. I'm a firefighter, not a doctor. But they can't tell me it definitely isn't because of what was in the air down there," he said. Strahl's oncologist, Louis Rosner, said he believes the 47-year-old father of three developed cancer because of his work on Sept. 11 and in the days after."It is my professional opinion that the toxic exposure to known carcinogens at the World Trade Center site was a significant contributing factor to Mr. Strahl's diagnosis," Rosner wrote in a letter to the Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund. ...The difficulty for Strahl and other first responders at the World Trade Center is that they must prove their illnesses are job-related. So far, there is no medical evidence linking Ground Zero to cancer. "We have no interest in denying people what they have coming to them,"said NYPD Supervising Chief Surgeon Eli Kleinman, who heads the department's medical board. "But everything has to be done on a scientific basis." Detectives Bill Ryan and Ed Wallace were denied tax-free pensions equal to three-quarters of their salaries. They worked side-by-side at Ground Zero. Ryan was assigned to the arson and explosion squad and had been one of the lead investigators in the 1993 Trade Center bombing. Wallace was assigned to the crime scene unit. Both were in elite units that required them to have yearly lung X-rays and breathing tests. In the summer of 2001, both said they had healthy, clear X-rays. It is a much different picture today. Both suffer shortness of breath, chronic coughs and exhaustion — all symptoms of sarcoidosis, a permanent lung condition they believe they got while working on "the pile."... "Their injuries were not diagnosed until after the deadline. But cancer doesn't have a calendar. Their lungs weren't informed of the deadline to apply," Barasch said. "The fund was very fair to people who had orthopedic injuries but very unfair to people who had latent diseases who were not diagnosed prior to the deadline." (NYDaily News, by Michelle McPhee, May 26, 2004)
  
• Saddest of words: News told you so ... It was based on hundreds of pages of environmental tests taken by our own federal government - tests that were not made public until The News obtained them through a Freedom of Information Act request by the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. Those tests showed that, in addition to asbestos, dangerous substances like benzene, heavy metals, dioxins and PCBs were being released into the environment, sometimes at amounts far exceeding federal safety levels. The city's political and business leaders immediately tried to kill the messenger. ... The federal government itself has now admitted that the World Trade Center collapse represented the largest dioxin release ever recorded. Another group of scientists has calculated that between 100 and 1,000 tons of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), many of them cancer-causing, were dumped onto lower Manhattan by the burning fires. Giuliani, Cohen, Whitman and Muszynski all are out of office now. The cops, firefighters, recovery workers and downtown residents who believed their assurances are left to cope with the aftermath. Sometimes it takes a while for the facts to come clear. (NYDailyNews, by Jaun Gonzalez, May 25, 2004)
• DAILY NEWS GOOFS ON PAGE 1 (AGAIN) .... In a glaring front-page blunder, The Daily News yesterday reported that a staggering 1,700 cops and firefighters have filed lawsuits against the city for health problems stemming from 9/11 - when only nine such suits are in the courts.... According to the Law Department, there never were 1,700 lawsuits to begin with. Rather, there were once 1,700 notices of claim - which put the city on alert that suits might be filed - of which 1,500 led to lawsuits. But of those 1,500 lawsuits, all but nine were later dropped so the complainants could be eligible for the federal 9/11 victims compensation fund. The News also said some of the lawsuits blamed 9/11 for cancer - which none of the nine existing ones actually do. (NYPost, by Bill Hoffmann & Tom Topousis, May 25, 2004)
• 9/11 toll still grows: Workers: Cancer is no coincidence ... And though no direct link between Ground Zero and cancer has yet been established, more victims came forward yesterday to tell their stories.... He was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in March, and underwent surgery on April 5 to have two tumors removed... "But it's not a coincidence that we are all getting sick now. Young, healthy cops and firemen all getting sick a couple years after working down there? There is no way that is a coincidence at all." By September 2002, Shore became crippled with pains in his rib cage that spread to his spine. Months later, he was told those pains were caused by terminal pancreatic cancer.... Shore is not expected to survive, despite extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. His doctor, Charles Hesdorffer, insists the deadly blend of noxious gases released by the collapse of the towers either caused or accelerated his condition.... The vast majority of those plaintiffs eventually dropped their suits to pursue settlements with the federal Sept. 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. Under the terms of the federal fund, anyone who accepts a settlement cannot also file suit.How these legal claims are ultimately resolved has no bearing on a tragic fact: People who helped sift through the remains of Sept. 11, 2001, are developing serious, sometimes fatal, illnesses. (NYDaily News, by Michelle McPhee, May 25, 2004)
  
• 1,700 sue over 9/11 sickness: Bravest, Finest cite work at WTC and Fresh Kills ... The city has set up a special division to deal with the large number of lawsuits from cops and firefighters claiming they were sickened by work at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill. ... Underscoring the problem's severity, a police officer was awarded a tax-free disability pension after a judge issued a landmark ruling that 9/11 work was a contributing factor in the cop's cancer. Richard Lahm, 49, who retired from the 46th Precinct in the Bronx this year, is battling terminal tonsil cancer - a condition his doctor claims was caused by the toxins released at Ground Zero. ... The illnesses include sarcoidosis, a permanent lung condition; asthma; reactive airway disorders; chronic coughs, and emergency workers with glass lodged in their lung tissue, according to medical records reviewed by the Daily News.... "We've had so many different reports from the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] we don't know what people were exposed to. The synergy of all those substances mixed together ... we never had an exposure such as this," Kelly said. "Our concern is, what will be the long-term consequence. Cancer tends to be something that develops after years - but it's very hard to say the cancers we are seeing weren't caused by what happened on 9/11."... The rugged, athletic 39-year-old narcotics detective and hockey coach is living with deadly acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) - a cancer his doctors believe was caused by a toxic mix of pulverized compounds he breathed in while sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill. AML is often caused by exposure to chemicals and radiation, primarily benzene, a toxin found in airline fuel, his doctors and lawyers said. Walcott said he never smoked, rarely drinks and lives in upstate New York where he says he's never been exposed to any carcinogens. ... NYPD street crime Detective Robert Williamson, 43, became sick with pancreatic cancer in March 2003, a year after he retired from the force. Williamson, his doctors and his attorney, Michael Barach, insist he became sick inhaling carcinogens at Ground Zero 16 hours a day for five months. He never smoked and has no family history of cancer.... Uniformed Firefighters Association President Steven Cassidy said three Brooklyn firefighters have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer since working at Ground Zero. Another has leukemia. Hundreds more have retired with asthma and other respiratory issues, he said.... (NYDaily News, by Michelle McPhee, May 24, 2004)
  
• Pension bill would offer help ... City workers would be eligible for a tax-free disability pension - even if they've already retired - if they can prove their illnesses were caused by the terror attacks, under a controversial bill. Last year, the World Trade Center Presumption bill was passed by the state Senate and Assembly, but was canned after Gov. Pataki vetoed the measure at Mayor Bloomberg's urging. A rewritten version of the bill was sent toCity Hall last week, said the author of thelegislation, Peter Meringolo, chairman ofthe New York State Public Employees Conference. The bill would give any city worker whocould prove their illness or injury was related to their work after 9/11 a tax-free pension equal to three-quarters of the worker's salary. (NYDaily News, by Michelle McPhee, May 24, 2004)
  
• New Bill May Provide Pension For City Workers Affected By 9/11 (NY1, May 24, 2004)
  
• "Ground Zero" Cops, Firefighters Sue City ... The Fire Department of New York says more than 300 firefighters have retired because of sicknesses and injuries related to the terror attacks, and the department expects another 500-600 more to do the same. The NYPD's chief surgeon is also concerned about a possible spike in 9/11-related cancer cases in the police department, though no spike has been observed yet. (1010WINS, May 24, 2004)
  
• Test for lead: Letter to the Editor ... In its pursuit of a magic bullet or "fingerprint," the W.T.C. Expert Technical Review Panel should not forget common sense: 9/11 released hundreds of contaminants, each with its own "'fingerprint,' that traveled to different areas according to their weight, when they burned and which way the wind was blowing at that time. Their presence now can only be determined by representative testing in concentric circles radiating from ground zero, as E.P.A. conducts at other environmental disasters.(Downtown Express, May 21 - 27, 2004)
  
• 'Significant Adverse Effects': Recent reports show that the dust from the World Trade Center attacks is more toxic than researchers initially realized—and so is the range of health problems in those exposed to it ... The initial diagnosis: respiratory problems including asthma, and chemical burns on his esophagus and throat. ... The findings are part of a comprehensive report believed to be the first to combine extensive environmental and medical data on the effects of the World Trade Center attacks; it draws a direct link between the contaminated air at and near the World Trade Center site and "significant adverse effects on [the] health" of those who were in the area. (Newsweek, By Jennifer Barrett, May 19, 2004)
  
• Pollution Alters DNA in Mice, Study Finds ... Breathing soot from factories or highways may cause genetic damage that can be passed to offspring, scientists have found in an experiment on mice. It is unclear whether the pollution-damaged DNA harms health. But the discovery comes as scientists already are calling for more research into the dangers of particulates, microscopic soot particles linked to asthma, heart disease and other health problems. ... The Environmental Protection Agency already has ordered tougher limits on ultrafine particulate pollution because of concern about how it affects the elderly, children and people with respiratory illnesses. In December, the agency plans to announce which parts of the country are not in compliance with these rules. Dr. Quinn said he did not know whether the particulates themselves or toxic chemicals that attach to them damaged the sperm. But one suspect is a group of particulate-clinging chemicals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or P.A.H.'s, some of which are known to be cancer-causing. Air samples showed daily P.A.H. exposure near the steel mills was 33 times as high as in the countryside. But HEPA filtering of the urban air blocked most of those chemicals, the study concluded. (NYTimes, May 18, 2004)
• Clear the air from 9/11... For nearly a year after 9/11, Ron Vega was part of a team of architects and engineers from the city's Design and Construction Department supervising recovery efforts at Ground Zero. Like so many workers at the site, Vega was not provided with a proper respirator for the first two months, which would have protected him from the many dangerous chemicals at the site. For Vega, the heavy cough, headaches, dizziness and rashes started almost immediately. At first, he figured it was just from overwork. Not until August 2002, after he had left the site and the city tested him for heavy metals, did Vega learn that arsenic and mercury levels in his body were three times higher than is considered safe. "They tried to tell me I was eating too much contaminated fish," Vega said. "I told them I'm allergic to fish. And no one could explain the arsenic." Vega says he wasn't alone. Of some 60 department employees who worked at Ground Zero, Vega said at least 18 have confided to him that their tests were positive. "We all came back with some level above toxic for specific metals like chromium, mercury, zinc," Vega said. Amazingly, more than two years after the attack on the World Trade Center, the city has never made public the results of toxic-metal testing of the department's workers - or any Ground Zero workers, for that matter.... But EPA is not the only agency that's supposed to safeguard public health. It's also the job of the city's Health Department and Environmental Protection Department, and also of the state's Environmental Conservation Department. (NYDaily News, by Juan Gonzalez, May 18, 2004)
• Abandoning the Workers Suffering from Lingering 9/11 Respiratory Damage ... The world of workers' compensation claims is one of sick or injured employees wrestling with recalcitrant employers and denying insurance carriers. The laborers' attorneys make little money off these cases. Their fees are fixed and the awards are far below awards under the tort system, though these worker claims do not have to prove negligence by their perpetrators. They have to prove causality and the degree of disability. Right after September 11th, the insurance companies sped to Washington demanding guarantees, bailouts, limited liability and anything in the corporate welfare trough they could get their hands on in Congress or over at Bush's executive branch. They received plenty, including a sky's the limit license to raise property-casualty premiums. Witness the staggering increase in these companies' profits last year. So, overflowing with all these goodies, how do the insurance carriers and their attorneys respond to the ground zero workers wheezing and faltering in Judge Solomon's courtroom? Fight the claims - full speed ahead. Dispute any causation, charge the workers with malingering or with smoking or with exaggerating - anything to keep the weekly compensation payments from reducing the bottom line of insurance industry profits. (Common Dreams News Center, by Ralph Nader, May 17, 2004)
  
• 'The city owes me' Sanitation workers who hauled debris to Fresh Kills landfill seeking compensation for health problems ... "There was a tremendous amount of smoke and dust in the air, which made it hard to breathe," Redman said. "We were breathing that without respirators. My eyes are still dry all the time, I have a cough and acid reflux." Done in by dust: In pending lawsuits filed in federal and state courts, the 57 workers claim that city officials misled or did not inform them about the dangers of the World Trade Center dust and failed to train them and provide respirators for as long as two months. Their throats, lungs and stomachs, they said, were coated with the corrosive dust, causing mild to severe respiratory discomfort, such as asthma and persistent heartburn, and exposed them to potential future illness. A recent Mount Sinai study said the dust consisted mainly of pulverized concrete and tiny glass shards, which caused a chemical reaction "like drain cleaner." "The doctors asked me if I had had a throat operation, because it was so scarred," said Jack Saltarella, 64, another of the plaintiffs. "The city owes me. They lied to us." ... Because they did not work at Ground Zero, the men could not qualify for the federal Victim Compensation Fund. "Obviously, someone believed that Ground Zero workers deserved to be compensated without approving of liability," said the plaintiffs' lawyer, Robin Wertheimer. "Now these guys have to prove liability. There is something inherently unfair about that." ... There are still dozens of workers complaining of ailments. In depositions, Robert Goffredo said he still gets easily winded, and Lenny DiNotte complains of shortness of breath. Wayne Brown worked in the 59th Street Marine Transfer Station, where debris was transferred to the barges. "You could barely see," Brown said in his deposition referring to the dust inside the building. (NY Newsday, by Grahma Rayman, May 17, 2004)
  
• Hillary Clinton: WTC workers need help ... About 35,000 people who worked at ground zero still face health problems from the dust and debris, but government is not offering enough help to those who risked their lives for others, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton told new doctors who graduated on Friday. ... In 2002, she said, she fought to procure the $12 million needed to establish the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program, with the help of health professionals from Mount Sinai who also had offered their expertise in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. (NY Newsday, by Verena Dubnik, May 14, 2004)
• E.P.A. panel considers ways to connect remaining dust to 9/11 ... Did the collapse of the World Trade Center produce dust with a particular imprint that distinguishes its origins beyond a doubt, and if so, what are its defining characteristics? ... At its last public meeting on April 12, the 17-member panel of government and independent experts moved away from its initial plan to retest only those Lower Manhattan apartments that were originally cleaned as part of the E.P.A. voluntary residential cleanup, which tested solely for asbestos in most apartments. Discussion continued on Wednesday about which buildings to test and what toxins to sample to determine what contamination, if any, remains from Sept. 11, 2001. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, May 14 - 20, 2004)
  
• Many Who Served on 9/11 Are Still Pressing Fight for Workers' Compensation ... It is in places like Judge Mark Solomon's workers' compensation courtroom in Brooklyn that lingering questions about the health consequences of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center are fought over day after day. ... Thousands of similar workers' compensation claims have been filed, and many more, some people say, have gone unfiled because of a lack of faith in the system. But each claim that is filed, and the information behind it, adds to the evolving assessment of the health effects of 9/11. One case can hint at the full implications of having inhaled the dust. Another can shed light on the health threat posed by the dust that was inadequately cleaned from apartments and office buildings. All these months later, a few things are generally agreed upon about the health menace of 9/11: According to a recent report by several hospitals, the trade center collapse "caused the largest acute environmental disaster that has ever befallen New York City." The dust cloud that spilled through the city contained asbestos, lead, mercury and other harmful substances, but scientists are still studying what kind of threat those substances posed after being pulverized and blended into a noxious mess. ... (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, May 13, 2004)
• Risk Assessment and Public Health Implications of WTC Dust: Contamination of the Deutsche Bank 130 Liberty Street Property (May 12, 2004)
• Environmental statement for W.T.C. still lacking,C.B. 1 committee says ... "I've been frustrated with how the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has handled the final environmental impact statement, because they haven't adequately addressed the health concerns -- air quality and monitoring -- for people living and working down here," said Catherine McVay Hughes, a board member who volunteered to review the air quality portions of the report. ... Later in the report, the response to a community request for constant air monitoring stated, "The Lower Manhattan Construction Coordination Group is considering a variety of environmental management practices for Lower Manhattan." Hughes said she wanted more specific assurances that authorities would implement air-monitoring measures and take appropriate action if dangerous levels of toxins are detected. A spokesperson for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation did not respond by press time to a request for information on what kind of environmental monitoring would be implemented. A spokesperson for the Port Authority confirmed that the authority was charged with enforcing a three-minute idling limit for construction equipment on the World Trade Center site. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, May 7 - 13, 2004)
  
• SEPT. 11 AIR WAS 'TOXIC' ... Some of the coughs were caused by inhaling tiny glass shards in Ground Zero dust. The shards came from pulverized World Trade Center windows. "We reckon those shards of glass cut up the cells in the respiratory tract on a microscopic level," said Dr. Philip Landrigan of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the study's lead author. Even in the weeks after the attack, Ground Zero workers breathed concrete dust from the Twin Towers that Landrigan called "very toxic." He said it was akin to applying quick-set concrete to your trachea. "It caused intense inflammation," he said. "That's what we believe accounts for the coughs and the wheezing and the asthma." ... "We are seeing people who still have symptoms 21/2 years later," Landrigan said. And some may not yet know they are sick. That's because people who breathed asbestos in the Ground Zero air may not develop cancer until at least 10 years from now, Landrigan said. ... (NYPost, by Bill Sanderson, May 5, 2004)
• Health and Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Disaster: Research Workgroup Report... In summary, environmental exposures after the WTC disaster were associated with significant adverse effects on health. The high alkalinity of WTC dust produced bronchial hyperreactivity, persistent cough, and increased risk of asthma. Plausible causes of the observed increase in SGA infants include maternal exposures to PAH and particulates. Future risk of mesothelioma may be increased, particularly among workers and volunteers exposed occupationally to asbestos. Continuing follow-up of all exposed populations is required to document the long-term consequences of the disaster.(Environmental Health Perspectives, by Philip J. Landrigan, Paul J. Lioy, George Thurston, and Sheung P. Ng, VOLUME 112 | NUMBER 6 | May 2004, p. 731)
• Report Summarizes Health Effects of 9 /11 ... Asbestos in the dust had led to increased risk of mesothelioma, a type of cancer, according to the report, published in the May issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Risk of illness was lower among office workers and residents in lower Manhattan than in ground zero workers, the report said. The report said the long-term effects of the attacks would become clear only with time and further study. (NYTimes/AP, May 4, 2004)
  
• Report Summarizes Health Effects of 9 /11 (NYPost/AP, May 4, 2004)
• Ground zero source of health troubles ... Because cleanup crews came from across the country to volunteer at ground zero, Landrigan urged anyone who worked at the site and experienced symptoms afterward to see a doctor. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, By M.A.J. McKenna,05/04/04; free but subscription)
• New Research Outlines Public Health Consequences of World Trade Center Disaster ... Longitudinal studies of firefighters, rescue workers and other personnel who responded to the collapse of the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 attacks have confirmed the presence of a positive relationship between the intensity and duration of their exposures to airborne pollutants and the severity of their pulmonary symptoms.... "The collapse of the towers generated thousands of tons of particulate matter comprised of cement dust, glass fibers, asbestos, lead, aromatic hydrocarbons, and organochlorine compounds, many of which significantly increased the subjects' susceptibility to bronchial spasms and asthma," said Landrigan. "These respiratory effects were most pronounced in subjects who were in or around the WTC buildings during the first 12 hours of the disaster."... Preliminary data from clinical evaluation of residents living within a 1.6-kilometer radius of the WTC site indicate that previously healthy subjects had a greater increase in cough, wheeze and shortness of breath than did residents living a greater distance from the site. ... "Previous studies have shown the short chrysotile fibers found in the WTC dust to be the predominant fiber in lung mesothelioma tissue." (News Release, May 3, 2004)
  
• Report: Disturbing Health Trends for Those Near Ground Zero on 9/11 ... An alarming new report was issued on Monday about the health of rescue workers at Ground Zero, and residents of Lower Manhattan, who were exposed to the dust on 9/11. .. This is what the mayor said on September 12, the day after the attacks. Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (From September 12, 2001): "As long as you're not in the epicenter of the recovery, it's not at dangerous levels." The two-year study looked at two things; the air, and the people around World Trade. In the air, doctors found three things: Pulverized concrete stuck in people's lungs, Microscopic shards of glass, that caused lacerations, Asbestos. Suzanne Mattei of the Sierra Club still keeps the flier the EPA handed out after 9/11 which offered free home cleaning to residents of Lower Manhattan, while also saying that "scientific data does not point to any significant long-term health risks".... (abclocal, Michelle Charlesworth, May 3, 2004)
  
• Nadler: Health Study Confirms Need for Immediate Cleanup of WTC Dust ... "This report confirms what common sense and the law would tell you: that hazardous substances are just that -- hazardous. The EPA is guilty of wrongdoing and negligence, and should cleanup these hazardous substances now to protect public health. This report only bolsters the claim of plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against EPA that the federal agency must remove hazardous substances and provide medical monitoring and treatment of those who have been exposed," said Nadler. Nadler first requested that the EPA clean up buildings contaminated by WTC debris shortly after the September 11 attacks. To confirm the effects of the debris, Nadler initiated an investigation of the EPA's response in January 2002 and issued a White Paper documenting the federal environmental agency's wrongdoing in April 2002. When the EPA's own Inspector General confirmed in August 2003 that EPA's clean up plan was inadequate and that the White House played a role in downplaying public statements relating to air quality, Nadler called for Congressional and Department of Justice investigations into the matter. "It is simply appalling that EPA's failure to meet its federally mandated responsibility to clean up hazardous materials following a terrorist attack has led to the negative health impacts of those who risked their own lives to save the lives of others. EPA must clean up immediately to stop others from being exposed to WTC dust, which can lead to mesothelioma, lung cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses," said Nadler. (News Release, May 3, 2004)
• Over 30,000 Sign Up For WTC Health Registry (NY1, May 2, 2004)
  

APRIL

• 1 in 3 WTC injury claims rejected ... More than a third of the injury claims to the government's Sept. 11 victim compensation fund have been turned down, mainly for lack of medical proof or because ailments had cleared up.The fund has received 4,419 injury claims, significantly more than administrators expected when the application period ended late last year. Fund officials said 1,595 have been rejected. Payouts to the 2,321 people granted compensation so far, almost all from injuries sustained at the World Trade Center cleanup sites, have ranged. Officials could not yet provide an average amount, but said the smallest payout was $500 and the largest so far was $7.9 million. ... Most sought money for long-term breathing problems attributed to working on "the pile," the mountain of burning rubble left when the towers collapsed. ... Lawyer Michael Barasch has represented hundreds of injury claims to the fund, many brought by downtown office workers, and said only 12 of his clients were rejected.Of the hundreds of others denied compensation, Barasch termed many of them "place-holders," or people who had submitted paperwork to preserve their rights but did nothing to follow up on their claims.(AP/NY Newsday, April 30, 2004)
  
• 33,000 ENROLLEES IN WORLD TRADE CENTER HEALTH REGISTRY TO DATE: Health Dept. Steps Up Outreach as August Deadline Approaches; More Schoolchildren, Residents From Areas Below Canal Street On 9/11/01 Are Urged to Enroll (NYCDOHMH News Release, April 30, 2004 )
  
• Muckraker: Bush family values: Marianne Horinko, high-ranking EPA official, steps down to 'spend time with family' ... The language is increasingly familiar: "I'm leaving at this time in order to spend more quality time with my family. ... I realize that I need to devote more time and energy to being [a] wife and mom." Yep, another beleaguered Bush appointee at the U.S. EPA bites the dust. Christine Todd Whitman flew the coop last spring, and yesterday one of her right-hand women -- Marianne Lamont Horinko, the assistant EPA administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response -- announced that she will follow suit on June 1.... It was also Horinko who, as head of EPA's emergency efforts, led the agency's response to the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center -- and who awkwardly deflected (and never managed to fully refute) accusations that the EPA failed to release critical data about potentially dangerous air quality at Ground Zero. (Grist Magazine, 04.28.04 )
  
• 9/11 PLAINTIFFS SAY EXPANDED EPA TESTING WILL BOOST DAMAGES CLAIMS ... Plaintiffs' lawyers say an EPA decision to expand its sampling and testing of contaminants from the World Trade Center (WTC) site will likely bolster compensation claims from residents near Ground Zero. EPA officials say the agency has decided to expand its original sampling plan -- a decision that has not yet been publicly announced -- after an expert panel criticized the agency's efforts following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks for failing to address the public health concerns of New York City residents. An EPA advisory group, the World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel, met April 12 and rejected the agency's plan to re-sample areas in lower Manhattan the agency has already tested for toxic dust and other contaminants. An EPA spokesperson says the agency is now planning a more comprehensive testing effort, ... An EPA official says the agency is planning a new sampling program that extend[s] the geographical boundaries of the testing by addressing previously untested residences, commercial spaces, schools, and firehouses. The program will be expanded to address pollutants other than asbestos, including lead and dioxin. EPA also plans to seek testing data from areas where federal officials do not have access, such as privately owned commercial space, and to request that additional sampling be conducted. (Inside EPA, April 23, 2004)
• Fearing new 9/11 scandal: Bush forced to cover World Trade Center health claims ... Already struggling to contain the damage caused by recent revelations concerning its failure to take any action to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, the Bush administration moved quickly last week to avert another potentially embarrassing 9/11 scandal. Last month, acting through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the administration attempted to weasel out of its pledge to pay health claims for injuries incurred by workers engaged in the rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center site. (World Socialist , by Clare Hurley, 23 April 2004)
  
• Ex-EPA official warns of pollution from 9-11 attacks ... Martin: Death toll may rise within next decade because of contamination .. . Environmental contamination released by the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the government's failure to recognize it as a public health emergency will add to the Sept. 11 victim count in coming years, a former EPA official said in Green Bay on Monday. "You're not only going to see effects a decade or two from now," said Robert Martin, former ombudsman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. "You're going to see them within three to five years." The Bush administration and the EPA assured the public that no serious health risks were associated with the release of toxic materials in the days after the collapse of the twin towers -- a claim that subsequent testimony in public hearings showed to be incorrect, Martin said.... (By Peter Rebhahn, by Apr. 21, 2004)
• The Asbestos Challenge ... In the crudest of election-year gambits, the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, is suddenly pushing for the fast adoption of a pro-business proposal to close the courts to asbestos victims and substitute an inadequate compensation fund for hundreds of thousands of victims. .. Martin held hearings on the toxic effects of 9/11. "We had two 12-hour hearings and more people wanted to speak," he said..(NYTimes, April 21, 2004)
  
• EPA Whistleblower: Government in Denial ... He says citizens should be told the truth about environmental issues. As an ombudsman from the Environmental Protection Agency, he prodded government to act by working for citizens and communities to try to get cleanup done and programs to work. But his job fell victim to, he says, a political system that no longer shows compassion for the individual. (Green Bay News-Chronicle,by Ray Barrington, April 19, 2004)
  
• Panel urges more NYC tests: Air quality and contaminant testing around Ground Zero should be expanded, said experts who reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) response to the World Trade Center attacks. ... A new testing area should be broader than the originally tested geographical area, and the tests should screen for other contaminants besides asbestos, the 17-member panel decided last week. The panel serves as an advisory board to the EPA. ... Many advocacy groups want the testing to expand to previously excluded places, like businesses, schools, and firehouses. (Disaster News, April 19, 2004)
• Air Quality Post-9/11: Testimony Before New York City Council Committee by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene by Isaac Weisfuse, M.D., M.P.H. (Deputy Commissioner, Disease Control) and Jessica Leighton, Ph.D. (Assistant Commissioner, Environmental Disease Prevention); City Hall , New York City (News Release, April 15, 2004)
  
• Lead ...Children differ from adults in the relative importance of lead sources and pathways, lead metabolism, and the toxicities expressed. The central nervous system effects of lead on children seem not to be reversible. Periods of enhanced vulnerability within childhood have not consistently been identified. The period of greatest vulnerability might be endpoint specific, perhaps accounting for the failure to identify a coherent "behavioral signature" for lead toxicity. ... The current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention screening guideline of 10 µg/dL is a risk management tool and should not be interpreted as a threshold for toxicity. No threshold has been identified, and some data are consistent with effects well below 10. Historically, most studies have concentrated on neurocognitive effects of lead, but higher exposures have recently been associated with morbidities such as antisocial behavior and delinquency.... Studies of adults who have been exposed to lead are of limited use in understanding childhood lead toxicity because developmental and acquired lead exposure differ in terms of the maturity of the organs affected, the presumed mechanisms of toxicity, and the forms in which toxicities are expressed. (PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 4 April 2004, pp. 1016-1022)
  
• Particulate air pollution and panel studies in children: a systematic review ... Conclusions: The majority of identified studies indicate an adverse effect of particulate air pollution that is greater for PM2.5 than PM10.(Occup. Environ. Med., D J Ward and J G Ayres: 2004 61: 13e)
  
• Panel urges more NYC tests ... Air quality and contaminant testing around Ground Zero should be expanded, said experts who reviewed the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) response to the World Trade Center attacks. (Distaster News, April 19, 2004)
  
• The World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (LMDC, April 16, 2004)
  
• Liability lawsuits galore dog 3M over dust masks (Star Tribune Washington, by Greg Gordon, April 18, 2004)
• How to spend Downtown's last billion? Deutsche Bank ... Even members of the L.M.D.C. board expressed concerns about the latest partial action plan at the April 13 meeting. The L.M.D.C. estimates the costs associated with buying and deconstructing or demolishing the building could increase to $164 million. ... In addition to the previously announced $135 million to buy Deutsche, the L.M.D.C. also needs to buy $10 million in insurance for the deconstruction. The insurance is presumably higher because of concerns about possible pollution caused by deconstruction of a building that was covered in potentially dangerous chemicals from the Twin Towers and where mold was allowed to grow for many months before it was cleaned. The L.M.D.C. is looking to set aside another $19 million to pay for things like construction managers, public outreach to alleviate neighborhood concerns about the effects of the demolition and potential lawsuits. (Downtown Express, By Josh Rogers, April 16-22, 2004)
  
• E.P.A. watchdog panel looks to expand testing ... Experts charged with reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's response to the World Trade Center collapse have recommended broader testing to determine what, if any, contamination remains from the disaster. In its second public meeting on April 12, the 17-member panel of government and independent experts moved away from its initial plan to retest only those Lower Manhattan apartments that were originally cleaned as part of the E.P.A. voluntary residential cleanup program. Instead, panelists recommended that the E.P.A. sample workplaces and buildings outside the agency's prior boundary of Canal, Pike and Allen Sts. Panelists also discussed testing for toxins other than asbestos, the only substance sampled in the majority of apartments the E.P.A. cleaned. ... One reason for the change in focus was the challenge of obtaining enough sample data to ensure statistically valid recontamination results, said Dr. Paul Gilman, chairperson of the panel and assistant administrator for research and development at the E.P.A. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, April 16-22, 2004)
  
• A Survivor Faces a Slow Death, Piece by Piece ... One Bankers Trust Plaza has been dressed for its own funeral since 2001. Now the time is at hand. On Tuesday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation board authorized a contract with the Gilbane Building Company to dismantle 1 Bankers Trust Plaza at 130 Liberty Street, also known as the Deutsche Bank building.... "A combination of contaminants known to be hazardous to human health, unparalleled in any other building designed for office use, permeates the entire structure," said a damage report prepared last year for Deutsche Bank, the owner. These include asbestos, lead, mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and World Trade Center dust. ... Deutsche Bank, however, regards the property as a total loss. In a lawsuit against Allianz and AXA, it said the structure was embedded with "a unique cocktail of highly hazardous substances" that would defy attempts at cleaning and imperil future occupants. (NYTimes, by David W. Dunlap, April 16, 2004)
  
• LMDC razes stakes for bank bldg. ... The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. earmarked an extra $20 million in public funds yesterday to tear down the Deutsche Bank building next to Ground Zero. "We're looking for additional funds for insurance, which is just wise, as any owner of a building that could have environmental issues," LMDC President Kevin Rampe said. "Second, we're looking for funds to make sure we do public outreach." ... In February, Gov. Pataki unveiled an agreement in which LMDC would purchase the bank's land for $90 million and pay for the building's demolition. The agreement capped the cost of demolition at $45 million, with insurers paying any additional costs. (NY Daily News, by Michael Saul, April 14, 2004)
  
• Report Discusses WTC Site Development ... The Lower Manhattan Development Corp.'s report repeated earlier warnings that rebuilding -- along with other projects like the creation of a PATH train hub -- ``would necessarily involve significant traffic, noise and short-term air quality impacts during its construction period.''... The agency will hear public comments and soon schedule public hearings on its final environmental impact statement, a report of some 2,000 pages. The board is expected to present its conclusions at a meeting next month. (AP/NYTimes, by April 14, 2004)
  
• Panel urges more Ground Zero tests .... In a major breakthrough for advocates, a panel of experts looking at the 9/11 health fallout agreed yesterday to recommend the federal government do more comprehensive testing around Ground Zero. The panel, an advisory board to the Environmental Protection Agency, wants the agency to probe whether there are still contaminants polluting buildings in a broad swath of lower Manhattan - including in businesses and firehouses, member David Newman said. (NYDaily News, by Michael Saul, April 13, 2004)
  
• LMDC Clears Up Lingering Issues At Briefing On Downtown Redevelopment ... The deal to bring the Deutsche Bank building down was supposed to cost the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation $135 million: $90 million to buy the building and $45 million for deconstruction. But on Tuesday the LMDC announced it will cost a bit more. "If we are going to proceed as owners, there may be liabilities associated with the building," said LMDC General Counsel Irene Chang. "As part of the deconstruction we'd also incur potential liabilities, and it'd be extremely important for us to expend the funds to obtain at least $100 million in coverage." Insurers agreed to pay any additional demolition costs, but the LMDC will spend $20 to $30 million above that to make sure when the building comes down, it is done in an environmentally safe manner. Some money will also help keep the public informed. The project is set to begin sometime this fall, and take about a year. .... The board also approved a new Generic Environmental Impact Statement to guide development at the site. The 2,000 page document now includes an entire volume dedicated to public comment. The final GEIS reflects public concerns about street width and livability, among other things.... The findings from the GEIS will help shape the final general project plan for the site, which will be released next month. (NY1, by Amanda Farinacci, April 13, 2004)
  
• New York and FEMA End Dispute Over 9/11 Medical Claims ... New York will not be held liable for up to $350 million in medical claims arising from the cleanup of the World Trade Center site, since city and federal officials said yesterday that they had resolved a dispute over the matter. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would abandon a narrow legal interpretation that would have limited insurance coverage to injuries that occurred after Sept. 29, 2001, when rescue work at the site officially ended. ... "The city and contractors will have full insurance coverage for debris removal claims arising from Sept. 11, forward," Mike Brown, an undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said after the meeting. ... (NYTimes, by Mike McIntire, April 13, 2004)
• Study: WTC First Responders Had Most Serious Respiratory Ailments ... A new study released Monday shows first responders to the World Trade Center collapse were the hardest hit with respiratory ailments. Researchers from New York and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention screened 362 firefighters. Results showed those present in the first 48 hours reported 32 percent greater respiratory symptoms than firefighters who were at the site three to seven days after the attacks. Symptoms included eye irritation, sore throat, daily cough, and nasal congestion. (NY1, April 12, 2004)
  
• EPA Expert Advisory Panel Holds First Meeting on 9/11 Contamination ... At the meeting the EPA outlined a plan to retest 250 to 1,000 of the 4,167 apartments that were cleaned in 2002 and 2003. The apartment cleanup has been sharply criticized by residents, workers and public officials as ineffective and tardy. It is also charged that the cleanup was not done in conformity with applicable legal standards ... One member of the panel, NYCOSH Industrial Hygienist Dave Newman, said that the presentations from the audience were "informative, compelling, and disturbing. It was clear that some of the committee members were previously unaware of some of the important issues that were raised from the floor." Two days before the EPA committee meeting, at a New York City Council hearing, Newman had outlined numerous area of uncertainty facing any effort to understand and remedy the contamination of Lower Manhattan. ... (NYCOSH, April 8, 2004)
  
• In National Emergencies, OSHA to Provide Assistance, Not Enforcement (04/08/2004)
  
• New Federal Bill Would Provide Health Care to Wider Range of Workers and Residents Exposed to World Trade Center Dust (NYCOSH Update, April 8, 2004)
  
• Hot Topic: Downtown & the EPA ... Brown laughed as he told the story, but the truth is that the EPA has been under fire ever since its controversial announcement just days after 9/11: "It is safe for New Yorkers to go back to work in New York's financial district." Beset by coughs and rashes, many of those who lived or worked near Ground Zero soon feared they'd been misled, and they found confirmation in a 2003 report from the EPA inspector general calling the earlier findings "manipulated," and saying that "national security concerns and the desire to reopen Wall Street played a role in the EPA's air quality statement." ... "The question now is, what is the scope of the testing going to be?" said Catherine McVay Hughes, a downtown resident and panel member. "Should the EPA go back in and only test the [approximately 4,100] apartments that they originally cleaned? Or, do they go back in and also test a [larger] sampling of indoor spaces, including common spaces, to make sure that there's been no recontamination?" Once testing is done, she added, the panel can start to talk about the cleanup. "I have to keep an open mind, being on the panel, to see what the EPA will do," said Hughes, a mother of two and and founder of Asthma Moms, a clean-air advocacy organization. "I hope that I can work with them to do the right thing. I would not be able to forgive myself if someone got ill from a preventable disease." Before the untimely plumbing accident, the panel's March 31 meeting had featured the testimony of a number of residents and workers, whose wide range of ailments and concerns Brown called "gut-wrenching."... (Voices of Lower Manhattan, By: Bill Hangley Jr., April 7, 2004)
  
• Metro Briefing: New York ... BROOKLYN: HEALTH STUDY FOR 9/11 WORKERS About $81 million in federal grants will be used to track the long-term health of Sept. 11 rescue workers, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, left, and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton announced yesterday. Eight grants from the Department of Health and Human Services National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will finance a five-year program to track the workers, including $25 million to monitor Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services personnel.... (NYTimes, April 7, 2004)
  
• U.S.: 9/11 Blunders Left Workers, Residents Literally in the Dust ... Even as the White House scrambles to defend its handling of the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, the poisonous gas and dust unleashed by the disaster continue to settle in the lungs of thousands of recovery workers and New York City residents. ... "The question remains that thousands of homes could still be contaminated," said Dr. Paul Lioy, one of the lead authors of a study released in February by the National Institutes of Health on the environmental and health impacts of the 9/11 attacks. "It's a very complex, unprecedented situation." ... (IPS, by Katherine Stapp, April 7, 2004)
  
• 9/11 workers get $81M health grant ... Firefighters and volunteer rescue workers who toiled at Ground Zero for months after the Sept. 11 attacks will now be eligible for a long-term health screening program paid for by an $81 million federal grant, officials announced Tuesday. "Those individuals who selflessly dedicated themselves in the days and months after September 11th can rest assured that we will be able to identify any signs of symptoms that may indicate long-term illness as a result of their work," Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta ... (NYNewsday, by Daryl Khan, April 6, 2004)
  
• City Gets Grant To Screen Health Of WTC Rescue Workers ... "We're going to learn a lot in the next five years, but as long as I'm around, as long as I have the honor of representing you in the Senate, this will be one of my highest priorities," Senator Hillary Clinton said at Tuesday's announcement. ... "My pulmonary function rate dropped quite a bit right afterwards, and I've been having problems with asthma attacks and problems with my throat," said Lt. Harnisher. "I have chronic sinusitis, I have nasal polyps and I have spots on my lungs." While the grant is for five years, medical experts say the effects may last much longer than that. But they say this grant is a good start. ... (NY1, April 6, 2004)
  
• HELPING 9/11 RESCUE WORKERS ... The rescue and recovery workers of 9/11 are not getting the care they need. Of the 9,000 monitored so far, half are sick. There are many victims of 9/11 who do not have health coverage. Many victims want their health monitored, but do not meet the qualifications of the health monitoring system, which is based at Mount Sinai Hospital. We have been talking to people who have lost their jobs and therefore have no health coverage. There is no treatment for these people, and this is absolutely wrong. These who responded to the 9/11 emergency deserve to be treated like veterans. Any time you have over 4,000 people sick from one event it should be treated as a national health emergency, but the lack of federal coordination, the delays in funding, and the total absence of aid for treatment shows a shameful neglect of 9/11 health issues in Washington.... These funds are a great start, but they provide no money for treatment, even when people are sick. The $81 million will go to a program whose goal is only to monitor a fraction of the people who worked on the pile. This program does not screen federal employees, residents or office workers and is funded for only five years. Health consequences stemming from a disaster like the one that our residents suffered could persist for much longer than five years. We need to know the long-term health impacts of 9/11, so we will expand coverage to 20 years. (Gotham Gazette, By Carolyn Maloney, April 5, 2004)
  
• WTC CLEANUP REVISITED: Panel advises EPA how to determine if apartments were recontaminated ... The panel must determine if it is appropriate for EPA to use asbestos as a surrogate to test for glass fibers, which are part of the WTC debris but are difficult to detect. EPA assumes that by cleaning up asbestos, glass fibers will be removed, too. Many physicians believe that nearby residents' health complaints are linked to glass fiber debris. Panel experts explained that the glass fibers are covered with cement and gypsum dust, which are high-pH materials that can irritate the upper respiratory tract.... (Chemical & Engineering News, by Cheryl Hogue, April 5, 2004, Volume 82, Number 14)
  
• E.P.A. panel debates how to recheck cleanup .... U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, left, announced a proposed bill on Monday which would expand the post-9/11 health screenings to residents who were living near the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency's W.T.C. cleanup review panel met for the first time. At its first meeting, a panel charged with reviewing the Environmental Protection Agency's cleanup of Downtown apartments after the World Trade Center collapse debated retesting guidelines that would foster public confidence in the process...."We have this golden opportunity and it would be a shame not to take complete advantage of it," said Catherine McVay Hughes, a member of Community Board 1 who serves as the panel's community liaison, after the meeting. Hughes said that Downtowners would participate in the retesting program only if they judge it to be representative. Another panelist argued that without extensive sampling, the results would be suspect. ... (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, April 2-8, 2004)
• W.T.C. health bill ... Residents and workers affected by the World Trade Center dust plume would receive health screening and possibly treatment under a bill introduced by U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Christopher Shays.... Local residents cheered the proposed bill, called the Remember 9/11 Health Act. "We applaud the efforts of Representatives Maloney (D-NY) and Shays to address the critical need to track and treat those who are sick now and to monitor those who may become sick in the future, especially children, who are much more vulnerable to harm from these pollutants," said Kimberly Flynn of 9/11 Environmental Action. (Downtown Express, April 2-8, 2004)
• Letters to the editor: W.T.C. living ... We needed an endless series of exhausting meetings with the Dept. of Environmental Protection to get the building cleaned and we still had to hire a private environmental firm to further clean and test to more rigorous standards ... Right now, we are very worried about the dismantling of the Deutsche Bank building and how that will affect us. (Why have there been no environmental impact statements from the L.M.D.C. related to this? Why have there been no open meetings with nearby residents detailing the plan and what methods of attenuation will be used?) I could go on. (Downtown Express, April 2-8, 2004)
• State Workers Resist Plans to Move Office Downtown ... When Gov. George E. Pataki announced plans 21 months ago to move 750 to 1,000 state employees to Lower Manhattan, he said he was doing so to show confidence in its viability as it struggled to rebuild. The only problem is that 425 State Health Department employees do not want to go. They are concerned about health conditions at 90 Church Street, the Art Deco tower at the edge of ground zero where the state is negotiating a lease. And the workers, who are now in a building on Eighth Avenue near Madison Square Garden, do not want to labor next to what will be a noisy, dusty construction site for the next decade. ...More than two years after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, some companies are reluctant to move downtown because their employees have qualms, lingering questions about air quality or worry about the inconveniences of working next to a long-term construction site... "We're willing to move downtown," Mr. Stein said, "but not adjacent to a construction site. If they force us to 90 Church, then it's essential that we have high-efficiency air filters, double-pane windows and the air intakes moved." (NYTimes, by Charles V. Baglie, April 2, 2004)
  
• Panel Is Split on Ways to Retest Air in Homes Near Ground Zero ... Apanel of experts began its critical review yesterday of the federal government's cleanup of Lower Manhattan after the collapse of the World Trade Center, and immediately found itself torn between the needs of science and the health concerns of residents. The 17-member panel, meeting publicly for the first time, released the outlines of a plan to retest 250 to 1,000 of the 4,167 apartments that were tested and cleaned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 and 2003. Those efforts have been widely criticized by downtown residents and public officials who have called them flawed, inadequate and deliberately misleading about the risks posed by dust from the collapse and smoke from the fires that smoldered for weeks afterward. No sooner had the retesting proposal been made public yesterday than divisions began to appear within the panel, which consists of scientists, medical doctors and one resident of Lower Manhattan.. On one side were several scientists who insisted that any retesting follow strict guidelines to ensure that the methods are comparable to testing that was done after the initial cleanups. ... On the other side were members who said the panel should conduct a range of tests, even if they were not done the first time, to assure residents that their apartments are safe. ... "Science is not what brought us here," said Jeanne Stellman, a chemist and director of the general public health program at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "It was community concerns." Dr. Stellman acknowledged the value of maintaining scientific standards in the resampling, but said other issues were more important. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, April 1, 2004)
  
• Opinion: Secrecy, Lies And Credibility ... Some New Yorkers felt they had been lied to following the horrific collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Proposed warnings by the Environmental Protection Agency -- that the air quality near ground zero might pose health hazards -- were watered down or deleted by the White House and replaced with the reassuring message that the air was safe to breathe. The EPA's own inspector general said later that the agency did not have sufficient data to claim the air was safe. However, the reassurance was in keeping with the president's defiant back-to-work/business-as-usual theme to demonstrate the nation's strength and resilience. It also was an early example of a Bush administration reflex described by one physicist as "never let science get in the way of policy." (Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan, by Walter Cronkite, April 1, 2004)
  
• Residents, workers seek more tests for 9/11 toxins ... A new federal expert panel charged with studying 9/11-related health problems yesterday heard from angry, ailing Lower Manhattan residents and workers at its first meeting in New York. Seething over what they said was an inadequate response to the attacks by the Environmental Protection Agency, a dozen speakers from the audience of 70 urged the panel to press the EPA for more thorough sampling and cleanups of downtown apartments and offices.... Pat Evangelista, who managed the Apartment Cleanup Program for the EPA, said later the agency had determined that businesses had insurance policies and other resources and could handle their own cleanups. ... Several panel members suggested more aggressive testing than the EPA had planned, recommending swipe samples rather than just air samples, and direct testing of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units. There was spirited discussion of whether the EPA had been wise to use asbestos as an indicator for cement and glass fibers, which are more likely to cause coughing, breathing problems and other short-term ailments that have been grouped together as "World Trade Center Syndrome." (Newark Star-Ledger, by Alexander Lane, April 01, 2004)
  

MARCH

• EPA Panel Discusses Cleanup Of Apartments, Offices Post-9/11 ... They came with a laundry list of complaints about the Environmental Protection Agency and the way it handled its post-9/11 clean-up. Residents and downtown works voiced their concerns Wednesday about air quality downtown in front of a special EPA panel designed to make improvements on the way the follow-up is handled.... "How do you work with landlords and companies who may have already taken data and have it? We'd like to avail ourselves of those data," says Paul Gilman, the chairman of the panel... Another concern is the possibility apartments that have already been cleaned may still not be safe. ... (NY1, by Amanda Farinacci, March 31, 2004)
• Distinct air of disregard ... Christie Whitman wasn't at City Hall yesterday. She was out among the horse set in Somerset County, behind the neatly trimmed hedges of her wealthy estate. The people visiting City Hall yesterday were the walking wounded, the ones who believed her when she declared that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe just days after the Twin Towers were toppled... (NY Newsday, by Dennis Duggan, March 30, 2004)
  
• NYCOSH testimony on post-9/11 Lower Manhattan contamination: Delivered to the New York City Council's joint meeting of the Select Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment and the Committee on Health. (March 29, 2004)
  
• Disaster News Network ... "People didn't know how to clean their offices and residences properly," said Coppola. She said people weren't equipped to remove the toxic dust on their own. The panel meeting Wednesday formed in response to that criticism. The pressure is on that panel to determine new testing and cleaning procedures for the residences in lower Manhattan. (March 29, 2004)
• Panel Will Study EPA's Actions After Sept. 11 ... "Right now we're looking at the range of possible numbers of apartments to be sampled, 100, 200, 300, 400 etc., to find what is in terms of the statistics the best level to operate at," said Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA Science Advisor and Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, who will chair the panel.... The agency is also looking to assuage public mistrust after an Inspector General's report last summer that concluded that EPA clean-up efforts had been inadequate and its conclusions about safety were premature. "Obviously this is an important undertaking not just for the information we obtain to answer questions, but also to repair some of the lost trust that has occurred," Clinton said. Catherine McVay Hughes, the panel's community liaison, who resides on Broadway close to the WTC site, said that while the mistakes of the past cannot be undone, she is hopeful that something positive and constructive will come out of panel's work. "I think it's really important as a community liaison to provide that first hand experience that residents such as myself went through," she said, "and the frustration that some of the residents had with the whole process." (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders, March 2004)
  
• Feds ripped over Ground Zero workers ... Hundreds of Ground Zero workers have lingering illnesses, but the government isn't paying for their care, said a leading doctor and two federal lawmakers.(NY Daily News, by Derek Rose, March 29, 2004)
• Legislation introduced to protect health of ground zero workers ... More than two and a half years after the attack that destroyed the World Trade Center, federal officials introduced legislation Monday to provide long-term health care for emergency workers who toiled at the recovery site. The Remember 9/11 Health Act, co-sponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, and Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican, would provide federal health insurance to workers who were injured or suffered ill health related to the Sept. 11 attack and cleanup of the 1.6 million tons of trade center rubble. (NYNewsday, by Timothy Williams, March 29, 2004)
  
• Bill Would Help More People Exposed To WTC Dust ... The goal is to help those who have lingering respiratory illnesses due to the collapse of the twin towers but who aren't currently getting money from the government. (NY1, March 29, 2004)
  
• EPA CRITICS AIR GRIPES ABOUT WTC TESTS .... The first meeting of the Environmental Protection Agency's panel on cleaning apartments around Ground Zero isn't until Wednesday, but criticism is already swirling around its proposal for retesting residences. Last week, the agency released to panel members the draft plan, which proposes using a "modified aggressive" air-sampling technique to test for contamination in a portion of the 4,167 apartments it has already tested or cleaned. This technique was used before and criticized because it detected far lower levels of asbestos than more aggressive testing. "They should not be repeating their past mistakes," said Jenna Orkin, a member of a local EPA watchdog group and a plaintiff in a potential class-action suit against the agency. (NYPost, by Sam Smith, March 28, 2004)
• Bill Would Help Thousands Exposed to 9/11 Dust Plume ... Thousands of people who live or work in Lower Manhattan and were exposed to the dust plume after the World Trade Center attack would be eligible to undergo health screening under a bill expected to be introduced in Congress on Monday. The legislation would greatly expand an existing health monitoring program that covers New York City firefighters and about 12,000 others who responded to the attacks. Residents, office workers and federal employees who are not now eligible would be able to undergo screening and then enter the long-term health-monitoring program. ... (NY Times, Anthony DePalma, March 27, 2004)
• Bill would expand 9/11 health screening program ...A bill set to be introduced in Congress on Monday would increase the number of people eligible to undergo health screening for exposure to dust after the attack on the World Trade Center. Under the bill, thousands of additional residents, office workers and government employees would be able to enter an existing program that monitors city firefighters and about 12,000 other responders to the attack ... "Right now, the only people coming forward are people who think they are sick," Maloney told the Times. "The point of screening is that we don't know what is going to develop." ...(NY Newsday, March 27, 2004)
  
• Bill Would Expand 9/11 Health Screening Program: Program Would Help With Medical Costs ... It would also provide funding to help people without health insurance pay for medical costs and prescriptions.Maloney and Shays did not have an estimate of the cost of expanding the program. ... (WNBC, March 27, 2004)
  
• Bill Would Expand 9/11 Health Screening (1010Wins, March 27, 2004)
  
• U.S. Calls Apartment Interiors Safe After Its Post-9/11 Cleanup ... report by the federal Environmental Protection Agency shows that the agency's efforts to clean up thousands of apartments in Lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attack were successful in removing asbestos and other harmful materials. But a critic of the program said the report, released yesterday, confirmed nothing more than the inadequacies of the cleanup and the need for further testing. ... (NY Times, Anthony DePalma, March 26, 2004)
• EPA's Air Quality Report Finds Few Contaminants In Post-9/11 Dust Samples ... The result of the EPA's report will be studied by a review panel that was formed after several local politicians complained that the EPA prematurely assured New Yorkers that the post-9/11 pollution and rubble posed no health threat. (NY1, March 26, 2004)
• EPA issues final report on post-Sept. 11 dust samples ... The Environmental Protection Agency released a final report on its post-Sept. 11 sampling of buildings around the World Trade Center site, in preparation for a panel's review of the EPA's study of indoor areas. The panel will spend six months going over EPA air samples of indoor spaces around the lower Manhattan site to confirm ventilation systems have not recontaminated apartment buildings. The report issued Thursday tabulates the results of the EPA's air and wipe testing of 28,702 samples. ... Nadler said the panel should "throw the report in the garbage." "It's a summary of the continuing coverup of the failure of the EPA and this administration," he said. Nadler wants more aggressive testing and cleanup done on a broader section of buildings in lower Manhattan, saying that the agency has cleaned only 4,100 of more than 20,000 downtown apartments and that cleaning was not up to the necessary federal standards. (NY Newsday, March 25, 2004)
  
• Increase Seen in Treatment for Firefighters ... The number of New York City firefighters and emergency medical service workers being treated for alcohol and drug abuse this year is more than 50 percent higher than it was last year, the Fire Department said yesterday.(NYTimes, March 20, 2004)
  
• Love Canal Declared Clean, Ending Toxic Horror ... (NYTimes, March 18, 2004)
  
• HHS Awards $81 Million for Five-Year Health Screening of World Trade Center Rescue, Recovery Workers ... HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the awarding of eight grants to fund an $81 million, five-year health screening program of New York City firefighters and other workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, and restoration services at the World Trade Center disaster site. The grants will allow the recipients to conduct three, free, standardized clinical examinations for each eligible individual over the next five years. (News Reslease, March 18, 2004)
  
• Environment Heads the List of Trade Center Concerns ... It is hard to imagine a 2,000-page document missing anything. But critical comments on the draft environmental impact statement for the World Trade Center rebuilding project generally fault it more for what it does not say than for what it does. The comments, which were due Monday but kept trickling in yesterday to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, urged officials to assess more carefully and comprehensively the cumulative effects of several big projects - the office towers and memorial, the PATH terminal, the Fulton Street Transit Center and the reconstruction of West Street-Route 9A - that have been separated for public review. They also asked for a more detailed examination of what may be at least a decade's worth of diminished air quality, increased noise and aggravated traffic. "The failure to consider the cumulative impact on air quality of all related Lower Manhattan construction projects may constitute a segmentation of the project and expose the project to litigation," said a comment from the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a group of 27 planning, environmental, civic, neighborhood and other groups. ... In its comments, the federal Environmental Protection Agency gave the draft document a rating of EC-2, meaning both that the agency has "environmental concerns" and that the document does not yet contain enough information for a full assessment. Among other points, the agency asked for further analysis of nitrogen oxide and ozone levels, more information on the potential impact of pollutants in storm-water runoff and a discussion of the effect on air quality of buses idling on Greenwich Street.The city's Environmental Protection Department submitted 12 suggestions and questions, asking where the water in the memorial pools would come from. "If the city is the water source, is there a plan in place to deal with drought emergencies?" wrote Darryl H. Cabbagestalk, the agency's director of project management for New York City projects. Rather than respond point by point, Kevin M. Rampe, the president of the development corporation, said yesterday: "We've really exhibited all along a willingness to expose our drafts and have a conversation and take in comments and incorporate them in meaningful ways. And we look forward to doing that here." The final document is expected to be submitted next month for a vote by the corporation board .... (New York Times, by David W. Dunlap, March 17, 2004)
  
• "A False Sense of Security":A new class-action lawsuit accuses the Environmental Protection Agency of encouraging residents to return to the area near the World Trade Center site too soon, putting them at risk of serious health problems ... The lawyers who filed the class-action lawsuit say they are not seeking punitive damages, but hope this suit will help to raise awareness of the issue and funds for monitoring and treatment of those who were affected by the contaminants. "It's a terrible shame that this is occurring more than two years after 9/11. Much of the damage may have been done already," says Bert Blitz, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. "But there are certainly a lot of people that can still be helped." (Newsweek, March 13, 2004)
• Residents file suit against the E.P.A.... Residents, workers and students in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency on March 10, saying the agency failed in its duty to protect citizens from the environmental fallout of the World Trade Center disaster. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, sought class action status by asserting that the 12 individuals named in the suit represent a cross-section of all those affected by environmental consequences of the W.T.C. collapse. Many of the 12 say they suffer from respiratory and other illnesses linked to exposure to the W.T.C. dust plume. The suit accuses the E.P.A. of misleading the public about the air quality Downtown after the terror attack. Christie Todd Whitman, then E.P.A. administrator, said one week after 9/11 that the air Downtown was safe to breathe, but that conclusion was judged premature last August in a report by the E.P.A.'s independent inspector general. The suit also charges that the E.P.A. did a poor job cleaning up after the terror attack....Claimants are not seeking individual damages, but instead request that the federal government pay for medical monitoring services to test for 9/11-related illnesses. The suit also demands that the E.P.A. test all buildings potentially touched by the W.T.C. dust plume, to conduct a thorough, professional cleanup where necessary and to reimburse those who paid for the private cleanup of residences, schools and businesses. (Downtown Express, by Elizabeth O'Brien, March 12 - 18, 2004)
  
• Children's asthma study suggests possible 9/11 effects ... Children in Chinatown visited the doctor more for asthma in the year after Sept. 11, 2001 than they did before the attack on the World Trade Center, researchers have found. Researchers retroactively reviewed the charts of 205 child asthma patients at a Chinatown clinic. Unlike many attempts to gauge the health effects of the World Trade Center collapse, this study had a baseline to compare post-9/11 changes with, since the patients had been treated at the clinic before the terror attack. (Downtown Express, by Elizabeth O'Brien, March 12 - 18, 2004)
  
• Clearing the air Downtown, post-9/11 ... There is cause for concern about asthma and about the Environmental Protection Agency cleanup program. Without commenting on the merits of the case, the federal lawsuit filed against the agency also this week is likely to have a positive effect. The E.P.A. has only admitted to generic mistakes responding to the environmental disaster and has never outlined what precisely they were. The suit may uncover previously unreleased documents. The lawsuit, Sen. Hillary Clinton's new E.P.A. panel, and despite its flaws, the Health Department's ongoing 9/11 survey are all important vehicles to provide Downtowners with the information we need to assess the health impact of 9/11 and to act where necessary. (SCROLL DOWN, Downtown Express, March 12 - 18, 2004)
  
• Downtown kids show no long-term health effects from 9/11 ... (Downtown Express, By Dr. Michel Cohen, March 12 - 18, 2004)
  
• The Rebuilding of Lower Manhattan: As Plans Progress, Lower Manhattan Residents Evaluate: A Pace Poll Survey Research Study ... Similarly, public confidence in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is strikingly low; residents are more than twice as likely to 'never' trust the EPA as they are to 'just about always' trust the EPA. Indeed, almost 3 out of 4 residents distrust the Agency. Nevertheless, the public's distrust of the EPA has not translated into an overwhelming interest in 9/11-related health issues; for example, residents remain largely unaware of the World Trade Center Health Registry.(March 15, 2004)
  
• Group Is Suing Federal Agency Over Post-9/11 Health Hazards ... Since the dense cloud of dust and debris billowed through Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, contradictory statements about safety and risk have tarnished the reputation of the federal agency. Some residents fear they were deliberately misled by government officials more eager to see normalcy return to the area than to safeguard New Yorkers.Just last week, federal officials conceded their hope that the formation of a panel of independent experts to oversee the cleanup would help restore lost confidence. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 12 residents - workers, students and business owners - but it seeks to represent the entire class of people exposed to the hazardous dust. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, March 11, 2004)
• Suit: Feds cleared WTC air too soon ... Plaintiffs Jim Gilroy, 55, and his 4-year-old daughter, Anamae, went back to their Tribeca apartment after the federal Environmental Protection Agency declared the area safe."They said it was okay, and we believed them," said Gilroy, who attributes his sinus problems and his daughter's rashes to the exposure to dust from the collapsed towers. "I don't know if they were lying or incompetent, but they should not have come out with that if they didn't know." (NY Daily News, by Robert Gearty, March 11, 2004)
• Lower Manhattan residents, workers sue EPA over air quality ... Residents and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, saying the agency improperly let thousands of people return to their homes and businesses after the World Trade Center collapsed. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan accused the EPA of repeatedly making misleading and unduly reassuring statements about air quality after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack. It sought class action status. It said the agency failed to follow its own procedures, letting people flood back into lower Manhattan before adequate precautions were taken to protect them from asbestos and other toxins released in the disaster. The lawsuit said the EPA's actions "left many thousands of individuals, adults and children alike, unnecessarily exposed to potentially hazardous ... It also asked the court to order the creation of a fund to finance medical monitoring services, including testing and preventive screening for conditions resulting from exposure to trade center dust. (Newsday, March 10, 2004)
  
• DOWNTOWNERS SUING FEDS OVER TOXIC 'LIES' ... Blitz said the suit does not seek monetary damages for victims, but instead asks the court to force the government to pay for long-term health monitoring for people exposed to post-9/11 toxins. It also asks the feds to pay for a thorough cleaning of apartments and businesses in parts of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn within the plume of post-9/11 smoke and dust.(NY Post, by William Neuman, March 11, 2004)
• Nadler Applauds Lawsuit Filed Against EPA for Failure to Clean Up WTC Dust: "New Yorkers Will Get Their Day in Court" ... New York -- Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today applauded the lawsuit filed by New York City residents, office workers, parents, and students against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to comply with its federally mandated responsibility to clean up buildings contaminated in a terrorist attack. Two years ago, Congressman Nadler launched an investigation into EPA's wrongdoing, and documented EPA's legal responsibilities in a White Paper issued in April 2002. Last August, the EPA's own Inspector General released a report confirming that EPA is mandated to clean up buildings as stated in Presidential Decision Directive 62 signed in 1998. The National Strategy for Homeland Security issued in July 2002 reiterates that EPA is "responsible for decontamination of buildings and affected neighborhoods" following a major incident. Nadler said, "After years of demanding that the EPA clean up toxic World Trade Center dust from homes, workspaces and schools, it is welcome news that New Yorkers will get their day in court. EPA decided to literally let the dust settle, but the people of New York City are not letting EPA get away with shirking its federal responsibility to clean up contaminated indoor spaces following a terrorist attack. The EPA must be forced to answer why it has allowed New Yorkers to be slowly poisoned by asbestos, silica, and other dangerous substances in World Trade Center dust that EPA refused to properly clean up." (News Release, March 10, 2004)
  
• EPA Sued Over Sept. 11 Contamination (Reuters, March 10, 2004)
• Lower Manhattan Residents Sue EPA Over Air Quality, AP Says (Bloomberg, March 10, 2004)
• Clinical deterioration in pediatric asthmatic patients after September 11, 2001 ... Asthma severity worsened after September 11, 2001, in pediatric asthmatic patients living near Ground Zero. Residential proximity to Ground Zero was predictive of the degree of decrease in asthma health. (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, March 2004)
• Asthma, Ground Zero linked: A study of 205 children who have the illness and lived near the World Trade Center says their condition was worsened by the 9/11 attack ...Children with asthma who lived within five miles of the World Trade Center had more severe illness after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, seeing the doctor more often and taking more medication the year after the attack than the year before, researchers found. There were no significant differences in care for asthmatic children farther away. The retrospective study of 205 Chinese-American children who received medical care at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Chinatown, about 1.5 miles from the World Trade Center, was published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The review of patient charts was carried out by physicians at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, a University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health epidemiologist and Wang Center doctors. "Air pollution has been linked to asthma exacerbation, so we expected these data to show the children were worse," said author Dr. Anthony Szema of Stony Brook. "But until we did the study, we weren't able to show they were worse." Szema said he will seek funding to continue studying the long-term health implications. (Newsday, by Roni Rabin, March 9, 2004)
  
• Study: Asthma Up in Post-Sept. 11 NYC ... Researchers said Monday they found a significant increase in the number of asthma clinic visits and asthma medications for children living in or near Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood in the year following the terror attack that destroyed the World Trade Center towers."This study suggests that the collapse had clinical consequences for children with asthma and that we have reason to be concerned about chronic respiratory consequences for these asthmatic children," said one of the authors of the study, Dr. Anthony Szema, an assistant professor of medicine at Stony Brook University.The study by Stony Brook researchers appears in the March issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.It found that in the year before Sept. 11, 2001, 306 pediatric asthma patients made 1,044 visits to a health clinic in Chinatown, northeast of Ground Zero. That jumped to 510 patients and 1,554 visits in the year following the collapse of the twin towers. (1010Wins, March 8, 2004)
  
• Responses To The Enviromental Impact Statement (Gotham Gazette, March 2004)
  
• 25,000 People Now Signed Up To Participate In WTC Health Registry ... The registry launched last September to try to track the long term medical and psychological effects of 9/11 will end in August. (NY1, March 7, 2004)
  
• 9/11's Miracle Survivor Sheds Bandages ... Given the destruction and the level of environmental contamination, most of the interior, which did not have landmark status, had to be gutted. This was done behind a ground-to-roof covering of reinforced Monarflex plastic sheeting on the north facade. (NYTimes, by Glenn Collins, March 5, 2004)
  
• E.P.A., Clinton announce panel to study W.T.C. response... Clinton acknowledged the panel's initial mandate was not all she had hoped for, but that she agreed to certain compromises to ensure there would be a panel at all. "I would have liked to have seen greater testing in a wider area," Clinton said on Monday. "The process that led to the creation of the panel was one of intense, ongoing negotiation among my office, the White House and the E.P.A., and this is always a difficult balance to strike. I think that within the administration there were some voices of caution about proceeding to reopen any of these issues, and I am gratified we have gotten to this point." Clinton said she hoped the panel would recommend including workplaces in the E.P.A. testing and cleaning.... "We're happy for the retesting, but we want representative testing," said Kimberly Flynn, a member of 9/11 Environmental Action, a community group.... (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, March 5 - 11, 2004)
  
• E.P.A. cuts ... Last month, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton urged President George Bush to restore proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's research budget for fiscal year 2005. Under Bush's proposed budget, funding for research on building contamination would be eliminate--from more than $8 million in fiscal year 2004 down to nothing in fiscal year 2005, according to Clinton's office. In a letter to Bush, Clinton wrote that the proposed cuts represent 'an affront to New Yorkers, many of whom have lingering concerns' about the potential contamination of buildings by dangerous World Trade Center dust. Clinton also cited the recent delivery of a Ricin-contaminated letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist as evidence that building contamination remains a pressing homeland security threat. Under a 1998 executive order, the E.P.A. was given responsibility for cleaning up buildings and other sites contaminated by chemical or biological agents as a result of terrorism. The E.P.A.'s budget justification documents said the proposed cut in researching funding will "force it to disband the technical and engineering expertise that will be needed to address known and emerging biological and chemical threats in the future," according Clinton's office.
  
• A Sampling of Apartments To Be Retested for 9/11 Ills ... Besides retesting, the panel will evaluate the practice of testing for one element, asbestos, to determine whether other contaminants were present. And the panel will have up to two years to trace the path of the dust cloud created by the collapse of the twin towers through downtown streets. Federal officials acknowledged yesterday that formation of the panel was also intended to clear the air about the E.P.A. and the way it had performed since the days right after the attacks, when officials broadly stated that the air downtown was safe to breathe. "If they're not going to be testing new places outside of those already tested, there's a problem," said Sudhir Jain, a member of 9/11 Environmental Action, a group of downtown residents worried that the first cleanup skipped many contaminated neighborhoods. "I don't want to kill the panel before it even starts, but most of what the panel is concerned with is where the least of the problem is." Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who prodded the Bush administration to investigate the safety of indoor air after a critical evaluation last August of the cleanup efforts by the office of inspector general, said she had originally asked for much broader testing of both residences and workplaces. She said she agreed to a limited scope of work in exchange for commitments from the administration to do three things: establish an independent panel; reserve one place on the panel for a community liaison; and ensure that meetings were transparent enough "to give the public confidence in the process." ... Catherine McVay Hughes, a downtown resident who was forced to leave her apartment a block from ground zero until it was cleaned, was named the community liaison. She and the 16 other panel members will not be expected to reach a consensus but will be asked to submit their own comments and recommendations. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, March 2, 2004)
  
• Members mobilize to fight move to lower Manhattan Health Dept. members in NYC balk at move to "unhealthy, unsafe" site ... "Half the windows in that building overlook the former WTC site," he said. "The dust, diesel fumes and noise from the construction will be unhealthy for us and for the public we serve. And It will be psychologically harmful to be there surrounded by the reminders of all the horrors and painful associations of September 11. (The Communicator, by Sherry Halbrook, March 4, 2004)
  
• A Sampling of Apartments to Be Retested for 9/11 Ills ... Up to 20 percent of the thousands of apartments that were tested and cleaned by federal environmental officials after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center will be retested to ensure they are safe to live in, officials announced yesterday. Responding to criticism from residents and officials of the way the federal Environmental Protection Agency handled the cleanup, a 17-member panel of scientists, environmental experts and a resident - most of them independent from the federal government - was formed to look into an issue that still disturbs many people more than two years after the attack. The panel wants to make sure that the first cleanup was done properly and that apartments have not been recontaminated by polluted air carried through ventilation systems from apartments in the same building that were never cleaned. Once the retesting of a representative sample of the apartments is completed over the next few months, the panel will make recommendations that federal environmental officials will consider but do not have to carry out. Besides retesting, the panel will evaluate the practice of testing for one element, asbestos, to determine whether other contaminants were present. And the panel will have up to two years to trace the path of the dust cloud created by the collapse of the twin towers through downtown streets. Federal officials acknowledged yesterday that formation of the panel was also intended to clear the air about the E.P.A. and the way it had performed since the days right after the attacks, when officials broadly stated that the air downtown was safe to breathe. ... Some will be selected by location, he said, and others by whether they have central ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Residents will not be able to ask that their apartments be rechecked because of the random nature of the sample. Dr. Gilman said that he hoped to present a preliminary retesting plan at the panel's first meeting at 10 a.m. on March 31 and that he wanted to have results available by June. To ensure openness, the panel's meetings will be held in New York and will be open to the public. Catherine McVay Hughes, a downtown resident who was forced to leave her apartment a block from ground zero until it was cleaned, was named the community liaison. She and the 16 other panel members will not be expected to reach a consensus but will be asked to submit their own comments and recommendations. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, March 2, 2004)
  
• Mixed Reactions Near the Site ... First there was the destruction. Now, here's comes the construction. With the start of rebuilding at the World Trade Center site just a few months away, residents, businesses and workers adjacent to the site are beginning to consider the impacts of a decade or more of massive, simultaneous building, road and transit projects on their doorstep. During the most intense years of construction, it is estimated that more than 2,000 construction vehicles a day will converge on Lower Manhattan, many of them outside Andy Jurinko's window. (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders, March 2004)
• Public Speaks on Rebuilding Impacts ... In lengthy detail, the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)-a 2,000-page document released in January by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.-outlines the changes Downtown residents and workers can expect in air quality, noise, traffic congestion and even sunlight levels during and after the years of construction at the World Trade Center site. What the report does not address, its critics say, is reality. And last month, at two public hearings on the study, they had their chance to say so. "It looks harder at the trees than it does at the forest," Mike Edelstein, a professor of environmental psychology at Ramapo College in New Jersey, said of the document. "The community sort of fades into the background in a lot of the analysis." Edelstein was one of nearly 100 people who spoke at the Feb. 18 hearings at Pace University. Critics claimed that the report included a litany of faulty assumptions and incorrect conclusions-for example, that most construction workers will use public transportation, that tourist won't come in significantly greater numbers and that "open space" on a sidewalk is equivalent to a park. And they said it does not take into account the cumulative impact on local residents who over the next decade will not only see the world's tallest building rise in their neighborhood, but will endure the construction of a new subway hub at Fulton Street and Broadway, the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street and the reconstruction of West Street, possibly with a tunnel. The impacts of each of those projects, expected to be undertaken within the next five years, will be analyzed by separate studies. ... George Thurston, associate professor of environmental medicine at New York University School of Medicine, who has studied the health effects of airborne dust and chemicals after the disaster, said the EIS falls short in projecting air pollution levels in the densely populated neighborhood. He called for permanent air monitoring stations in Lower Manhattan. "The population around the World Trade Center is an especially susceptible population," Thurston said. "You need to document more of what you've done and what you're assuming in terms of the dust." The assumptions made by the report, particularly those regarding traffic and air quality, have been a sticking point for many people. ... In a lengthy resolution approved last month, the community board said it wanted the final environmental statement to outline "all potential effects" of the rebuilding effort, "both on an individual basis and in the context of other concurrent projects." (Tribeca Trib, by Barry Owen, March 2004)
• Deutsche Bank to Be Torn Down ... It's finally official. The Deutsche Bank is coming down. Calling the badly damaged building at 130 Liberty St. "a painful reminder" of the terrorist attack, Governor George Pataki announced on Feb. 27 that a compromise had been reached between the bank, its insurers and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to demolish the structure. Under the terms of the deal, brokered by former Senator George Mitchell, Deutsche Bank will receive $140 million from the insurers, Allianz and AXA. The LMDC will purchase the property from the bank for $90 million and pay up to $45 Million for demolition ... Demolition of the 40-story Deutsche Bank building will begin this fall and take five to seven months. Kevin Rampe, the LMDC's president, said that the building, which is being treated as an asbestos contamination site, will be taken down in a way that minimizes environmental affects, and that residents near the site would be contacted about potential impacts of the work. (Tribeca Trib, March 2004)
• Expert Panel To Review Health Effects Of WTC Attack ... A panel of experts will review the residual health effects of the collapse of the World Trade Center. The move follows considerable criticism about the way the Environmental Protection Agency handled the cleanup of Lower Manhattan. The panel will go back into some of the apartments tested and cleaned by the EPA to make sure recontamination has not occurred. The panel will also track the health of Downtown residents and workers, analyze exposure risks and suggest ways to keep the public better informed. ... Last year the EPA's own inspector general released a report that said the agency was pressured by the White House to declare the air in Lower Manhattan was safe before enough tests were conducted to support the claim. (NY1, March 2, 2004)
  
• Health problems plague Ground Zero workers ... (USA TODAY, By Stephanie Armour, 3/2/2003)
• WORLD TRADE CENTER HEALTH REGISTRY SURPASSES 25,000 REGISTRANTS: Becomes the Second Largest Health Registry in American History (News Release, March 2, 2004)
  
• World Trade Center Panel Formed to Review Health Protection-Expert Panel to Begin Assessments in March....U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Deputy Administrator Steve Johnson, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (New York) and EPA officials announced the formation of an expert technical review panel to obtain greater input on ongoing efforts to monitor health effects for workers and residents impacted by the collapse of the World Trade Center. This panel is convened and led by the EPA.... The expert panel will help guide EPA's use of available exposure and health surveillance databases and registries. It will characterize any remaining exposures and risks, identify unmet public health needs, and recommend any steps to further minimize the risks associated with the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. ...Over the next six months, the panel will review post-cleaning verification sampling in the residential areas included in EPA's indoor air cleanup to verify re-contamination has not occurred from central heating and air conditioning systems. Also in that period of time, the panel will review the "World Trade Center Residential Confirmation Cleaning Study," which concluded that the cleaning methods used in EPA's indoor cleanup program and recommended to residents who cleaned their own places were extremely effective and indicated that asbestos was an appropriate surrogate for which to test. Within 24 months, the panel will identify areas where the health registry could be enhanced to allow better tracking of post-exposure risks by workers and residents. The panel will review and synthesize the ongoing work by federal, state and local governments and private entities to determine the characteristics of the WTC plume and where it was dispersed, including the geographic extent of EPA and other entities' monitoring and testing, and recommend any additional evaluations for consideration by EPA and other public agencies. (EPA News Release, March 1, 2004)
• Clinton Joins Announcement of EPA World: Trade Center Expert Review Panel ... Panel to Evaluate Indoor Air Quality Issues Stemming from 9/11 (News Release, March 1, 2004)
  
• Nadler Comments on EPA-Led Panel on Downtown Air Quality ... Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today applauded Senator Hillary Clinton for her continuing work to ensure that an EPA-initiated panel provides a fair, comprehensive and expeditious review of the environmental conditions that resulted from the collapse of the World Trade Center, and her insistence that a simultaneous testing and cleanup program be commenced. (News Release, March 1, 2004)
  
• EPA calls on outside experts to help monitor New York air safety ... The Environmental Protection Agency convened a panel of experts Monday to monitor residual health effects of workers and residents from the collapse of the World Trade Center. The agency created a new technical review panel whose members will spend six months reviewing EPA air samples from residential areas and indoor areas to verify that recontamination has not occurred from central heating and air-conditioning systems. ... Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and New York City officials pushed for the panel's creation. Clinton had been strongly critical of the EPA, saying it assured New Yorkers prematurely that air pollution from the World Trade Center rubble posed no health threat. (NY Newsday, March 1, 2004)
  

FEBRUARY

• Mass Raids on Port Authority Asbestos Contractors ... Investigators have launched a sweeping probe into possible fraud by companies hired to remove asbestos from the World Trade Center site and other Port Authority facilities, The Post has learned. ... Companies were hired to remove asbestos for the construction of the temporary WTC PATH train station - a 9/11 rebuilding project that included work at Ground Zero, Hudson River tunnels, and the Exchange Place PATH station in Jersey City. Other companies were hired at various PA jobs in New York and New Jersey. The asbestos investigation comes amid charges in a lawsuit by an electrical subcontractor that the main contractors for the WTC PATH project engaged in profiteering, fraud and misuse of 9/11 and other public funds. (New York Post, by Susan Edelman, February 29, 2004)
• The Question the Dems Aren't Asking: The Bikini Bottom Interrogative ... WR Grace's Mono-Kote 3 fireproofing for the structures (and Macy's and the terminal at Newark Airport) -- a problematic concoction of asbestos and cement -- infused the linings of one tower up to the 40th floor, and all the way up to the 64th floor in the other building. The Mono-Kote 4, used elsewhere in the structures, was also contaminated with cancer-causing fibers....Well, way over 1,800 volunteers from the Southern Baptist Church, the Salvation Army and many other organizations weren't informed that state and federal asbestos-removal regulations require special respirators, full head-to-toe protective gear and disposal at authorized sites only ... as they labored 'round the clock, day after day, wearing only plain paper or cloth masks. (PressAction, By Richard Oxman, February 28, 2004)
  
• Deutsche Bank, Remnant of 9/11, Faces Demolition ... Deutsche Bank reached agreement yesterday with the state, insurers and downtown rebuilding officials on the fate of a 40-story skyscraper near the World Trade Center site that still stands despite being badly damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks...Mr. Mitchell then put his own proposal on the table and set a deadline for an agreement. The proposal involved government purchase of the property so that it could be incorporated into the trade center site. But rebuilding officials needed an assessment of their potential environmental risks....(NYTimes, By Charles V. Bagli, February 27, 2004)
  
• DEUTSCHE BANK SETTLEMENT REACHED: Deutsche Bank Building to Come Down, Agreement allows Site Plan to be Realized More Open Space, Reduced Density, and Protection of the Memorial on World Trade Center Site ... Governor Pataki appointed Senator Mitchell to mediate the dispute between the insurers and Deutsche Bank at the end of October. Senator Mitchell, with the assistance and support of the LMDC, assembled and lead a team to resolve this dispute and negotiations were conducted by the bank, Allianz Insurance and AXA Insurance, and the LMDC. Under the agreement, LMDC will purchase the land for $90 million and pay for the demolition of the building. The agreement caps the cost of cleaning and demolition to $45 million and the insurers would pay any costs above the agency's cap. It will take approximately five to seven months from commencement to a clean site. The agreement ensures that the building demolition and site acquisition will be completed in a timely manner and with sensitivity to the environment and surrounding community.... (LMDC News Release, February 27, 2004)
• Frist says will bring up asbestos bill by April ... Frist has been trying to jump-start stalled legislation to end asbestos lawsuits, which number in the hundreds of thousands, and establish a fund to pay the claims, supported by asbestos companies and insurers. Last year asbestos companies and insurers agreed to a fund of at least $114 billion ...(Forbes, February 27, 2004)
  
• Senator Clinton Wins Passage of Legislation to Reduce Air Pollution From Road Constuction: Provision would encourage road builders to install pollution controls ... Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) announced passage of legislation to reduce air pollution from road construction equipment as part of the Federal Highway Bill that passed the Senate last week... According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), there are approximately 1.2 million pieces of construction equipment that can potentially benefit from being retrofitted with pollution control or anti-idling technologies. A typical piece of construction equipment, such as a 178 hp bulldozer, emits as much pollution as 26 new cars today, which contributes to smog and particulate pollution that is tied to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses. Adding controls to construction equipment is a key strategy to reduce these harmful diesel emissions from construction equipment and trucks in the near term. ... This new program will build upon the successful New York City program to use clean diesel-powered fleets to dispose of the building wreckage caused by the 9/11 tragedy. In this case, emergency federal funds were used to help contractors defray the costs of using clean diesel technology on their heavy-duty diesel trucks and equipment. (February 20, 2004)
  
• Construction concerns at the W.T.C. ... As residents asked the government for more time and information before construction begins on the World Trade Center site, the business community urged that rebuilding start immediately to hasten Lower Manhattan's economic recovery ... "The population around the World Trade Center is an especially susceptible population," said George Thurston, an associate professor in the department of environmental medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He said adverse health reactions increase proportionately with increasing pollution, and called for the L.M.D.C. to go beyond simply mitigating effects. For example, the corporation could make a large-scale change by converting all buses on the site to natural gas fuel, Thurston suggested. (Downtown Express, By Elizabeth O'Brien, February 20 - 26, 2004)
  
• Environmental Fears at Ground Zero Hearing ... Caroline Martin, who represented the Family Association of TriBeCa East, said the impact statement did not sufficiently address such important issues as air monitoring. 'The final environmental impact statement should include a detailed plan for air and sound monitoring around the periphery of the site during construction, with the hourly readings posted'......"This is a rush job," said Jenna Orkin, a member of the steering committee of 9/11 Environmental Action, a neighborhood organization, "The rebuilding project shows signs of repeating the reckless behavior of the cleanup operation." ... The availability of open space was another frequently voiced objection. Diane Dreyfus, an urban planner, said the city would end up with only 60 percent as much open space as existed before. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, February 19, 2004)
  
• Experts Weigh In On Environmental Impact Of New World Trade Center ... "Now, even though the development has positive aspects, but for the local residents, they're going to suffer the negative impacts," said George Thurman of NYU... "The report does not talk about any air quality monitoring in place, so what we really need to establish is an air monitoring program that will actually establish what happens," said resident Catherine McVay Hughes." (NY1, by Amanda Farinacci , February 18, 2004)
  
• Traffic, Trucks, Smog and Shadows ... Critics sharply attacked a draft environmental impact statement concerning the rebuilding at Ground Zero yesterday, challenging the report's main conclusion that the project poses no adverse effects... Orkin said the federally mandated study's look at air quality had relied on data from the Environmental Protection Agency, whose own inspector general had found the the agency's Lower Manhattan review was flawed. "People have done independent testing and found contaminants in their ventilation systems," she said.... But Catherine McVay Hughes, a member of Community Board 1 who lives one block away from the site, said the study failed to look at the environmental ramifications, including air quality, of adjacent buildings that were also damaged and have to be rebuilt. (NY Newsday, By Errol A. Cockfield Jr., February 19, 2004)
• High Rate of Respiratory Symptoms in Police at World Trade Center Site ... More than three-fourths of New York City police officers responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center developed a cough or other respiratory symptoms, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). Officers who arrived at the site before the towers collapsed were most likely to have abnormal results on lung function testing, according to Dr. Steve H. Salzman and coauthors of Beth Israel Medical Center.... Overall, 77.5 percent of the officers developed respiratory symptoms, most commonly a cough, after working at the World Trade Center site. By the time they were evaluated, the symptoms had resolved in three-fourths of affected officers. In the remaining one-fourth, respiratory symptoms persisted or got worse. None of the ESU officers took medical leave from work because of their respiratory symptoms. Even when symptoms were present, few of the officers had abnormalities on physical examination, including chest x-rays. Twenty-nine percent had abnormal results on spirometry—a test of lung function—although the abnormalities were generally mild. Officers with previous respiratory disease or symptoms were more likely to have abnormal spirometry results, as were those with more intense exposure to conditions at the World Trade Center site. The abnormality rate was about 40 percent for ESU officers who arrived before the first tower fell, compared with 25 percent for those who arrived after both towers collapsed. (Newswise, Feb. 13, 2004)
• Erasing a Skeletal Reminder of 9/11...T hrough much of the ground zero precinct, hope is measured in the promise of construction. At Fiterman Hall, hope will take the form of demolition... Asked his feelings on the pending demolition of something he had designed, the architect Hugh Hardy likened it yesterday to a kick in the teeth, even if it was made inevitable by the structural damage, the contamination and the mold. (NYTimes, by David Dunlap, February 11, 2004)
  
• Study Reveals WTC Rebuilding Impacts ... While Lower Manhattan will gain more stores, cultural facilities, upgraded transportation, and a new park, the community faces a decade or more of construction noise, snarled traffic, crowded sidewalks, unknown effects of air quality, and shadows ... Air Quality: Problems: Fine particulate matter from diesel fuels and dust is identified as the greatest hazard. Mitigation: Under a law passed by the City Council, construction vehicles will be required to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel. Nonhazardous, biodegradable suppressing agents will be sprayed on dust piles. The government may provide HEPA filters for fresh air inlets at surrounding offices and hotels, and HEPA filter air-conditioning units to nearby residences. (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders, February 2004)
  
• Bill would save firms billions .... WASHINGTON - As Congress returns to work, the White House is cranking up pressure for legislation that would save major corporations billions of dollars by barring thousands afflicted with asbestos disease from suing for damages. ... "The bill is grossly unfair to people whose exposure to asbestos did not occur at work and to tens of thousands of workers with asbestos-related injuries that do not meet the bill's arbitrary definition of asbestos disease," said Joel Shufro, executive director of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. Shufro, whose organization is supported by 400 unions and provides health and safety training, said he is concerned about the thousands of people who lived downwind from one of Grace's hundreds of vermiculite processing plants or those caught in the dust cloud that enveloped Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11. "Don't forget the rescue and recovery workers at the World Trade Center. All of these people will be completely ineligible for any compensation if they develop asbestos-related disease," he said. "If you don't meet the bill's arbitrary standards, you have no recourse." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, By Andrew Schneider, 01/31/2004)
  

JANUARY