AUGUST

• Nested Case–Control Study of Autoimmune Disease in an Asbestos-Exposed Population ... Objective: To explore the potential association between asbestos exposure and risk of autoimmune disease, we conducted a case–control study among a cohort of 7,307 current and former residents of Libby, Montana, a community with historical occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Methods: Cases were defined as those who reported having one of three systemic autoimmune diseases (SAIDs) : systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) . Controls were randomly selected at a 3:1 ratio from among the remaining 6,813 screening participants using frequency-matched age and sex groupings. Results: The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for SAIDs among those ≥ 65 years of age who had worked for the vermiculite mining company were 2.14 (95% CI, 0.90–5.10) for all SAIDs and 3.23 (95% CI, 1.31–7.96) for RA. In this age group, exposure to asbestos while in the military was also an independent risk factor, resulting in a tripling in risk. Other measures of occupational exposure to vermiculite indicated 54% and 65% increased risk for SAIDs and RA, respectively. Those who had reported frequent contact with vermiculite through various exposure pathways also demonstrated elevated risk for SAIDs and RA. We found increasing risk estimates for SAIDs with increasing numbers of reported vermiculite exposure pathways (p < 0.001) . Conclusion: These preliminary findings support the hypothesis that asbestos exposure is associated with autoimmune disease. Refined measurements of asbestos exposure and SAID status among this cohort will help to further clarify the relationship between these variables. ... (Environmental Health Perspectives, August 2006; Curtis W. Noonan, Jean C. Pfau, Theodore C. Larson, and Michael R. Spence)

• Stuy grad's 9/11 dsut crusade: Five years later, health coverage concerns linger in the air for elite school alums ... The Environmental Protection Agency told Stuyvesant High School administrators the air was safe less than a month after Sept. 11, 2001. Students like Lila Nordstrom dutifully returned to the elite public school on Oct. 9, 2001, as fires were still smoldering at the World Trade Center site and trucks were still carting debris right outside the building. Nordstrom was a senior then. Now, she’s a Vassar graduate without health insurance and she’s concerned about how toxic dust may have affected her health. “We were minors at the time,” Nordstrom, 22, said. “We had no say in the decision to go back. Our parents didn’t know. I realize now how egregiously messed up the decision was at Stuyvesant. We were like canaries, used by the government to show that downtown was open for business.” Nordstrom — the only member of her family not to outgrow childhood asthma — is fighting to get a government-sponsored health insurance and monitoring program for students attending Stuy High during the 2001-2002 school year. She used Facebook.com to track down roughly 170 former students to sign onto an open letter she sent to several elected officials like Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton. “A lot of students still don’t want to talk about it or deal with it,” she said, adding many felt the focus should remain on first responders. “There are monitoring programs at city hospitals for emergency workers and there should be, but what about us? If people start getting sick in three years, we may not be able to detect it.” ... (Metro Ny, by Amy Zimmer, Aug. 31, 2006)
• Nadler: NYC 9/11 Health Guideline Still Too Limiting ... Congressman Jerrold Nadler released the following statement in response to the release of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Clinical Guidelines for Adults Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster: "I am pleased that the Department of Health has finally, at long last, released these guidelines. They confirm that New York continues to suffer from a health crisis caused by the World Trade Center disaster. "Recognizing those with health problems should have been a first step taken years ago. Five years later, victims need accessible treatment, not mere guidelines. "Furthermore, I am concerned that the approach here is still too limiting. I am particularly troubled at the inadequate attention given to the issues of contaminated indoor spaces and chronic exposure populations." (News Release, August 31, 2006)
  
• Rep. Maloney React to NYC's Release of 9/11 Health Guidelines .... “These guidelines paint a bleak picture about the health effects of 9/11, but are an meaningful step forward in helping doctors to better treat patients exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero.  This is important because the doctors at the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program have testified before Congress that they have seen a number of patients coming into their monitoring program who received the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment from their primary care physician – people with pulverized glass in their lungs getting diagnosed with asthma.  Hopefully now with these guidelines released to all doctors, this number can be dramatically reduced.” ... (News Release, August 31, 2006)
  
• Health Officials Release New Guideline to Treat 9/11 Victims ... For the first time in nearly five years, city health officials released guidelines Thursday to help doctors recognize and treat September 11th related illnesses. ... Previously, the city's department of health issued guidelines on how to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and mental abuse. Now health officials say they have enough information to release advice on how to treat people with respiratory problems. ... (NY1, August 31, 2006)
  
• Critics: EPA Should 'Do its Job' on 3rd Anniversary of Damning Internal Report ... (Homeland Response, By Sandy Smith, August 29, 2006)
• Five Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Residents Still Concerned About Health Issues ... For thousands of residents living in Lower Manhattan, there was no escaping the dust, smoke and fumes in the days, weeks and even months following the September 11th attacks. And now, five years later, many still have real concerns over what could be happening with their health as a result. ... Nelson Marty has lived in downtown Manhattan for nearly 30 years. But since the events of 9/11, he says his health just hasn't been the same. “I am a runner. I have done the New York City Marathon twice. After 9/11, in 2002, my asthma re-manufactured itself,” he says. “Up until then I had no medication whatsoever.” Now he's taking Advair, an inhalable steroid meant to prevent asthma attacks, at least twice a day. It may seem like only a mild change, but doctors and community advocates say Marty serves as just one example among hundreds, if not thousands, of Lower Manhattan residents who could be suffering post-9/11 health woes.... (NY1, Kafi Drexel, August 28, 2006)
  
• Early on, dissent over air quality: Public statements after 9/11 under scrutiny in wake of lawsuit, illnesses ... Even as the city and federal government were reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe in the weeks after Sept. 11, some officials were sounding the alarm within their agencies about air quality at the site. A series of court documents and internal memos reveals, among other things, a City Hall divided over when to reopen downtown to workers and shoppers, and a failure to enforce regulations aimed at assuring that workers were protected in the sooty, dust-filled air. Five years later, the cost now may be coming due in mysterious illnesses, shortened careers, even lost lives - and a class action lawsuit by 7,000 people. On Oct. 6, 2001, while the city and the Environmental Protection Agency were repeatedly reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe, a top city Health Department official wrote a three-page memo raising "critical environmental issues" related to the disaster. Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinney wrote that there were deep disagreements between the city's Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Protection over whether the air was safe enough to allow people back into the zone. "The mayor's office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy," McKinney wrote. "According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of Ground Zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. I was told the mayor's office was directing OEM to open the target areas next week." McKinney, now with OEM, did not respond to a written request for comment. 'Strict standard' In response to Newsday's questions, the city's law department issued a statement saying no area was reopened until testing had found it safe. "Areas were not reopened to the public until they were cleaned of dust and debris and testing demonstrated at least two consecutive days of asbestos levels below the strict standard for reoccupancy of schools," said Kenneth A. Becker, chief of the law department's World Trade Center unit. ... The city's Department of Environmental Protection, which conducted tests for asbestos in the days immediately after Sept. 11 that showed dangerously high levels of the fibers, did not reveal those test results to the public. The results were later disclosed by the state in response to a Freedom of Information request. Within a few weeks of the attacks, the city - aware that it probably would face massive litigation over the environmental hazards - had begun preparing itself. One official expressed concern that environmental claims might "bankrupt" the city. Three weeks after the collapses, in a signal of brewing concern, Fire Department doctors urgently requested $6 million to study health effects of Ground Zero work on firefighters. ... Very early on, city officials were concerned about the potential cost of 9/11-related environmental claims. In September 2001, the city hired the accounting firm Ernst & Young to perform a risk assessment. The firm estimated in an October report that the city faced a potential liability of more than $450 million for environmental claims and needed $2.8 billion in insurance coverage. The long-term health concerns, in part, spurred the city to try to limit its liability starting relatively early on after the attacks. On Oct. 15, a letter written by city lawyers and signed by Holden, the city official in charge of Ground Zero, asked the state to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for claims not covered by insurance. "I am concerned that the construction management firms [CMs] and the city will be open to exposure years after the project based on hazardous materials claims," the letter said. "This type of exposure would bankrupt the CMs and perhaps the city." ... CONTRADICTIONS IN THE AIR: SEPT. 19, 2001 "I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." - Christie Whitman, U.S. EPA administrator. OCT. 6, 2001: The Mayor's Office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy. According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of ground zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. -Memo from Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinny (Newsday, by Graham Rayman, August 27, 2006)
  
• Health of World Trade Center workers questioned early: City documents reveal mounting concerns about health risks and spotty enforcement of regulations ... Even as the city and federal government were reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe in the weeks after Sept. 11, some officials were sounding the alarm within their agencies about air quality at the site. A series of court documents and internal memos reveals, among other things, a City Hall divided over when to reopen downtown to workers and shoppers, and a failure to enforce regulations aimed at assuring that workers were protected in the sooty, dust-filled air. Five years later, the cost of those decisions may be now coming due in mysterious illnesses, shortened careers, even lost lives -- and a class action lawsuit by 7,000 people. On Oct. 6, 2001, for example, while the city and the Environmental Protection Agency were repeatedly reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe, a top city health department official wrote a three-page memo raising "critical environmental issues" related to the disaster. Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinney wrote that there were deep disagreements between the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Protection over whether the air was safe enough to allow people back into the zone. "The mayor's office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy," McKinney wrote. "According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of Ground Zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. I was told the mayor's office was directing OEM to open the target areas next week." McKinney, now with OEM, did not respond to a written request for comment. Strict standard' In response to Newsday's questions, the city's law department issued a statement saying no area was reopened until testing had found it safe. "Areas were not reopened to the public until they were cleaned of dust and debris and testing demonstrated at least two consecutive days of asbestos levels below the strict standard for reoccupancy of schools," said Kenneth A. Becker, chief of the law department's World Trade Center unit. ... Within a few weeks of the attacks, the city -- aware that it probably would face massive litigation over the environmental hazards -- had begun preparing itself. One official expressed concern that environmental claims might "bankrupt" the city. ... Very early on, city officials were concerned about the potential cost of 9/11-related environmental claims. In September 2001, the city hired the accounting firm, Ernst and Young, to perform a risk assessment. The firm estimated in an October report that the city faced a potential liability of more than $450 million for environmental claims and needed $2.8 billion in insurance coverage. The long-term health concerns, in part, spurred the city to try to limit its liability starting relatively early on after the attacks. On Oct. 15, a letter written by city lawyers and signed by Holden asked the state to persuade FEMA to pay for claims not covered by insurance. "I am concerned that the construction management firms and the city will be open to exposure years after the project based on hazardous materials claims," the letter said. "This type of exposure would bankrupt the CMs and perhaps the city." ... (Newsday, by Graham Rayman, August 26, 2006)
  
• Rescuers face crisis - report ... The report underscores what could be an exploding health care crisis for rescue and recovery workers, as well as people who lived or worked near the twin towers. ... (Daily News, by Greg Wilson, August 26th, 2006)
• 9/11 Shrine, With the Tragic, Toxic Dust ... A Lower Manhattan store’s display of its apparel coated with the stuff of disaster became a shrine after the attacks. The apparel and the dust, sealed since 2002, are now a historical society exhibit. ... It is always dangerous to disturb toxic dust, but this dust is historic, and possibly sacred. This week, a crew in hazard suits navigated a sealed bubble at the New-York Historical Society to recreate an eerie time capsule of Sept. 11, 2001, as the fifth anniversary approaches. ... Nothing like the installation has been done before, she said. The fragile textiles and the toxic dust that coated them required delicate handling. Curators had to protect themselves from the exhibition artifacts and also ensure the safety of museum visitors. ... (NYTimes, by Glenn Collins, August 25, 2006)
  
• Claim: 9/11 dust tests misleading ... An Environmental Protection Agency scientist told the New York congressional delegation that the agency used misleading data about World Trade Center dust. Cate Jenkins, a senior scientist at the agency's office of solid waste and emergency response, said in a letter to the delegation that reports on tests from 2002 and 2003 misrepresented the alkaline nature, or pH level, of the dust, The New York Times reported Friday. Some doctors have theorized that many illnesses developed by recovery workers and nearby residents were contributed to by highly alkaline dust from the fallen towers, the Times said. ... (UPI, Aug 25, 2006)
  
• E.P.A. Whistle-Blower Says U.S. Hid 9/11 Dust Danger ... A senior scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency has accused the agency of relying on misleading data about the health hazards of World Trade Center dust. The scientist, who has been sharply critical of the agency in the past, claimed in a letter to members of the New York Congressional delegation this week that test reports in 2002 and 2003 distorted the alkalinity, or pH level, of the dust released when the twin towers collapsed, downplaying its danger. Some doctors suspect that the highly alkaline nature of the dust contributed to the variety of ailments that recovery workers and residents have complained of since the attack. Tests of the gray-brown dust conducted by scientists at the United States Geological Survey a few months after the attack found that the dust was highly alkaline, in some instances as caustic or corrosive as drain cleaner, and capable of causing severe irritation and burns. The tests that are being challenged by the E.P.A. scientist were conducted by independent scientists at New York University. Those tests also indicated that larger particles of dust were highly alkaline. But they found that smaller dust particles — those most likely to reach into the lower airways of the lungs, where they could cause serious illnesses — were not alkaline and caustic. The geological survey’s tests did not differentiate the dust by particle size. A spokeswoman for the agency, Mary Mears, said in a statement that the E.P.A. stood behind its work on ground zero environmental hazards, as did the N.Y.U. scientists. The scientist making the complaint, Cate Jenkins, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and works in the agency’s office of solid waste and emergency response, said the test results helped the E.P.A. avoid legal liability. Residents of Lower Manhattan have sued the agency in federal court, claiming that it bungled the cleanup. Dr. Jenkins said the test reports had a costly health effect, contributing “to emergency personnel and citizens not taking adequate precautions to prevent exposures.” In her statement, Ms. Mears distanced the agency from Dr. Jenkins, who has worked for the E.P.A. since 1979 and has been in conflict with the agency for years over her whistle-blowing activities. ... (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, Aug. 25, 2006)
  
• Scientist Says EPA Covered Up World Trade Center Dust Danger ... An Environmental Protection Agency scientist is accusing his office of relying on misleading data about the World Trade Center dust. According to the New York Times, the researcher wrote a letter this week to the New York Congressional delegation, detailing reports in 2002 and 2003 that distorted the pH level of the dust. Some doctors believe the high alkaline levels are what caused many of the illnesses now being suffered by recovery workers. ... (NY1, Aug. 25, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Death Bill Gives Families A Second Shot; EMS Unions Hail Workers' Comp Filing Break ... Mr. Eppinger, noting Mr. Bloomberg's influence over the Law Department's Workers' Compensation unit that must approve all EMS 9/11 claims, said the Mayor's strong opposition to the new laws had him worried. ... (Chief Leader, by Ginger Adams Otis, 8/25/06)
  
• Draft Report: Thousands Sick From WTC Rescue, Cleanup ... The report, yet to be released, is from the hospital's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program and is based on four years of studying the lingering health impact of Sept. 11. The medical evidence suggests rescue and recovery workers are sicker than the general population five years after the attacks. ... "The health effects of rescue recovery and volunteer work at the WTC cite were highly prevalent, severe and persistent in the nearly 10,000 workers we saw clinically between 2002 and 2004," according to the WTC Medical Monitoring Program.The evidence showed sharp increases in respiratory symptoms after Sept. 11, including abnormal lung capacity in a third of the workers one to two years after exposure, and lung problems affecting five times more people than you'd expect in the general population, doctors said. ... "We're willing to say that the medical problems persist. The pulmonary problems, the sinus problems, the indigestion, the breathing test abnormalities persist in these workers at much higher rates than are found in the population in general," said Dr. Jacqueline Moline. The draft finds that those with the highest rates of lung problems were the people engulfed in the dust cloud that could be seen for miles after the towers collapsed, with 54 percent reporting lower respiratory problems and 66 percent reporting upper respiratory problems. ... The Mount Sinai doctors warn the consequences are likely to get worse, saying "there may be future late-emerging health consequences, possibly including cancers among the World Trade Center responder population." Doctors planned to step up the monitoring of cancer cases. In the draft, the number of cancer cases was not included. Doctors believe most cases wouldn't show up for at least 10 years, but hundreds of people claim they've already developed World Trade Center-related cancer. (WNBC-TV, August 25, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Lead Tests Covered up ... Three days after 9/11, city Department of Transportation officials hurriedly arranged environmental testing at the agency's headquarters at 40 Worth St. in lower Manhattan.Those tests, performed by an outside consultant, revealed major lead contamination in the building. Some tests showed lead levels 10 times higher than federal regulations allow for indoor dust, according to internal agency documents recently obtained by the Daily News. The test results were especially significant because the 20story office building that houses DOT is located 10 blocks north of Ground Zero, in an area that City Hall and the federal government reopened to hundreds of thousands of office workers a few days later - on Sept. 17. At the time, health officials kept insisting there was no threat to public health from the fires at Ground Zero. Early environmental tests, they said, showed no worrisome contamination from asbestos or other toxic substances that were released after the twin towers collapsed. The lead contamination at 40 Worth St. was a clear challenge to that official story. Who could be sure there was no similar contamination in scores of other nearby office buildings where people had returned to work? On the department's 10th floor, for example, where the office of Commissioner Iris Weinshall is located, a dust sample from a window near the elevator showed lead levels three times above federal safety standards. The contamination there, however, was never publicly revealed by city officials who eventually posted thousands of environmental test results on a Web site of the city Department of Environmental Protection. The agency quietly notified its employee union, District Council 37, about the problem and hurriedly ordered the building's landlord to fix the problem. "Extensive cleanup was done before the employees were allowed to return a few weeks later," said DOT spokeswoman Kay Sarlan. "The city tried to give us some ridiculous reason that it [the lead contamination] was from before 9/11," said Lee Clarke, health and safety director for DC 37. Nearly five years later, it has become increasingly apparent that city officials simply hid from the public some of the worst results of their environmental testing in those early days. ... Many of these documents would have stayed buried were it not for Joel Kupferman, an attorney with the nonprofit New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. Kupferman has spent the past five years doggedly filing scores of Freedom of Information requests with every government agency for 9/11 documents. ... Virtually the entire New York congressional delegation demanded Tuesday that the EPA do what it should have done from the start, what its own inspector general recommended three years ago. It should inspect and, if necessary, clean every building in lower Manhattan - and even Brooklyn - that was contaminated by dust from Ground Zero. (Daily News, By Juan Gonzalez, August 25, 2006)
• 9/11 Health Woes Reach Far Beyond New York ... Ground zero worker Jimmy Willis' lung problems got so bad in the years after Sept. 11 that he finally left New York, hoping the dry air of Nevada would blow away the after-effects of toxic World Trade Center dust. But when he moved two years ago, Willis also left behind New York-based medical expertise on the subject of 9/11 related illnesses, joining a diaspora of hundreds of ground zero rescue workers scattered across the United States. It is a population many health experts, union leaders and politicians say is vulnerable to poor medical treatment because the government has delayed release of guidelines that would help doctors around the country diagnose and treat illnesses linked to the attacks. A standard medical protocol for health care workers is just one element of what a growing chorus of advocates says should be a long-term, national program to test and treat sick workers. Five years after the attacks, Willis, 51, suffers from respiratory disease and gastro-intestinal bleeding. The creation of testing guidelines, called protocols, was shelved for years. Most recently, officials indicated a release by the end of this year. The lag has come under criticism from workers' advocates. ... Exactly how many rescue workers responded to the attacks is unknown, though estimates usually range above 40,000. ... Testing guidelines are crucial, however, to helping a doctor in any clinic or network recognize symptoms, said Kathy Kirkland, the association's executive director. She said standardized protocols can help alert health care workers to the less obvious ailments connected to ground zero work. Take the gastro-intestinal problems afflicting Willis. "That's fairly common among World Trade Center responders, but it's something a lot of clinicians wouldn't recognize, wouldn't know," she said. Or the lungs. A standard pulmonary test doesn't reveal the true extent of Sept. 11-related damage, she said, because although it can measure lung capacity it doesn't gauge the wear-and-tear inflicted on the organs. "A lot of guys on the surface seem to have normal lung function, but compared to what they had before, their lungs have aged a whole lot faster than they should have," Kirkland said. "Again, that's not something the average clinician would think to check." ... (AP, by Devlin Barrett, August 25, 2006)
• Where's the money? ... From everything we know — and with no public process, what we know these days is pretty much restricted to what the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. decides to share with the press –L.M.D.C. had long ago capped what it would spend to bring down the Deutsche Bank. In its February 27, 2004 press release announcing the building purchase and setting out the terms of its agreement with the Deutsche Bank and its insurers, L.M.D.C. states: “The agreement caps the cost of cleaning and demolition to $45 million and the insurers would pay any costs above the agency’s cap.” These same assurances were reiterated a year later by then president (and now chairperson) Kevin Rampe in response to questioning from Councilmember Alan Gerson at a February ‘05 City Council hearing on the demolition of 9/11contaminated buildings. Please add those of us who’ve been working to make the 130 Liberty St demolition safe to the chorus of community voices asking for the whereabouts of the $45 million earmarked as community enhancement funds. (Downtown Express, Letters to the Editor: Kimberly Flynn, August 18-24, 2006)
  
• Report: Search for human remains at WTC skyscraper is thorough ... (AP/AMNY.com, by Amy Westfeldt, August 24, 2006)
• Feds ripped on WTC cleanup ... The feds must take their own advice and follow the recommendations of a 2003 report on how to clean up toxins unleashed on 9/11, a contingent of local lawmakers demanded yesterday. Reps. Charles Rangel, Jerrold Nadler, Major Owens and Carolyn Maloney blasted all levels of government for botching the 9/11 cleanup, which Nadler said continues "to slowly poison" people who live and work downtown. They want the Environmental Protection Agency to follow the recommendations laid out in a 2003 report by the agency's inspector general, including: Testing for a wider variety of contaminants.; Bringing cleanup efforts up to Superfund standards. Expanding the cleanup zone above Canal St., and to Brooklyn and possibly to Jersey City. Nadler and the other Democrats said officials owe more to all of those whose health suffered due to 9/11. "We're not paying for their medical insurance, we're not monitoring them - all of the things we've been talking about since the Daily News wrote about it," Nadler said, referring to a News campaign to get government funding for health care of rescue and recovery workers. "That's a major disgrace." ... (NYDailyNews, by Greg Wilson, August 23rd, 2006)
• Our Firefighters’ Health ... These results do not support heavy metal poisoning as a causative factor. Rather, our findings support a dust-chemical induced irritant-inflammatory process as the cause for upper and lower respiratory disease. These are serious diseases that deserve serious attention. New York’s bravest deserve the best medical care, and treatment options should be based on medical validity and scientific fact. (NYTimes Letter to the Editor: Kerry J. Kelly, M.D. & David J. Prezant, M.D., Aug. 23, 2006)
• Last Gasp: ground Zero volunteers suffer in silence as the clock ticks on their health ... From sleep apnea to severe depression, these men and women are undergoing a host of health problems presumably related to their rescue work. ... Feal, 39, is the founder and president of The FealGood Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting the plight of sick and injured first responders and to providing volunteers and recovery workers with financial assistance. A foot injury sustained during the recovery efforts led to gangrene and the subsequent loss of part of that foot, and he says he has had thirty subsequent surgeries. Among his other afflictions stemming from his work at Ground Zero, Feal suffers from acid reflux, a scarred lung and asthma. When he speaks, he gasps for air as though he has just finished a sprint. “Excuse me, I get out of breath sometimes,” he says. Feal claims he is also very compulsive now. ... (New York Press, by Sushi Cheema, August 23-29, 2006)
• 9/11 air fears stifled ... Less than a month after 9/11, a top city Health Department official blasted an order from City Hall to reopen several blocks near Ground Zero, and warned that "air quality [for asbestos] at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy," an internal memo shows. "The Mayor's Office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to reoccupancy," wrote Associate Health Commissioner Kelly McKinney in his startling Oct. 6, 2001, memo. At the time, McKinney was in charge of the city's environmental hazards program. His memo reveals sharp disagreements between health officials and other Giuliani administration aides over how to handle environmental contamination after 9/11. The memo was obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. McKinney and the Department of Environmental Protection - the city agency in charge of all asbestos testing - appear to have urged a cautious approach to reopening downtown. In his memo, McKinney noted that DEP Commissioner Joel Miele was also "uncomfortable with opening the target areas" but said, "I was told the Mayor's Office was directing OEM [the Office of Emergency Management] to open the target areas next week." ... DEP's own tests for asbestos in the first week after 9/11, for example, revealed far higher asbestos contamination in lower Manhattan than officials ever acknowledged - and some of the worst test results were never released to the public. In the five days before Sept. 17, 2001, the day most downtown office workers were allowed by federal and city officials to return to work, DEP tested 38 air samples for asbestos on the streets around the Trade Center site. Of those, 27 revealed asbestos levels higher than the .01 fibers per cubic centimeter that the DEP was using as a "safety" threshold. It was not until February 2002 that the city even began publicly posting its own test results on the DEP Web site. The initial test method for air samples, known as PCM, is sometimes not reliable, so DEP began retesting any sample over .01 fibers by a more exact method that scientists call TEM, for transmission electron microscopy. The federal TEM standard for asbestos is 70 fibers per square meter. Of those same 38 tests DEP conducted in the days after 9/11, 18 test filters were so clogged they couldn't even be read under the TEM method. That left only 20 valid test results and eight of them, or 40%, revealed dangerous levels of asbestos in the air. The highest, at 157 fibers, was found on Sept. 12 at Spruce and Gold Sts., seven blocks from Ground Zero. On the same day, a level of 123 fibers was found in another test at Centre and Chambers Sts. - right between City Hall and the Municipal Building. Yet neither of those results has ever been reported by the DEP to the public. The city never disclosed it even conducted tests at those locations. .... (NYDailyNews, by Juan Gonzalez, August 23rd, 2006)
  
• Silverstein Properties Decrees Low-Sulfur Truck Fuel Use by Its Contractors at the WTC Site: MTA HESITANT ABOUT MAKING SAME COMMITMENT AT THE FULTON STREET TRANSIT CENTER: EMISSIONS WOULD BE REDUCED BY 90 PERCENT ... Mr. Silverstein, who made a brief appearance at the meeting where Janno Lieber, World Trade Center project director for Silverstein Properties, was making a presentation, is of course not alone in his ailment. Millions of people around the country, and thousands in Manhattan, suffer from the respiratory condition that, at times, simply makes breathing a difficult task. What sets Mr. Silverstein apart from his fellow New Yorkers, however, is that he is in the unusual position of actually being able to have an effect on the air quality around him. And, as Mr. Lieber announced, this is exactly what Mr. Silverstein, a principal developer of the WTC site, intends to do. According to Mr. Lieber, all construction vehicles working on Silverstein projects at the site will be required to use low-sulfur fuel, a standard that is expected to reduce emissions by 90 percent. "We want to make sure these vehicles minimize the impact on air quality," said Mr. Lieber, acknowledging that hundreds of vehicles will be active around the site. "There's no reason to compromise the quality of life for residents down here." ... Committee chair Catherine McVay Hughes, who expressed her appreciation for the environmental requirement, took the opportunity to ask William Wheeler, Director of Planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- which has undertaken its own monumental construction project with the new Fulton Street Transit Center -- if the MTA would follow Mr. Silverstein's lead and require the use of low-sulfur fuel for construction vehicles at its site. Mr. Wheeler, who was at the meeting to update the committee on the new transit center's progress, demurred. "I think it's a great idea, but I don't know, Catherine, I don't know."Elaborating on his uncertainty, Mr. Wheeler questioned whether the available fleet of vehicles, such as concrete trucks that must idle while their contents are unloaded, would he able to adjust their engines to use low-sulfur fuel. "It's one thing to set it as a goal," he said. "It's another thing to say is it really feasible." ... (Battery Park Broadsheet July 25-September 7, 2006, by Serena Hedison)
  
• Last Gasp: Ground Zero volunteers suffer in silence as the clock ticks on their health ... t’s no longer thick with dust, fumes and debris—that filled the lungs of John Feal, John Sfezaro, Scott Aline, Jack Saltarella, Jim LaPenna and thousands of other recovery workers, cleanup workers and volunteers who toiled here in the days and months following the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. ... From sleep apnea to severe depression, these men and women are undergoing a host of health problems presumably related to their rescue work. But in the nearly five years since the attacks, they have faced numerous obstacles in their quest to obtain workers’ compensation and other benefits. ... Last Monday, just three days before construction began on the World Trade Center Memorial and less than a month before the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Governor George Pataki signed into law bills that acknowledge the plight of the first responders. One new law gives those responders who may die from illnesses related to the attacks the same benefits as those who died during the attacks. A second law allows individuals whose illnesses emerged after the two-year deadline the opportunity to reapply for workers’ compensation benefits. Now, workers and volunteers have two years from the time at which their illness emerges to file. A third, final law allows those who have retired to change their pension status to that of accidental disability should a 9/11-related illness emerge after they have stopped working.  ... Among his other afflictions stemming from his work at Ground Zero, Feal suffers from acid reflux, a scarred lung and asthma. When he speaks, he gasps for air as though he has just finished a sprint. “Excuse me, I get out of breath sometimes,” he says. Feal claims he is also very compulsive now. .... Scott Aline, a crane operator who worked at Ground Zero, of Pataki’s new legislation. “There was a window. The window was closed to us.” He understands, however, that there is a caveat to the good news. “Who knows how many years it’s going to be once we get the money?” he asks. “My lungs are already aged,” he adds. According to a recent medical screening, his 45-year-old’s lungs are equivalent to those of a 59-year-old’s. ... His clients are scattered across the country, among them are those scores of independent volunteers who came to New York City to assist in rescue efforts. And, he says, more sick responders call his office every day. “I’ve had about 100 phone calls in the last 36 hours,” he says. Of all his clients in the two-and-a-half-year-old case, Worby says 60 have died. “They have died from causes that were 9/11 related,” he says. Among the illnesses are leukemia and other cancers. .. (New York Press Volume 19, Issue 34, by Sushi Cheema, August 23, 2006)
• 9/11 benefits law piles it on city ... f we're going to reward the responders for their exceptional sacrifices during a time of national emergency by giving them exceptional benefits, then it shouldn't be just the taxpayers of New York City who pay the bill. The feds certainly need to come up with some money. And if the governor is going to hold news conferences and claim to be such a friend of the Ground Zero responders, he should be putting up more state bucks than he's doing right now. ... Bloomberg estimates that, combined with the medical presumption bill, the new laws will cost about $650 million over the next 10 years. The state is paying only half the cost of the death benefits, or about 1 percent of the total amount, according to the mayor's office. The rest will come from the city's pension funds, which must also pay the pensions of all other city employees who retire, become disabled or die on the job. With questions now being raised about the soundmess of the city's retirement funds, the question is how big a strain an additional $600 million draw would put on them. The laws are now a done deal. But, if we're going to engage in this kind of generosity, the state and the feds need to share the cost. Pataki signed the mandate without offering much in the way of funding it. The World Trade Center attacks were an attack on the nation. The city has received some money from the feds, but the mounting health problems of the responders is a relatively new development whose cost over time could be enormous. It's unfair for the city to bear those costs alone. The feds should step up. And if Pataki is going to sign the laws and take the credit, he should put some money where his mouth is. (NYNewsday, by Sheryl McCarthy, August 21, 2006)
  
• Where’s the Money? .... From everything we know — and with no public process, what we know these days is pretty much restricted to what the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. decides to share with the press –L.M.D.C. had long ago capped what it would spend to bring down the Deutsche Bank. In its February 27, 2004 press release announcing the building purchase and setting out the terms of its agreement with the Deutsche Bank and its insurers, L.M.D.C. states: “The agreement caps the cost of cleaning and demolition to $45 million and the insurers would pay any costs above the agency’s cap.” These same assurances were reiterated a year later by then president (and now chairperson) Kevin Rampe in response to questioning from Councilmember Alan Gerson at a February ‘05 City Council hearing on the demolition of 9/11contaminated buildings. Please add those of us who’ve been working to make the 130 Liberty St demolition safe to the chorus of community voices asking for the whereabouts of the $45 million earmarked as community enhancement funds. (Downtown Express Letter to the Editor, Kimberly Flynn, August 18-24, 2006)
  
• Op-Ed: Poisoned Heroes ... ONE New York City firefighter recently told me about the health problems he has suffered since working at the World Trade Center site nearly five years ago: skin rashes, an inflamed colon, coughing and trouble breathing. He showed me a six-page list of the antibiotics and steroids doctors had prescribed over the years. These drugs helped mask his symptoms. But the problems never went away — until he began a new treatment to rid his body of the toxic substances he had inhaled and absorbed at Ground Zero. ... Still needed, however, even more urgently, is an effort to address the health problems these workers face. Many of the thousands of sufferers, like the firefighter who spoke to me, are getting treatments that offer only temporary relief. We need to figure out the best ways of curing what really ails the Sept. 11 responders. Too often, discussions about the health of these workers have met with official denials that their problems can be directly linked to Ground Zero. The denial began only a week after the tragedy, when Christine Todd Whitman, then head of the Environmental Protection Agency, declared that tests showed the air was safe to breathe. Later scientific studies showed that the air was in fact heavily polluted. And while it is true that the workers’ health problems have not been definitively linked to the environment, a wealth of evidence suggests that the air the workers breathed took its toll. A study of more than 12,000 firemen and emergency medical workers at the site, recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that on average they had a reduction in lung function equivalent to what would be caused by 12 years of aging. Doctors and other health practitioners at the Olive Leaf Wholeness Center, in downtown New York (where I work as a volunteer), have detected heavy-metal poisoning in many of the Ground Zero workers they have seen. They have given these workers detoxification treatments — including chelation for many patients. Chelation, a treatment often used on children exposed to lead paint, involves giving the patient a sulfur compound that draws heavy metals from the tissues. These practitioners have found that after three to four months of detoxification therapy, the afflicted Ground Zero workers see most of their symptoms diminish or disappear. Chelation is not the only detoxification method. No doubt, other doctors may have found treatments that work better on certain patients. The federal government has provided New York City with $1 billion to cover the cost of liability claims brought by Ground Zero workers. Some of these funds have paid the legal costs of fighting disability and other claims filed by city workers. But no money has yet been appropriated for treatment of heavy metal toxicity. There seems to be an assumption that the workers would prefer a large financial settlement to regaining their health. Political leaders should bring together medical experts who could determine the most effective protocols for ridding the body of heavy metals and make them known to Ground Zero workers and their doctors. ... (NYTimes, by Stan Altman, August 17, 2006)
• Ground Zero ma: Mike heartless ... Zadroga was specifically angered by the mayor's pledge to donate $125 million of his personal fortune for a campaign to stop smoking worldwide, saying the billionaire should use that money instead to aid the 9/11 workers who helped the city. .... (NYDaily News, by Michael Saul, August 17, 2006)
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Other Psychological Sequelae Among World Trade Center Clean Up and Recovery Workers ... (NYCOSH, By Raz Gross, Yuval Neria, Xuguang (Grant) Tao, Jennifer Massa, Leslie Ashwell, Kathleen Davis and Alison GeyhAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences July 2006)
  
• Wounded on 9/11: True Stories of Bad Air in NYC & Posted Response: The air of 9/11: It was worse for New Yorkers than reported ... One can take this one way or another, but I was a smoker for seven years prior to 9/11. In my 20's, I had not been to a hospital for 15 or so years. After 9/11, and after we were all allowed to return to work in lower manhattan, the smoke lingered for many months. My office was located at Franklin and Church Streets. Far enough that only a fine layer of dust was on the street, but definitely close enough to smell the acrid fumes from Ground Zero all day long. At the time, I was 'burning the midnight oil' to get a project done, 14 or so hours a day. Within a month, the symptomns started. First, I had shortness of breath walking up the four flights to my apartment in Chelsea. Then, even finishing a day of work only looking at a dull computer monitor robbed me of energy. The last straw came when I had to stop, THREE TIMES, on my way up the stairs, just to enter my apartment. That night, I remember having a distinct thought, "If I don't go to the hospital, it is so difficult to breathe, that I'll likely simply stop, and never know." My roommate was kind enough to help me down to St. Vincent's. Although there were dozens of people with injuries that seemed worse than mine (including a poor fellow bleeding on the floor), the doctor who went out for a smoke heard my breathing. He stopped immediately. "Do you have asthma?" I replied no, never in all my life. He immediately cut short his break and had me admitted promptly. I cannot remember the exact number, but after the breathing test, he told me that my breathing capacity was only 1/6th normal for a healthy 26 year old male (even a smoker).After months of treatment, I was on the mend. The effects linger. To this day, my breathing has not fully recovered. .. (Scripps Howard News Service, 16 August 2006)
  
• Bloomy $ick of 9/11 Bills ... Sick Ground Zero workers shouldn't be treated better than responders who become ill as a result of other disasters, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. ... (NYPost, By Carl Campanile, August 16, 2006)
• Gov gets WTC ball rolling.... Watching Gov. Pataki at Ground Zero yesterday, there was a sense that someone in government was starting to address the needs of the forgotten victims of 9/11 - however incompletely, however late. The governor's program holds the promise of helping thousands of World Trade Center responders by providing them medical coverage through the workers' compensation system and by boosting the availability of line-of-duty disability pensions and death benefits. .... (NYDaily News, August 15, 2006)
  
• Benefit Boost For Ground Zero Workers ... Gov. George Pataki signed legislation Monday to greatly expand benefits for workers who have died or become sick from toiling in the smoke and dust that hung over the ruins of the World Trade Center. ... Rescue workers claim they are suffering from a variety of respiratory ailments and fear they could develop cancer down the line from asbestos and other toxic substances. .... The governor's office had no immediate estimates for how many people the three new laws would cover or how much money the benefits would involve, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg complained that the legislation would cost the city $500 million over 10 years. "It's just another example of the state of New York doing something that they want to do, but making the city pay," Bloomberg said. "There's no free lunch, and Albany doesn't seem to understand that." The mayor said he did not object to the bill's purpose, "but I want them to fund it if that's what they want to do." ... (CBS, Aug. 14, 2006)
  
• 9/11 NUN'S DYING PLEA: AUTOPSY MY BODY TO AID WTC AILING ... A nun who spent six months blessing human remains in the rubble at Ground Zero says she is dying of lung disease and wants her body autopsied to prove that she and her fellow 9/11 workers were sickened by the poisonous air at the site. ... According to Worby, she now suffers from asthma, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease - all severe illnesses that have plagued WTC workers. ... A friend accompanied Mahoney on a train trip to Manhattan about six months ago to register with the WTC Medical Monitoring Program at Mount Sinai Hospital. She collapsed while getting a lung test and was sent to the emergency room, Worby said. ... Sister Cindy Mahoney, 54, summoned David Worby, the lawyer representing thousands of sick Ground Zero workers, to her Aiken, S.C., hospice last week and requested that he act as her guardian and fulfill her dying wish by overseeing her autopsy after she's gone. "I can still do God's work," Mahoney said Thursday in Aiken, her hometown, where she lay connected to oxygen tubes. .... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman & Julie Stapen, August 13, 2006)
• Repaying a debt: Gov will OK WTC med aid ... To the heroes of 9/11: Help is on the way. Gov. Pataki is expected to sign today a sweeping set of laws aimed at addressing the burgeoning health problems of the 40,000 rescuers and other workers who courageously flocked to Ground Zero in the wake of 9/11, the Daily News has learned. ... These barriers include a state workers' compensation system that is all but broken, a lethargic - some say hostile - insurance industry and a government that often seems to have forgotten one of the darkest days in the nation's history. ... (NYDaily News, by David Saltonstall, August 13, 2006)
  
• It's time to care for first responders ... In February, Dr. John Howard, Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, was tapped to coordinate the federal response. March saw the approval of $75 million from Washington, which should be available soon. That's a start, but it's not enough to assess the physical toll over 20 or 30 years and ensure treatment. ... (NYNewsday, August 13, 2006)
• Mike wants proof 9/11 made 'em ill: Doesn't support benefits bill ... (NYDaily News, By Joe Mahoney, Ernie Naspretto and Frank Lombardi, August 12, 2006)
• Please help me go on living: WTC volunteer needs swift action to survive ...His name is Vito Valenti. On Sept. 11 he was caught in the maelstrom and stayed at Ground Zero as a volunteer to help in the frantic rescue and recovery operation. And today he is dying. .... His lungs are being destroyed by pulmonary fibrosis. His only hope is a double lung transplant, but he cannot afford even the oxygen he needs to make it day by suffocating day. Only through the good graces of a generous medical supply company is he being sustained with the fundamental requirement of life: breath. "After hearing that he was a 9/11 volunteer, we decided to donate the oxygen," said Ed Brown, sales representative for Homecare Concepts in Farmingdale, L.I. Someone in power must help Vito Valenti, for he will die without it. .... Valenti's office was at 125 Barclay St., directly behind the World Trade Center, making him witness to the full horrors of 9/11 and positioning him to serve as a volunteer. Over the next two days, in the thick of a toxic cloud, he distributed water and supplies and remembers escorting a dazed and bleeding firefighter to a triage nurse. He slept on West St. with a roll of paper towels as his pillow. ... By February 2002, Valenti was also coughing. Over the coming months, his respiratory distress worsened, leading eventually to a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis in March 2004. Fibrosis is a scarring of the lungs that prevents the body from oxygenating the blood. It is a form of interstitial lung disease, the illness that took the lives of Firefighter Stephen Johnson, Police Officer James Godbee, Detective James Zadroga and telephone worker Mark DeBiase.(9/11: The forgotten victims -- Part 6: Desperate case, NYDailyNews: Editorials, August 10, 2006)
  
• Hil rips pols who appear only in easy 'photo ops' ... Sen. Hillary Clinton railed yesterday against politicians who "do photo ops" with ailing 9/11 first responders but haven't lifted a finger to help them. "I've spent nearly five years now trying to help first responders and construction workers and others who were down at Ground Zero," she said. "It's a little tough to take that politicians will come and do photo ops with a firefighter or a construction worker." Clinton (D-N.Y.) said these same politicians haven't made good on their promises to help - even after she has pointed out to them that the "man that you just photo-op'ed with" is seriously ill from toiling in The Pit. "I don't get the help that I think people need," she said. "It really leaves a bad taste in your mouth." ... (NYDaily News, by Elizabeth Hays, Ernie Haspertto and Corky Siemaszko, August 10, 2006)
  
• Court Ruling Could Extend Rights of WTC Workers To File Claims ... A New York state judge has issued a ruling that could extend the rights of some WTC rescue workers who've filed late legal claims against the city. More than 200 of the first responders who claim to have gotten sick while working at the Trade Center site filed their claim past the city's 90-day deadline. As a result, a court is set to decide whether to consider the late claims, based in part on affidavits or medical records provided by the claimants. But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman ruled this week that these supporting materials won't be required for the court to consider a late claim. The ruling is expected to affect only a handful of the 200 late claims currently under consideration. A lawyer for the city says an appeal is being considered. ... (NY1, August 9, 2006)
  
• MIKE'S 9/11 $$ SHOCK ... A bill granting generous death benefits to families of retired cops and firefighters who die after working at Ground Zero should be vetoed by Gov. Pataki as too expensive, Mayor Bloomberg says in an explosive letter opposing the measure. The legislation was spurred by retired Detective James Zadroga's January death from lung disease. A coroner blamed toxic fumes he breathed while toiling for 470 hours at the trade-center site. At present, death benefits are granted only to the family of an officer who dies in the line of duty. Families of retired responders who died after working at Ground Zero are now entitled to the less generous "accidental disability pensions." "The city is constrained to oppose this legislation due to its unbudgeted costs in the form of increased employer pension contributions, its many unmanageable precedents and the countless technical deficiencies and ambiguities," Bloomberg legislative representative Michelle Goldstein wrote in a letter to Pataki. Goldstein said it is "unprecedented" for a public pension system to pay a death benefit to the survivor of a retired responder who dies from a work-related illness. In short, Goldstein said the bill would treat World Trade Center responders more favorably than other workers who retire and subsequently die of a job-related illness. "It is questionable whether these benefits should be extended to any limited group of heroic employees where such benefits are not available to other public employees who render equally heroic service," Goldstein said. The Bloomberg aide said the bill would cost the city from $5 million to $10 million a year. Goldstein also complained of a "seemingly endless window of eligibility" - suggesting that a responder diagnosed with cancer in 2038 and dies in 2040 could receive the death benefit "regardless of whether the person's WTC-related work caused the cancer." Also, Goldstein contends that Zadroga's surviving daughter would not be eligible for the death benefit because of the way the bill is worded. The city Law Department later issued a statement suggesting the federal government pay the additional cost. (NYPost, By Carl Campanile, August 9, 2006)
  
• Judge's ruling lets 9/11 claims go forward ... Scores of Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers who believed they were exposed to toxic substances after Sept. 11 will be able to file late notices of legal claims against the city, a state court judge has ruled. ... (NYNewsday, by Anthony M. Destefan. August 9, 2006)
  
• Heroes welcome to sue: Dealine KOd for Ground Zero ailments ... Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Michael Stallman waived the 90-day notice of claim requirement, ruling the workers may not have realized until it was too late that their problems may have been linked to their time at Ground Zero. He cited case law that said such deadlines "should not operate as a device to defeat the rights of persons with legitimate claims." ... (NYDaily News, by Jose Matinez, August 9, 2006)
  
• Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" Opens Today ... As Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center" movie opens nationwide Wednesday, workers who spent time at the site are reaching out to the public for help getting assistance for illnesses they say they contracted in the days and weeks after 9/11.Workers will be handing out flyers this evening, raising awareness of the diseases they now face, and asking moviegoers to contact the mayor on their behalf. ... (NY1, August 9, 2006)
  
• Pols join News in drive for WTC lung tests ... New York's leading politicians joined the Daily News yesterday in demanding that public health officials screen 40,000 Ground Zero workers for deadly lung diseases. The call for action came after The News revealed in a hard-hitting editorial that a $150 test done in the harrowing months after 9/11 might have detected the lung damage that afflicted many first responders - and called for full-scale health monitoring and treatment programs. ... (NYDaily News, by Lisa L. Colangelo and Corky siemaskzo, August 8, 2006)
• Money From $1 Billion WTC Insurance Fund Used To Fight Lawsuits ... A fund intended to pay insurance claims for 9/11 first responders is instead reportedly being used to fight lawsuits against the city. According to the New York Post, more than $40 million of the $1 billion dollar fund has been spent on legal fees and overhead, while none has gone to first responders with health problems. The city also reportedly used the money to file a motion to dismiss all World Trade Center-related lawsuits, claiming it has immunity. But the city's corporation counsel tells the paper that the city has paid disability to some responders and has paid for health care to World Trade Center workers. He says Congress intended the fund to pay trade center workers' insurance claims if the city was found to have acted improperly in its response. (August 6, 2006)
  
• Save lives with $150 lung exam: WTC worker’s chilling death shows need for screening ... What happened to Mark DeBiase - the sudden emergence of a rapidly fatal lung disease - is the nightmare that shadows the forgotten victims of 9/11. And the story of how this 41-year-old husband and father of three descended to death in less than four months this year is a case study in why public health authorities must establish comprehensive medical screening and treatment programs for Ground Zero responders, complete with advisories about perils that may be coming. ... Chief among them: seeing to it that everyone who labored amid the pulverized remains of the Twin Towers has their lungs checked - and finding the money to test people who aren't covered by health insurance. The procedure is simple - little more than breathing in and out of a hand-held tube - and at $150, relatively inexpensive. It measures how well lungs are functioning and, repeated over time, will signal whether they're deteriorating. As Dr. Neil Schluger, chief of the division of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, put it, "Every person who was down there should have a baseline lung function study, and be followed closely over the coming years for signs of pulmonary symptoms. They should see a doctor and get a lung function test." ...By all outward appearances, he was robust and fit, ... Actually, DeBiase was on the verge of death. Inch by inch, his lungs were turning into scar tissue, slowly losing the ability to infuse his blood with oxygen and to cleanse it of carbon dioxide. As 2005 turned to 2006, he began to experience shortness of breath. He went to the doctor Jan. 10 for what became the start of a losing 89-day battle for air. He died April 9 while hoping for a lung transplant. The cause of death was interstitial lung disease, or ILD, an insidious condition that typically shows up in workers who are exposed to concentrations of inhaled substances - coal miners, for example. ... That DeBiase's death in the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center went unnoticed until now testifies to how poorly the public health system has tracked the aftereffects of 9/11. It comes to light only because his father contacted the Daily News after reading this series of editorials. ... More than 12,000 WTC responders are already sick, but not with ILD. The vast majority damaged their air passages by inhaling toxins, leaving them with inflamed sinuses, bronchitis and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, or RADS, an irritant-induced asthma. These conditions do not transform into interstitial lung disease. ILD, which has a variety of forms, attacks not the airways but the very tissues of the lungs. Typically, the body senses the presence of foreign particles and tries to combat them as it would fight a germ. The immune system surrounds the particles with cells that build up into nodule-like bodies known as granulomas. Granulomas lead to fibrosis, an irreversible scarring that prevents the lungs from extracting oxygen from the air. Some ILDs are very treatable. Others are uniformly fatal. ... (NYDaily News, August 6, 2006)
  
• Toxins on roof halt razing of bank ... State officials temporarily halted demolition of the former Deutsche Bank tower at Ground Zero this week after high levels of toxic dust were detected on the roof, they revealed yesterday. The suspension of work was the second time the demolition had been stopped at the 130 Liberty St. tower, which was ripped open and clogged with toxins when the twin towers collapsed on 9/11. Lower Manhattan Development Corp. officials said they had suspended work Thursday after lab results from an air monitoring station on the tower's roof revealed the release of unacceptable levels of silica July 28. The Environmental Protection Agency said the high levels of silica showed up in a test on the northeastern corner of the roof while workers were removing roofing material. The state restarted the work yesterday when officials decided that wetting the roof could contain the dust. Nearby tenants and homeowners have been concerned for years about the potential release of toxic dust during the tower's demolition. Several residents were furious yesterday that the work shutdown came a week after the silica was discovered. ... (NYDaily News, by Greg B. Smith, August 5, 2006)
• Toxic Dust Temporarily Halts Work At Former Deutsche Bank Building ... Testing found unacceptable levels of silica, which can cause lung diseases. ... (NY1, August 5, 2006)
  
• Forum would see if kids are alright 5 years later ... Bob Townley, executive director of Manhattan Youth and a Community Board 1 member, is considering planning a community forum to commemorate the five-year anniversary of September 11, 2001. If the forum is held, it will evaluate the condition of Downtown children and the mental health services available following 9/11, Townley said. ... Bringing dozens of mental health professionals into schools to aid children after 9/11 may have created more problems than it solved, Townley added. ...Earlier in the meeting, Townley said the event would not be about mental health. ... (Downtown Express, August 4-10, 2006)
  
• Shifting dollars, debatable legacy as L.M.D.C. approaches its final days: Deutsche Bank building ... I started coughing up black mucus, and there was black stuff coming out my ears and when I blew my nose. In October 2001, I started coughing up blood clots and went to the FDNY Bureau of Health Services. They gave me an inhaler and said they would monitor it. I was also seeing my own doctor, who diagnosed reactive airways distress syndrome. I would get a sinus infection every six to eight weeks. I also got urinary tract infections. I also had post-traumatic stress syndrome. In 2003, I was diagnosed with acid reflux. I had a lump in my throat and couldn't swallow. I used prednisone for my lungs. A few years before 9/11, I had contracted hepatitis C on the job. The FDNY did physicals in December 2001, and my liver values were normal. But they started increasing. In 2004, I had a liver biopsy, and the hepatitis was at stage 2. I was taking interferon and ribovirin, but the interferon seemed to make my lung condition worse. Every time I went to the pulmonologist, my vital function was decreasing. Now I'm down to 58% lung capacity. Because of the hepatitis C, nothing was working for me. The prednisone was increasing my hepatitis C viral load so I can't treat my lungs, which have scarring. (Denise Bellingham, 57, Medford, LI) ... The L.M.D.C., which has been cleaning it, hopes to begin to dismantle it this fall, but it has not come up with a deconstruction plan that has passed Environmental Protection Agency muster. The official budget for the Deutsche purchase, deconstruction and community outreach has grown to $207 million, and if that turns out to be the actual cost it will not require any shift in funds. Pryor said he has not seen any estimate that the project will cost more. Councilmember Gerson said he could support spending some community enhancement money on environmental protections to make the takedown of the contaminated building safer, but added that if money was already shifted, it should have gone through a public review process. “They shouldn’t be sapping money for one purpose and applying it to another purpose,” he said. “This was not ground zero redevelopment money. This was specifically money for community enhancement.” Menin said L.M.D.C. officials have shown up regularly to C.B. 1 meetings to talk about the demolition, but they have not answered questions about how they are going to satisfy the E.P.A. concerns. She also pointed to the two damaged buildings still standing on opposite sides of the W.T.C., Deutsche and the Borough of Manhattan Community College’s Fiterman Hall. “To see these buildings shrouded four and a half years later is at best troubling,” she said. The L.M.D.C. has contributed $15 million to the Fiterman demolition, but it is not managing the project. The Construction Command Center, which oversees all large construction projects Downtown and is funded by the L.M.D.C., will take over responsibilities for the Deutsche demolition when the corporation closes. “We’ve been at the table,” said Jennifer Nelson, the center’s spokesperson. “There is not going to be a learning curve.” Corporation staff members who are working on the Deutsche project are likely candidates to join the Construction Center. ... (Downtown Express, by Josh Rogers, August 4-10, 2006)
  
• A Samaritan's Unjust Desserts ... The Environmental Protection Agency denies New York Daily News’ claim that the White House covered up documents recognizing the air around Ground Zero as harmful. On Friday, the paper ran an article reporting that, in 2002, George W. Bush signed an executive order granting the EPA permission to hide potentially damaging information by classifying it as “secret.” The official reason for the order was to protect national security by keeping such information confidential. But thousands of Ground Zero workers who have fallen ill don’t buy this explanation..... (New York Press, by Kari Milchman, August 2, 2006)
  
• Editorials: The World Trade Center Collapse: A Continuing Tragedy for Lung Health? ... While the tragedy of the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse still sears the consciousness of those who value human life, some important lessons in occupational and environmental respiratory disease have been learned as a result of this disaster. Perhaps the most striking of these lessons is the value of medical surveillance for workers in jobs with high risk for inhalational exposure to toxicants. Because the New York City Fire Department (NYFD) had preexposure pulmonary function test results on virtually all of the firefighters involved in the emergency response to the attack on the WTC, as well as the infrastructure in place to continue to follow them longitudinally, Prezant and colleagues (1) and Banauch and colleagues (2, 3) have been able to describe the sequelae of exposure to WTC "dust" in a remarkable series of papers. The first paper reported that the relatively high-level exposure to WTC "dust" experienced by NYFD emergency responders in the initial weeks after September 11 was associated in a cross-sectional analysis with persistent bronchitis and substantial decrements in ventilatory function (1). A subsequent paper documented that a number of the NYFD responders whose symptoms failed to resolve with time away from WTC dust exposure had airway hyperresponsiveness, consistent with irritant-induced asthma (also known as "reactive airways dysfunction syndrome") (2). In an article published in this issue of the Journal (pp. 312–319), these investigators now present strong evidence from a longitudinal analysis that exposure to WTC dust caused a decrease in ventilatory function in the first year of post–September 11 surveillance equal to that of 12 years of age-related decline (3). The ongoing follow-up of the NYFD cohort has thus provided strong evidence for several concepts that previously were more speculative. A single, massive exposure to an irritant is not the only route to irritant-induced asthma since multiple, submassive exposures to WTC dust appear to have caused the syndrome in WTC responders (2). Such exposures now also appear to have caused accelerated decline of lung function, which suggests that this cohort is also at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (3). .... Despite the power of the data generated from the medical surveillance of the NYFD responders, some limitations must be acknowledged. The responders present at the time of the collapse of the towers and while fires were still burning were exposed to smoke as well as WTC dust (6), making it difficult to disentangle the independent effect of the dust. ... If most of the respiratory tract injury that has been carefully documented in the NYFD cohort was due to exposure to the WTC dust in the days and weeks following the collapse of the towers, then an additional element to the tragedy of September 11 is that this occupational morbidity could have been prevented with early and well-trained use of simple respiratory protective equipment (e.g., N95 masks) ... (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care MedicineVol 174 2006)
  
• 'Not Getting Better': A New Study Finds Serious Lung Problems among Thousands of 9/11 Responders ... It’s no surprise that many of the responders and volunteers who spent days—sometimes months—at the World Trade Center after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001, have reported physical and psychological after-effects. Ailments ranging from insomnia to post-traumatic stress disorder to various respiratory problems have been diagnosed in both responders and in residents who lived or worked in the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero. Still, with so many people exposed to the resulting toxins and at different levels, it's been difficult to demonstrate a causal link between time spent at the site and specific health problems suffered afterwards. A new study published in the August issue of the American Thoracic Society's journal, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, aims to do just that. Researchers compared lung-function data compiled by the New York City Fire Department for 12,079 of its firefighters and emergency personnel for the four years before the attacks and one year after. All of those included in the study were directly exposed to the toxic cloud that enveloped Ground Zero after the twin towers collapsed—arriving either before the collapse or in the days immediately following. The result? Researchers found that in the year after the attacks, the firefighters who'd spent time at Ground Zero suffered a decrease in lung function capability equal to 12 years of age-related decline. ... What other health problems have you seen emerge over the long term in the small group you've been following? It's more anecdotal. I don't have specific numbers, but I have seen more than lower airway problems like asthma and reactive airways syndrome. I've seen upper airway problems like sinus problems, obstructive sleep apnea and reflux problems like acid indigestion and heartburn. It makes sense because people inhaled an abundance of dust and swallowed parts of what they inhaled. We've seen inflammation in the stomach and esophagus. ... (Newsweek, by Jennifer Barrett, August 1, 2006)
• WTC Rescuers Suffered 12 Years' Worth of Lung Loss ... Doctors gauged lung capacity by measuring how much patients could breathe out in one second, she says. This measure, called forced expiratory volume, or FEV, tends to decline with age. Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, workers' scores dropped by about 31 milliliters of lung volume a year, according to the study. In the year after the attacks, however, rescuers lost an average of 372 milliliters — a decline doctors would expect to see after 12 years of aging, says Banauch, an attending physician at New York's Montefiore Medical Center. The authors say they don't know whether lung function will continue to deteriorate or whether rescuers' lungs will heal some of the damage. Banauch says doctors will continue to analyze test results from firefighters to see whether their lung function changes over time. If the trend isn't reversed, Banauch says, workers could be at increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The disease is caused by a narrowing of the lung's airways that can make it more difficult to breathe. Workers who were present during the Twin Towers' collapse lost the most lung capacity, the study shows. Workers who showed up later had less lung damage. Firefighters at the site also lost more lung function than emergency medical service workers, according to the study. Balmes, who wrote an editorial accompanying Banauch's study, says the loss of lung function probably doesn't affect workers' normal activities. But they may become more winded after exercise, which is a problem for people who have jobs as physically strenuous as fighting fires, he says. ... (USA TODAY, By Liz Szabo, August 1, 2006)
• 9/11 Rescuers Have Reduced Lung Functions ... Following the disaster, many, but not all of them, developed such symptoms as cough, wheezing and shortness of breath. "So far, the two most common respiratory diagnoses have been reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) and irritant-induced asthma," Banuach said. "For a significant number of workers, unfortunately, this has affected their ability to work." Banauch said it was impossible to predict whether the dust-exposed workers will continue to experience an accelerated decline in lung function: "No one knows, because nothing like 9/11 has happened before," she said. But she added that the massive exposure to irritating alkaline dust could possibly increase some workers' future risk of developing emphysema and lung cancer. ... In response to the study, Lorna Thorpe, deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Epidemiology at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, said, "There is evidence that some individuals who were exposed are experiencing serious respiratory problems, although data are not available on how many people are currently affected." She added, "The scientific study being published by FDNY identifies substantial lung function decline in the year after 9/11 among firefighters, but their exposure was fairly unique, making it difficult to estimate the risk to residents. DOHMH will continue to monitor for long-term health issues that may be associated with WTC exposure." In April, the department had found that 57 percent of the survivors it surveyed had reported new or worsening respiratory symptoms. About 62 percent of the survivors had been enveloped in the dust, smoke and debris spewed into the air as the towers collapsed, according to the department's report, which was published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on April 8. ... (August 1, 2006)
• Chuck Lashes 9/11 Fund ... Show some compassion to ailing Ground Zero heroes - and stop acting like a "stingy, bottom-line-obsessed corporation." That was the message from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to the WTC Captive Insurance Co. yesterday after the Daily News reported that the city entity was fighting first responders - instead of compensating them for their illnesses. Schumer's angry broadside came as Sen. Hillary Clinton and two New York legislators - spurred on by another report by The News - asked the feds to expand their ongoing probe of the Environmental Protection Agency's response to 9/11. .... (Daily News, By Corky Siemaszko, August 1, 2006)

JULY

• Clinton, Nadler, Maloney Call for GAO Investigation Into EPA's Classifying of Data ... Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney today asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to expand its ongoing investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) response to the September 11th attacks to include an examination of classified documents.  A report in the New York Daily News on Friday revealed that President Bush signed an Executive Order in May 2002 authorizing the EPA Administrator to classify information as “secret,” which could include documents relating to World Trade Center environmental contamination. Earlier this year, at the request of Clinton and Nadler, the GAO agreed to investigate EPA’s failure to establish an effective, science-based testing and clean-up plan in response to the post-9/11 environmental disaster.  Clinton, Nadler, and Maloney expressed concern that the GAO investigation might be hampered if important information about the Agency’s response to WTC contamination is kept secret.  These concerns were also heightened by a 2003 EPA Inspector General report, which found that the White House instructed the EPA to issue false assurances about the air quality, and to delete cautionary statements from public statements. ... In a letter sent today to the GAO, the Members wrote: “The EPA continues to refuse to fulfill its responsibility to conduct a comprehensive testing and cleanup program.  The people who live, work and go to school in the area impacted by Ground Zero debris deserve to know the full extent of contamination that may exist in their neighborhoods.” Specifically, the letter requests that the GAO expand its investigation to determine:
  ·  Whether any information was, in fact, classified as secret by the EPA pursuant to this Executive Order;
  ·  If any of the information classified as secret pertains to the nature and/or extent of the environmental impact of the WTC collapse; and
  ·Whether all of the information classified as secret received this classification for legitimate national security reasons. ...(News Release, July 31, 2006)
• Insurance Superintendent Concerned About WTC Insurance Funds ... The state wants to know what's going on with a billion dollars intended for claims by workers who helped in the rescue and recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. According to the New York Post, the state's insurance superintendent sent a letter to the city controlled-WTC Captive Insurance Company asking why no claims have been paid, while millions of dollars have been spent for professional services. In the letter, Howard Mills says he's concerned the federal aid is not being used for its intended purpose. Congressman Jerrold Nadler is reportedly asking the Department of Homeland Security to investigate. Nadler tells the paper that money from the fund is being used to dispute claims rather than pay them. A spokesman for the insurance company tells the Post the company has faithfully followed its mandate to insure the city and its contractors. .... (NY1, July 30, 2006)
  
• I never complained, or sued, nor will I, but in case I die... Each time I go to Mount Sinai Medical Center, I lose more of my lung. The first time, it was 21% gone. The next, 33%. Now they say I've lost 44%. I can't even walk up a flight of stairs (Daniel Arrigo, 51, SI).... I've got acid reflux. I've got asthma and upper-respiratory infections. (Robert Curcio, 34, SI) .... Two years later, in March 2004, I had my first real asthma attack. That same month, I was forced into the process of retirement. Christie Whitman's EPA people lied: They said the air was safe.... Because I did my duty on 9/11 and in the recovery operations, I'm now totally and permanently disabled. (william gleeson, 45, Hicksville, LI) ...I retired in 2004 at the age of 42, believing myself healthy. Within nine months, I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is caused by asbestos, smoldering steel and benzene, all present at Ground Zero. Since then, most of my time has been spent at Sloan-Kettering, getting stem-cell transplants and chemotherapy. And now, after 20 years of service, I'm left with a half-pay pension and little more than an incurable, life-threatening disease and partial paralysis in both hands. Yet not a single city, state or federal agency will acknowledge the air at Ground Zero might be a problem. .(Patrick DeSario, 44, New City, NY)... Ever since, I've had chronic sinus infections, and many other volunteers have worse. We weren't paid workers, so we can't retire or go on disability, and there's no way to pay our medical bills. We gladly did what we did - but we are now forgotten. (Kathy Davy, 45, Manhattan) (NYDaily News, July 29, 2006)
  
• EPA Denies White House Classified post-9/11 Air Quality Documents ... The Daily News reported Friday that George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2002 giving the EPA permission to hide potentially damaging information by classifying it as "secret." ... a spokesperson for the EPA says the 2002 order had absolutely nothing to do with air quality. She says information about the air at the WTC site had already been made publicly available for months. ... (NY1, July 28, 2006)
  
• THE LMDC'S GIFT TO N.Y. ... Now that the Freedom Tower has been fully built and rises magnificently out of what was once an ugly, empty, forlorn pit, it's fitting that the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is set to close up shop. Thank goodness the LMDC officials were able to get the World Trade Center's insurers to avert further legal action and cough up all the money needed to fund the tower. What a miracle that the agency got all the sparring parties to agree on an acceptable, affordable plan for a cost-saving memorial and museum at the site. And how do you like the speed with which the LMDC took down and rebuilt the Deutsche Bank and Fiterman Hall? After just five years, all that work is already done. Er, wait a minute - our bad: In fact, none of that work is done. There is no Freedom Tower. Won't be one for years. (If ever.) Insurance companies are still holding out on a big chunk of the proceeds needed to build it. Families of 9/11 victims continue to fight the plans for the memorial. The scarred hulks of Deutche Bank and Fiterman Hall still stand. Terms for a revised lease between the Port Authority (which owns the land) and developer Larry Silverstein have yet to be finalized, once and for all. And the hole in the heart of Lower Manhattan continues to collect rainwater. Nonetheless, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. - set up to ensure quick and appropriate rebuilding at Ground Zero - is wiping its hands, lighting cigars and tacking up the "Gone Fishing" sign. Question is: Will anybody notice? Ah, but the answer to that may well be yes - because things may actually start moving, now that the LMDC is stepping out of the way. And now that Gov. Pataki - who never showed an ounce of interest in doing the hard work needed to get the project done - is cleaning out his desk. Let's face it: For the most part, the LMDC really has been an impediment to Ground Zero's renewal - though the blame devolves to Pataki, primarily, and to Mayor Bloomberg secondarily. .... (NYPost, July 28, 2006)
  
• In the Wake of Continuing Evidence of the Negative Health Effects of 9/11 on Volunteers, Workers and First Responders, Senator Clinton Calls on Senate and FEMA to Address their Medical and Mental Health Needs ... Senator Calls on FEMA to establish a coordinated long term recovery program for future disasters ... (News Release, July 28, 2006)
  
• 'Secret' 9/11 lies? 2002 exec order let EPA bury info on air hazards ... With New Yorkers already fuming about reports that the feds downplayed the danger of Ground Zero dust, the White House gave EPA chief Christie Whitman the power to bury embarrassing documents by classifying them "secret." "I hereby designate the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to classify information originally as 'Secret,'" states the executive order, which was signed by President Bush on May 6, 2002. Although the stated reason for Bush's directive is to keep "national security information" from falling into enemy hands, advocates for thousands of ailing Ground Zero heroes are convinced there's a more sinister motive. "I think the rationale behind this was to not let people know what they were potentially exposed to," said Joel Kupferman of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. "They're using the secrecy thing to cover up their malfeasance and past deceptions." ... (Daily News, by Corky Siemaszko, July 28, 2006)
• Structural Transition at Ground Zero ... The Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center will continue as coordinator of some $21 billion worth of public and private development in and around the World Trade Center site even though its "parent," the state's Lower Manhattan Development Corp., is disbanding this fall.LMCCC is taking on LMDC's responsibility for the deconstruction of the 130 Liberty Street office building, damaged after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by the collapse of the 110-story Two WTC across the street. According to executive orders of New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg(R) and Gov. George Pataki(R), LMCCC will disband on Dec. 31, 2010. ... (Architectural Record, July 27, 2006)
  
• 9/11 cash for what? ... The city is using a big slice of the $1 billion it got from the feds post-9/11 to fight first responders who claim they got sick on the site, a lawyer who is suing the city charged yesterday. David Worby, who is waging a suit on behalf of 8,000 WTC responders and their survivors, said $20 million has been "spent on city lawyers to deny the claims of cops, firefighters and others who were sickened." ... "Currently there are also over 100 firefighters that FDNY doctors have deemed as too permanently disabled to continue working as firefighters, yet the city won't allow them to retire," added Steve Cassidy, head of the Uniformed Firefighters Association. ... (NYDaily News, by Joe Mahoney , Corky Siemaszko, Lisa L. Colangelo, July 26, 2006)
  
• Safety victory for labor coalition at 90 Church Street ... An aggressive two-year campaign by a coalition of city, state and federal workers at 90 Church St. — directly across from Ground Zero — scored a major health and safety victory when management agreed to add a second set of interior windows throughout the building. The New York City Housing Authority and the United States Postal Service recently notified the 90 Church Street Labor Coalition that both agencies would join the state agencies in doubling windows on all 15 floors of the building. The interior windows are needed to reinforce the building’s old leaky windows to help shield workers from the effects of the massive 9/11-related demolition projects and new construction that have already begun around Ground Zero and will continue for more than a decade. ... (Public Employee Press, July 2006)
  
• Fury of forgotten: Vics in 9/11 health crisis fume Mike 'dropped ball' ... But when The News asked Bloomberg point-blank yesterday how much more evidence the city needs before it does right by heroes whose health was ruined, the mayor simply repeated his earlier vow to "take a look" at the situation. ... In a series of editorials, The News noted that: 600 firefighters have been forced into retirement; 25% of active-duty FDNY and Emergency Medical Service workers developed lung conditions since the disaster, and at least four responders died after giving their all at Ground Zero. ... (NYDaily News, by Lisa L. Colangelo, Michael McAuliff, Corky Siemaszko, July 25, 2006)
• Death Sentence ... The official record carries Johnson as a retired firefighter who passed away after a heart attack and a bout with a lung ailment two years after he left the force. This is because, callously and in disregard of overwhelming evidence, the City of New York has refused to acknowledge even the likelihood that working around the smoldering rubble of the World Trade Center proved fatal to anyone. But that is precisely what killed Johnson, whose death stands as the earliest Ground Zero fatality from disease for which cause and effect has been established. And it is precisely what killed Police Officer James Godbee. And it is precisely what killed Detective James Zadroga. And it is precisely what killed Emergency Medical Service Paramedic Debbie Reeve. ... The vast majority of the sick suffered damage to their respiratory tracts from breathing air thick with particles, including concrete dust, pulverized glass and asbestos. The materials, in effect, burned the air passages, causing inflamed sinuses, bronchitis and reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, or RADS, an irritant-induced asthma. ... Early in 2004, Johnson became short of breath while shoveling snow. Over the next few weeks, his shortness of breath worsened. That March, he went to a hospital, where doctors feared he was suffering a heart attack. That wasn't the case, and that May he was diagnosed with interstitial lung disease, or ILD. Caused by inhaling irritants, ILD is a rare condition found, for example, in miners who work amid coal dust. The presence of particles in the lung provokes the body to try to combat them as it would fight a germ. The immune system surrounds the particles with cells that build up into nodules known as granulomas. Granulomas retard breathing, can cause lesions and lead to irreversible scarring, called fibrosis, on oxygen-extracting tissues.By the time Johnson was diagnosed, 80% of his lungs had been destroyed. He required oxygen 24 hours a day, and joined the waiting list for a lung transplant. But he never got that far. Suffocating, Johnson suffered a fatal heart attack. ... In November 2003, Godbee developed a cough, shortness of breath, joint pains, fever, weight loss and swelling in his salivary and tear glands. Based on a chest X-ray three months later, his doctors suspected sarcoidosis, a form of ILD. Dr. Frank Accera, a pulmonary specialist at Beth Israel Medical Center, performed a biopsy, during which Godbee's lung collapsed. The test confirmed the diagnosis. Sarcoidosis is believed to be caused by contact with irritating foreign substances, but no irritant has ever been identified as its trigger. In addition to the lungs, the illness attacks organs such as the heart, skin and kidneys. Treatable and rarely fatal, sarcoidosis can lead to "progressive multi-organ failure in an unfortunate minority" of cases, according to a 1997 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. High dosages of a steroid got Godbee's symptoms under control, but the drug made him sick to his stomach. Over the next seven months, Godbee's lung distress fluctuated as he tried to wean off the steroid, and, feeling generally better, he stopped seeing Accera in October 2004. Godbee's wife, Michelle, a school guidance counselor, said her husband continued to work. On Dec. 30, 2004, he felt "a little down, a little sick," but he nonetheless took the couple's daughter to a Jim Carrey movie, Michelle Godbee said. At 9:45, he returned to the family's apartment in Manhattan's Stuyvesant Town, gave his daughter "a long hug good night," and minutes later suffered a seizure. ... Early in 2004, Reeve developed a cough and shortness of breath after exertion. Her doctor diagnosed flu and pneumonia and prescribed antibiotics that proved useless. Out of sick time, she asked for clearance to return to work, which required a chest X-ray because of her haz-mat status. The X-ray led to the discovery of mesothelioma, a rare cancer caused by asbestos. From late 2004 until late 2005, Reeve underwent chemotherapy, followed by removal of her right lung and part of her diaphragm. She had radiation and was declared cancer-free. Six weeks later, Reeve starting having pain in her leg and hip, and X-rays showed mottling in her thigh bones — a sign the cancer had returned. In January 2006, doctors removed infected marrow from her legs, but a month later they found cancer in her back, lung and spine. ... (NYDaily News, July 23, 2006)
  
• COP Union Starts Its WTC-WOE Tracker ... More than 25 police officers who believe their illnesses stem from toxic smoke, dust and debris at Ground Zero have already signed on to a new medical registry that their union will unveil tomorrow. The sick cops, and one who died, are aged 32 to 48. They include seven with sarcoidosis, a potentially fatal inflammatory disease, seven with cancer, one who suffered a heart attack, and four with lung disease. Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch said the registry was created to fill an "information void" from the federally funded World Trade Center monitoring and treatment programs, led by Mount Sinai Hospital. "Our members have received precious little information . . . [on] health consequences our members are experiencing," Lynch said. The registry lists data on each unnamed officer: age, sex, symptoms, diagnosis, time spent at Ground Zero, the WTC morgue or Fresh Kills landfill. Soon, cops will be able to communicate with each other to ask questions and share information on the registry Web site, nycpba.org/wtc. More than 120 disabled NYPD cops have joined a class-action lawsuit against the city, said lawyer David Worby. He said WTC doctors "in medical denial" have not asked him for mounting data on more than 300 cancers in 9/11 responders. Mount Sinai said Friday it is finishing an "initial analysis" of cancers in WTC workers examined between 2001 and 2004, and compiling data on cancers found since then. "We have said since Day 1 that an increase in cancer was a real risk to these workers," a spokesman said. ... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman, July 23, 2006)
  
• Abandoned heroes ... Forty-thousand-strong, they labored at Ground Zero under miserable conditions in a time of crisis, working 10 and 12 hours a day to search for the lost, extinguish underground fires and haul off 2 million tons of rubble. As a direct result, well over 12,000 are sick today, having suffered lasting damage to their respiratory systems. ... They cough. They wheeze. Their heads and faces pound with the pressure of swollen sinuses. They lose their breath with minor exertion. They suffer the suffocation of asthma and diseases that attack the very tissues of their lungs. They endure acid reflux, a painful indigestion that never goes away. ... The city's chief attorney, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, says, for example, that he is confident Ground Zero workers have been provided with appropriate medical attention and disability benefits. This may be wise to argue for the purpose of limiting liability, but it's destructive denial as a public health strategy. Never did the state health commissioner, Dr. Antonia Novello, or the city health commissioner - Dr. Neal Cohen in the days immediately after 9/11, Dr. Thomas Frieden since January 2002 - step forward to lead a crusade that marshaled the resources of New York's vast public and private health systems. Nor did Cohen or Frieden ever issue protocols advising physicians on recognizing and treating syndromes generated by World Trade Center exposures. Inexcusably, Cohen failed to disseminate advisories at a time when the Giuliani administration was declaring all was safe at The Pile, and Frieden's staff is only now getting around to completing its first bulletin. ... (NYDaily News, July 22, 2006)
  
• Hulk from Hell - Fiterman Hall Blights On ... CUNY, which owns the site via its Borough of Manhattan Community College, couldn't care if the ruin stands forever. And the federal environmental bureaucrats who've called the latest halt on Fiterman have grown so terrified of even the remotest risk, they're making it impossible to take down anything larger than a mailbox Downtown. In any rational state or city, the Fiterman Hall eyesore would have been fixed or demolished promptly after 9/11. But CUNY, selfishly craving public money for a new building, refused to even consider having it cleaned and fixed. Yet the existing structure likely could have been saved. With $120 million in insurance and FEMA funds, CUNY had enough to repair the damaged hall - but it was $60 million-plus short of what it needed for a new one. [Pataki], as spineless and unfocused as ever, let CUNY drag its feet - at the expense of the rest of the neighborhood. ... (NYPost, by Steve Cuozzo, July 13, 2006)
  
• New delay for Fiterman demolition ... The demolition of a 9/11-contaminated building faced another setback last week as officials rejected demolition bids from four contractors. Fiterman Hall, a Borough of Manhattan Community College building on W. Broadway, has stood damaged and contaminated since the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. After reviewing bids to clean and demolish the 15-story structure, the State Dormitory Authority rejected them all, sending the contractors back to the drawing board. “Not a one of them met all of the environmental specifications that we had,” said Claudia Hutton, a Dorm Authority spokesperson. Cleanup on the building was scheduled to start in October, but Hutton does not know how long this latest development will delay the process. The next round of bids will be due on Aug. 3. “Nobody wants to have any delay at all, but at the same time it would’ve been wrong to proceed with what we had,” she said. Fiterman Hall has stood contaminated and shrouded in black since 9/11, its south face visibly gashed and scarred. It took City University of New York until May 2005 to raise the $185 million necessary to dismantle the structure and rebuild a new one in its place. At the time, Governor George Pataki speculated that demolition would begin by the end of 2005. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is overseeing the demolition, has yet to approve the school’s plans. Hutton said the selected contractor will help submit the revised plans to E.P.A. ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, July 7-13, 2006)
  
• Maloney, Fossella Ask Health Czar for Progress Report on Response to 9/11 Health Crisis: Reps Ask When Gov't Will Release Plan to Monitor and Treat Everyone Exposed to Ground Zero Toxins ... "Dr. Howard has moved quickly to enhance the federal government's response to the health impacts of 9/11,” said Congressman Fossella.  “He understands the need for quick action, but also recognizes that we must have a comprehensive, long-term plan in place to help the first responders, workers and residents who may have been impacted by the attacks. We will continue working with Dr. Howard in the months ahead to ensure that those who are sick get access to the resources they need." ... (News Release, July 13, 2006)
  
• FEMA big faces heat in aid mess ... A TOP FEMA official faces pointed questions today about the agency's failure to prevent massive waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government's $21.4 billion program to help New York recover from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Members of the oversight subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee are expected to kick off two days of hearings with an intensive grilling of Joe Picciano, FEMA's regional deputy director, regarding several key debacles: . A clean-air program that allowed tens of thousands of New Yorkers to receive free air conditioners, HEPA vacuums, air purifiers and air filters even though they lived nowhere near Ground Zero or the path of the toxic plume created by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. ... Delays in initiating an adequate program to remove pollutants from contaminated buildings in lower Manhattan, which undoubtedly contributed to nagging health problems. ... (DailyNews, by Richard T. Pienciak, July 12, 2006)
  
• Medical Surveillance: New WTC Helath Impacts Coordinator makes Responder Treatment Top Priority ... Coordination, residents Also Priorities: identifying unmet needs, such as the lack of a monitoring and treatment program for affected residents ... For a thrid priority, Howard said he plans to address theunmet need of monitoring and tratment for residents. He hops to launch studies based on the WTC Health Registry that will identify residents' health issues. There is only one local clinic currently treating residents for the WTC-related health problems, Howeard said, and the "backlog is huge." (Occupational Satey & Health, Vol. 36, No. 28, BNA 7-13--06)
  
• Search For 9/11 Remains At Deutsche Bank Building Delayed Again ... Workers set to resume the search Monday for remains of September 11th victims at the Deutsche Bank building were delayed because their protective gear was not ready. Workers are now scheduled to resume their search Tuesday. The gear in question is what caused the cleanup efforts to be put on hold back in April, when the EPA found that workers were not protected from asbestos. The discovery of hundreds of bone fragments at the dilapidated building, mostly on the roof, has delayed the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's plans to tear the vacant tower down. ... (NY1, July 10, 2006)
  
• Ground Zero Cancer Curse ... More than 40 World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers have been hit with two cancers - a double whammy they claim stemmed from deadly toxins. The twice-struck are among 330 Ground Zero responders with cancer who have joined 5,000 cops, firefighters and other workers in a class-action suit against the city, said lawyer David Worby. They include Reggie Hilaire, now 35, a rookie NYPD cop on 9/11 who logged 890 hours digging through WTC debris at the Fresh Kills landfill andpatrolling Ground Zero. A nonsmoker, he beat thyroid cancer last year, only to learn this year he has multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. .... Other dual-cancer victims include a female NYPD cop, 40 (tongue and myeloma); a Con-Ed worker, 39 (stomach and testicular); a sanitationworker, 48 (liver and leukemia); a housing worker, 39 (throat and liver); and an NYPD cop, 55 (bladder and kidney). ... Worby lists 24 other 9/11 responders with thyroid cancer. He contends lethal combinations of dioxins, PCBs and benzene accelerated carcinogens - triggering various cancers - while pulverized metals like lead, mercury and cadmium weakened the immune system. ... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman, July 9, 2006)
  
• The Rebuilding of Lower Manhattan: If the Rebuilding Effort’s Progress to Date is a Victory in Disguise, Then Lower Manhattan Residents Say, “It’s a Very Effective Disguise Indeed.” .... residents' perceptions of the environmental clean-up have deteriorated from 61% who thought it went well in 2003 to just 32% who think the same today. Also, a robust majority, 59%, believes there is a long-term health risk to residents as a result of 9/11.... In terms of the cleanup and monitoring of air quality in Lower Manhattan, we observe a similar negative trend. In 2003, 61% of residents thought these environmental efforts were going either “very well” (24%) or somewhat well (37%); that meant positive ratings (61%) outnumbered negative ratings (31%) by 30 percentage points. By February 2004, this confidence surplus had shrunk to 4 points. By September 2004, skeptics (57%) outnumbered true believers (39%) by 18 percentage points, and that confidence gap remained virtually unchanged in 2005 (16 percentage points) before nearly doubling to the yawning maw (30 percentage points) it is today. ... (A Pace Poll Survey Research Study, July 8, 2006)
  
• Program Has Critics: Set Body Scan For Ground Zero Dets. ... The Detectives' Endowment Association last week announced that it will soon offer its members who worked at Ground Zero a complete body scan designed to detect potential health ailments. The comprehensive test, which normally costs $850, will be available to active Detectives for $175 and all retirees for $375. Inner Imaging, the company contracted with the DEA to conduct the exams, is affiliated with Beth Israel Medical Center. ... Albert E. Barrette, the managing director of Inner Imaging, asserted that the exam will save lives. The test, he said, has the ability to determine if someone has coronary heart disease and other lung and abdomen ailments years in advance. "Heart disease is the number one killer" among officers, he said. "This can see the diseases 15 to 17 years before symptoms occur." According to the FDA, another concern is the issue of false positives and false negatives. "False positive results, in which the scan indicates abnormalities that don't exist, can lead to more tests and medical procedures, some of [which] carry their own hazards," the FDA stated. "And ironically, instead of providing peace of mind, they induce needless anxiety." But Mr. Barrette called the Imatron Ultrafast Electron Beam Scanner test the "golden standard upon which everyone else compares themselves." He claimed that conventional scans cannot fully see the heart's right artery. "We can predict heart attacks," he asserted. The scanner takes a series of high-resolution images of the heart, which physicians then examine for flecks of calcium in the areas where the three major coronary arteries are located. According to Mr. Barrette, over 2,000 independent clinical studies have shown that the Imatron is 98-percent accurate in detecting coronary heart disease. The exam also closely looks at patients' lungs and abdomen. Inner Imaging owns the only such scanner in the entire state. Asked why more hospitals haven't begun to use the technology, Mr. Barrette responded, "Prevention is not a big seller." FDNY Doctor Skeptical -- Dr. David Prezant, the FDNY's Chief Medical Officer, noted that radiologists feel the abdominal and pelvic portion of the scan is not worth the added radiation "because it does not pick up early disease and does not replace proven screening methods such as colonoscopy. We don't want to give false impressions to patients." Dr. Prezant said he recommends that only high-risk patients undergo chest scans. "It is not meant to be a screening test," he remarked. "These chest CT tests are best served in a treatment program for those people who really need it." The chest CT scan, he added, is "frequently a test that requires further testing." Local physicians have also questioned the use of the body scan test. "I'm not sure that routine screening is healthy for you," said Dr. Robert Frankel, the Associate Director of Interventional Cardiology at Maimonides Medical Center. "You may wind up doing all sorts of tests. You may wind up biopsing and taking out tumors that are doing nothing." Mr. Barrette countered that "prevention is not well understood [at] most institutions" and private practices fail to use it as a tool "mostly because it is laborintensive." Dr. Frankel sarcastically replied, "I'm glad that he's the only one who understands prevention." 'Another Option' Mr. Palladino said that the test has already detected various ailments Detectives who toiled at Ground Zero have suffered. "We don't know what we are dealing with at Ground Zero; our people were exposed to significant toxic ailments," he added. "If I can give my members another affordable option that will give them early detection on these killer diseases, that's my goal." The DEA is also backing a bill that would amend a state pension law to give lineof duty death benefits to public employees who die from 9/11-related illnesses. The measure, called the Det. James Zadroga Bill after the officer who died in January from a combination of diseases that a New Jersey Medical Examiner tied to exposure to toxic substances at Ground Zero, passed both the Senate and Assembly the previous week. ... (The Chief Leader July 7, 2006)
  
• Gerson Wants Funds for Health Follow-Up ... City Councilman Alan Gerson asked the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation last month to fund a $5 million pulmonary and environmental health center to diagnose and track ailments related to the destruction of the World Trade Center. ... It is not known how widespread the health problems are, or whether they can be attributed with certainty to the attacks. But doctors from New York Downtown Hospital said they regularly have seen patients with persistent complaints of asthma, coughs and shortness of breath since Sept. 11, 2001. “The reasons are hard to sort out,” said Dr. Lester Blair, acting chief of medicine at New York Downtown Hospital. ”We may never know. That’s the tragedy.” Dr. Robert Glennon, a pulmonary specialist at the hospital, said that based on the patients he had seen, “I definitely think there is a connection.” ... Some residents who have experienced worsening health since Sept. 11 say that while there may not yet be proof of a direct link to the trade center’s collapse, they have little doubt. Mariama James said at the City Hall press conference that she spends more than $300 a month for medications for the problems her three children have developed. “I truly believe this is the result of that unfortunate incident,” she said. William Albert, a 36-year resident of Southbridge Towers, agreed. “I’ve been coughing more. I never coughed before. There was definitely something up after 9/11.” ... (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders and Barry Owens, July 3, 2006)
• Search for remains on roof of WTC skyscraper to resume ... The Environmental Protection Agency suspended work on the roof of the building in April, citing the LMDC for failing to properly protect workers from asbestos. It said in mid-June that the agency, which owns the vacant skyscraper and began dismantling it last fall, could resume the work. ... (Newsday/AP, July 3, 2006)
• Bids to raze hall rejected ... Bids from four contractors to decontaminate and demolish Fiterman Hall at the Borough of Manhattan Community College were rejected yesterday by the state Dormitory Authority, an agency spokeswoman said. "There was a flaw in that none of the firms fully addressed the environmental issues," spokeswoman Claudia Hutton said. "We were hoping to start in October, by going in and cleaning the building," she added. "We're not sure how much time we will lose now." Fiterman, a 15-story building on West Broadway, was badly damaged by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack. According to Hutton, the four firms, along with a fifth prequalified company that declined to bid the first time, will be invited to submit new proposals by Aug. 3.... (NYDaily News, by Paul D. Colford, July 1, 2006)

JUNE

• New Model to Assess World Trade Center Fallout ... The environmental and health consequences of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have been the subject of controversy almost from the beginning. Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, have created a computerized model that will help public health officials understand the degree of harmful exposure in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. ... "The integration of model results and observations allows us to roughly estimate the amount of aerosol produced and conclude, for example, that the maximum concentration of contaminants in Brooklyn and Queens during a few days following the attack was about an order of magnitude less than in Manhattan," Stenchikov said. ... (Rutgers, June 29, 2006)
• Downtown ‘granny’bids farewell ... “Meike came with her friend Norbert, stayed on and off for 10 years,” says Dreyfus. “She was on the roof with me on 9/11. She was three months pregnant and stayed on the roof taking pictures as the cloud of dust wafted over. I told her to get off, that the air was not good to breathe. But she was adamant that this needed to be documented.” Meike gave birth to a stillborn baby three months later. “It was like smoking 40 packs of cigarettes in one day,” Dreyfus says the doctors said. “No one is talking about the increase in autism in Chinatown or the 9/11 cough which is being listed as new onset asthma,” she said. “I have to be outspoken for the children.” ... (Downtown Express, June 23-29, 2006)
  
• 9/11 responders speak of pain ... David Miller coughed into a napkin, leaving behind a quarter-sized smear of blood. The hacking is a constant reminder of the 10 days the National Guardsman spent clearing debris at Ground Zero. Forty-eight hours after he arrived in the smoking aftermath of the Sept. 11 attack, Miller said yesterday, the health effects from airborne debris were obvious and severe. "I was practically blind, I was coughing, I had blisters all up and down my arms," he said. "If I'd been smart I wouldn't have gone back." Today, Miller's health is crumbling. The 39-year-old Bronx construction worker said he suffers chronic lung infections, skin rashes and a 60 percent drop in lung capacity. ... (NYNewsday, by Andrew Strickler, by June 26, 2006)
  
• Emergency Workers Gauge 9/11 Health Toll..... Two days after arriving at ground zero to clear debris from the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center, David Miller could feel the physical effects. "I was practically blind, I was coughing, I had blisters all up and down my arms," the National Guardsman said Sunday at a discussion about lingering health problems among first responders. "If I'd been smart, I wouldn't have gone back." Nearly five years later, the 39-year-old suffers from hacking, bloody coughs, chronic lung infections, skin rashes and a 60 percent loss of lung capacity, he said. Miller was among several first responders to speak Sunday at the event organized by the nonprofit group New York 9/11 Truth, which claims that the government covered up intelligence failures leading to the attacks and accuses officials of exposing rescue workers to toxic conditions at ground zero. ... Last week, a U.S. federal court judge heard arguments over whether the city and its contractors should be granted immunity against lawsuits filed on behalf of thousands of emergency workers who got sick after working in the dust of the World Trade Center. The city has argued it has legal immunity against the claims. Les Jamieson, who organized Sunday's event at The Community Church of New York in Manhattan, said that, for some who felt they should have been financially compensated, the panel offered an opportunity to speak out. ... (AP/abc, June 26, 2006)
  
• PBA Blasts Hosp's 9/11 Health Monitoring ... "We need to find out what cancers and serious disorders are out there so we know what to look for," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. "Millions of dollars are being spent, and we're getting no information." ... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman and Carl Campanile, June 25, 2006)
  
• WTC First Responders Lawsuit To Continue Next Week ... More than 8,000 workers are represented in the suit, which alleges they worked in the rubble without proper gear, ultimately leading to various health ailments. The plaintiffs include police officers, firefighters and EMTs. "Yesterday I got another email from a woman in Montana whose sister died of leukemia,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney David Worby. “Yesterday I got a phone call from an electrician whose husband died of stomach cancer and three days earlier we got another call from a relative of someone who died from throat and tongue cancer. Those people were given zero protection." ... Meanwhile, state lawmakers plan to take up a bill to protect city workers who were exposed to toxic substances after September 11th. The legislation would make accidental death benefits available to members of the police, fire, sanitation, and correction departments, as well as EMT's sheriff deputies and state troopers, who worked at the Trade Center site, the Fresh Kills landfill, the city morgue, or on barges between Manhattan and Fresh Kills. ... (NY1, June 23, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Suit Tests New York Stand on Immunity ... A federal judge heard oral arguments yesterday on the city's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 8,000 firefighters, police officers and construction workers who say they were harmed by exposure to toxic substances while working at ground zero. The city's lawyers have argued that the city cannot be sued because it has legal immunity under a state civil defense law.During the hearing, Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of United States District Court in Manhattan focused on how long after Sept. 11 the legal immunity claimed by the city lasted and whether the $1 billion federal insurance fund that has been set aside to cover such claims against the city could be considered evidence that it could, in fact, be sued. The questions are crucial to determining whether the responders and other workers can seek damages from the city and 150 private contractors for ailments they say they suffered as a result of the work they did downtown in the nine months after the twin towers collapsed. ... (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, June 23, 2006)
  
• A clinic for their 9/11 ills: LMDC pressed for $5M fund ... They're asking for $5 million in "seed money" to launch a pulmonary and environmental health clinic in lower Manhattan, local officials and residents said yesterday at a City Hall press conference. The clinic would diagnose and treat community residents and workers suffering from health problems that some medical experts blame on 9/11 and its environmental aftermath. "These are people who lived and breathed under the 9/11 plume," said City Councilman Alan Gerson (D-Lower Manhattan). He urged that clinic startup funds come from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. (LMDC), the city-state agency overseeing planning of the World Trade Center site and memorial there. LMDC spokesman John Gallagher said, "I'm not familiar with the proposal, therefore I can't comment." ... (NYDaily News, by Frank Lombardi, June 21, 2006)
  
• Hughes wins vice chair slot on C.B. 1 elections ... Catherine McVay Hughes, chairperson of the World Trade Center Committee, won the vice chairperson seat handily beating Anthony Notaro. Hughes, a Financial District resident, is trained as a civil engineer and worked for the New York Public Interest Research Group, doing advocacy work about lead poisoning in children. ... Menin has no intentions of removing her from her post on the World Trade Center Committee. “Catherine is so uniquely qualified, she is a true expert in environmental affairs,” said Menin. “I can’t think of any other board member who has her background.” ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, June 2006)
  
• Residents’ 9/11 health funds running out, but survey continues ... Ann DeFalco’s 9-year-old son has asthma, which periodically keeps him home from school. Dolores Rode still takes medication for insomnia and, until recently, suffered from acid reflux. Lori Mogol’s husband has persistent upper respiratory problems and chronic allergies. Rode, DeFalco and Mogol all have two things in common: they live within blocks of the World Trade Center and none of these ailments afffected their lives prior to Sept. 11. “He’s got what most of the local residents have,” Mogol said of her husband, Richard Zimbler. The couple lives on Greenwich and Duane St., eight blocks north of the Trade Center site. “People here have much worse allergies. People have asthma who never had asthma before. Even people’s dogs are sick.” With newfound attention being paid to the health of 9/11 rescue workers since a New Jersey coroner attributed first responder James Zadroga’s death to Trade Center toxins, local residents wonder what health risks they face and if their persistent ailments were caused by exposure to the toxins that covered their neighborhood. “The needs of the residents have been ignored, particularly the youth,” said DeFalco, a Seaport resident. “It’s not just a disaster of 9/11, it’s the year that continued with the pocket fires, it’s the cleaning up and removal of debris, it’s the rebuilding construction. We wouldn’t have the rebuilding without 9/11. It continues.” “Residents had a double blow in many ways,” said Gerry Bogacz, co-chairperson of the World Trade Center Survivors’ Network, an organization of more than 700 Trade Center disaster survivors. “Not only did they have the trauma of being at home or in danger, but the trauma of being out of their houses and having to throw everything out and start over again. You can see the psychological and physical impact on residents" In the next couple of years, we don’t know what [health condition] is going to present itself.” ... “A lot of people have a hard time talking about it [health problems] right now,” said Catherine McVay Hughes, a registrant and chairperson of Community Board 1’s World Trade Center Committee. “That would be the worst thing that a mother could do — put their kid at risk — so some people might be in denial about it.” ... “Insurance companies are not paying for all the costs that are necessary. Sometimes we have to make other choices—choose another medication that is not as expensive, but not as effective,” said DeFalco. “The registry is not enough. We need a free clinic and it should include a pediatric unit.” Any available resources are rapidly disappearing, with many programs ending in the fiscal year 2007, say advocates. “We’re very concerned about after 2007, what is going to be out there?” said Bogacz. “If people don’t get what they need, they could get into more serious situations.” ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, June 16-22, 2006)
  
• Protesters Urge Better Care for Those Exposed to 9/11 Dust ... More than 200 people — first responders, union members and politicians — rallied at ground zero yesterday to protest the government's response to the health effects of 9/11 and to demand comprehensive care for those possibly sickened by the World Trade Center wreckage. The two-hour rally was the latest effort by what has become an organized coalition dedicated to addressing the long-term impact of the disaster. It came as a growing body of evidence suggested that the noxious cocktail of dust and fumes at the World Trade Center site has caused lung problems, other illnesses and, in at least one case, death.....More than $100 million has been set aside for the screening and treatment of ground zero workers, but Representative Maloney and others said that money was not nearly enough to screen tens of thousands of workers for decades and to guarantee benefits and treatment. ... (NYTimes, by Damien Cave, June 18, 2006)
  
• Ground Zero Workers Rally for Federal Aid ... Hundreds of ground zero workers and several lawmakers asked President Bush on Saturday to send more help to ailing rescue workers. .... (Boston, June 17, 2006)
  
• Rescue Workers: Government Should Pay 9-11 Health Bill; Rescuers Want 'Solid Commitment' To Funding Health Care of 9-11 Workers ... The primary organizers of the event were the 2 million-member New York State AFL-CIO and Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, an organization of rescueand recovery workers working on behalf of the rights of disaster-response workers. ... (WCBC, June 17, 2006)
  
• CB 1 Questions WTC Health Follow Up ... The World Trade Center Health Registry, which has conducted interviews of tens of thousands of Lower Manhattan residents, workers and rescue personnel to monitor the lasting health effects of the Sept. 11 attacks, is set to begin follow-up surveys this month, the first of many follow-ups over the next 20 years. Members of Community Board 1’s World Trade Center Committee, who were recently presented with an update on some of the survey’s findings, wonder to what end. “It’s not serving any active function,” said committee member Marc Donnenfeld, who joined others on the committee in questioning the surveys’ usefulness to the survivors of the attack and the neighborhood residents potentially effected by the fallout. Committee chairwoman, Catherine McVay Hughes, said the community board’s primary concern is that “money is allocated for screening and treatment, and this survey does not do that.” ... Follow up questions to participants will be aimed to gauge the condition of residents’ homes and their cleaning after the attacks; mask use and their type and fit for rescue and recovery workers; and to glean information about evacuation timing from building survivors. Participants can expect questionnaires to be e-mailed, or mailed, to them this month. The registry’s purpose is to provide material and reports for medical experts and researchers to examine, but interviewers do not provide medical screening, assistance or referrals. “We’re not an examination program,” said Farfel. “The registry is a tool for policy implementation and change.” ... (Tribeca Trib, by Barry Owens, June 15, 2006)
  
• Use of Air Masks at Issue In Claims of 9/11 Illnesses ... With mounting evidence that exposure to the toxic smoke and ash at ground zero during the nine-month cleanup has made many people sick, attention is now focusing on the role of air-filtering masks, or respirators, that cost less than $50 and could have shielded workers from some of the toxins. More than 150,000 such masks were distributed and only 40,000 people worked on the pile, but most workers either did not have the masks or did not use them. These respirators are now at the center of a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 8,000 firefighters, police officers and private workers who say they were exposed to toxic substances at or near ground zero that have made them sick or may eventually do so. While residents and office workers in the area also suffered ill effects, the work crews at the site who had the greatest exposure are thought to have sustained the greatest harm. From legal documents presented in the case, a tale emerges of heroic but ineffective efforts to protect workers, with botched opportunities, confused policies and contradictions that failed to ensure their safety. Lawyers representing the workers say that there was no central distribution point for the respirators, no single organization responsible for giving them out, and no one with the power to make sure the respirators that were distributed got used, and used properly. By contrast, at the Pentagon, workers not wearing proper protective gear were escorted off the site. ''Employers are responsible for providing a safe workplace,'' said David Worby, the lawyer whose firm represents the workers. ''But the majority of workers at ground zero were given nothing, or had masks that didn't work.'' The allegations are based on the lawyers' review of more than 400,000 pages of official documents and the testimony of 30 government witnesses. The city, which is the principal government defendant, has moved to have the lawsuit dismissed. It argues that it and the private contractors it hired to help in the cleanup did their best to provide adequate equipment and to get workers to use it, but many workers ignored the warnings. Many workers cited reasons for not keeping the masks on, like the stifling heat and the difficulty of communicating while wearing them. Even if the response to an unprecedented emergency was flawed, the city's lawyers argue, a firmly established legal immunity under the State Defense Emergency Act and other laws protects New York from legal liability. ... .Oral argument on the city's motion to dismiss the case is scheduled for June 22 before Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of United States District Court in Manhattan. ... Each firefighter is issued a full-face mask that is part of a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus, also known as a Scott pack, which functions like scuba gear, supplying air while sealing out hazards. But the tanks contain no more than 18 minutes of oxygen. The system works well if a firefighter is dashing into a burning building to rescue a baby. For a nine-month recovery operation, it was useless. Once their Scott packs were exhausted, the first firefighters on the scene had no backup gear. ... Records produced in the lawsuit indicate that the Fire Department put in an order with the city for 5,000 P100 Organic Vapor/Acid Gas half-face masks, which cost less than $50 each, and 10,000 replacement filter cartridges on Sept. 28. But the order was not processed for almost two months. ... Both sides in the suit cast an uneasy eye on the future. The city clearly worries that if there is another attack it will not be able to hire contractors and respond to the emergency without fear of becoming entangled in legal liabilities, which could hamper its ability to restore order and protect the city. ... (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, June 5, 2006)
• City Out to cripple 9/11 claims say docs ... City lawyers are "fishing for information" at medical gatherings that could be used to undermine claims for 9/11-related health problems, doctors and union officials charged yesterday. Two attorneys from the Law Department attended a meeting last week that organizers said was intended for doctors and advocates to have a frank discussion about how to treat patients suffering from illnesses believed linked to Ground Zero toxins. "This was an outrage," said Micki Siegel De Hernandez, health and safety director of the Communications Workers of America. "We never would have participated in the meeting if we knew that the city Law Department was there fishing for information they could use against future claims." But Law Department officials said there was no conflict of interest. "It would be almost remiss of us not to stay on top of issues that affect our office," said agency spokeswoman Kate O'Brien Ahlers. ... In some, he said, there appears to be "a period of latency" before symptoms develop. In others, symptoms have worsened over time, becoming bad enough to drive the person to seek help for the first time. "There's a chronic, progressive element to this," he said. Herbert said she is also concerned about a small number of cases of lung scarring similar to that which killed Det. James Zadroga, 34, of Little Egg Harbor, N.J., in January. The coroner there found swirls in Zadroga's lungs caused by foreign material, which he linked to Ground Zero dust -- the first death to be officially tied to World Trade Center exposure. "We're concerned because now we have a very small number of World Trade Center responders with much more serious lung scarring diseases," Herbert said. ... Prezant coauthored a study published last month that showed the average lung function decline among fire fighters who were at Ground Zero one year after Sept. 11 was the equivalent of 12 years of aging. World Trade Center workers are exchanging stories of cancers in colleagues -- especially of the blood, kidneys and pancreas -- they believe are the result of ingesting pulverized cement, glass fibers and other toxic substances at Ground Zero. ... "We have a rough estimate of 200 to 300 people who are between the ages of 30 and 50 [with cancer]," said Jon Sferazo, 51, of Huntington Station, presiding officer of Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes, an advocacy group for Sept. 11 responders. "These cancers seem to be occurring in people far too young," he said. Doctors are unwilling to link the cancer cases and exposure to Ground Zero toxins because it generally takes years for cancers to develop -- but they are tracking them closely. "We don't know if these are just normal, sporadic cases or if a pattern is developing. The methodology [in monitoring patients] has to be vigilant," Luft said. ... (Daily News, by Paul H.B. Shin, June 2, 2006)
  
• WTC Responders' Illness Worse than Expected: Almost Five Years after Terror Attacks, New Critical Health Cases Are Surfacing ... Doctors who treat World Trade Center responders say they are surprised almost five years later by the growing number seeking help for the first time -- 100 people a month in the biggest monitoring program -- and by the severity of illnesses among Sept. 11 workers already in treatment. "There's no question there's continuing demand and many in the treatment program are quite ill," said Dr. Robin Herbert, codirector of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. Herbert, whose program has examined about 15,000 responders since 2002, said doctors are finding "remarkable persistence" in breathing disorders such as chronic sinusitis and asthma, stomach ailments such as gastrointestinal reflux disease and psychological problems such as post traumatic stress disorder -- a suite of maladies one survivor called "my 9/11 plague." Some patients also have come in with severe lung scarring, which can be fatal. And there have been cases of cancer, which worries experts, though they are unwilling to directly attribute them to exposure to Ground Zero toxins. Doctors are also surprised by the numbers of new patients. Mount Sinai's screening program sees 100 new people a month, Herbert said. Despite adding more health care providers, Herbert said that for the last six months, the waiting list for treatment has grown to more than three months. "We honestly did not expect such ongoing demand," she said. ... (Newsday, by Ridgely, June 1, 2006)
  
• Sick and Tired of Fighting for Workers' Comp ... He now has multiple respiratory problems, gastrointestinal reflux disease and posttraumatic stress disorder so bad he has twice attempted suicide. ...(Newdsday, by Ridgely Ochs, June 1, 2006)
• 9/11 Health Registry Watns to Re-Interview Participants ... Holding true to its promise to keep tabs on those exposed to affects of the World Trade Center attacks for 20 years, the Department of Health is asking anyone enrolled in its WTC Health Registry to be surveyed a second time. “We wish we had all of the answers. We wish we knew what the long-term effects of 9/11 are on the health and mental health of those exposed. But we don't,” said DOH Commissioner Thomas Frieden. The DOH announced plans Thursday to re-survey the 71,000 people who signed up for their unprecedented registry, because they either lived, worked, or helped out at the World Trade Center site on 9/11 or in the days or months after. Surveys will be mailed or emailed to participants, two-thirds of whom are from the city. “We know that those exposed to dust and fumes of 9/11 report a high rate of respiratory and mental health symptoms. What we don't know is how long those symptoms are going to persist,” said Frieden. ... The DOH says it's not re-interviewing its registrants to ignite fear, but rather to get a better hold on what it’s dealing with. “It is a platform for further policy making, including all sorts of programs, including monitoring and treatment,” says 9/11 Health Coordinator Dr. John Howard. The DOH expects it will take several months to reach each of the more than 70,000 registrants, and then several months after that to fully examine the results of their surveys. That means it's likely to be years before the full effects of 9/11 will be known. (NY1, by Amanda Farinacci, June 1, 2006)
  

MAY

• Lawmakers Push For Bill To Provide 9/11 Workers With Compensation ... State lawmakers are being urged to pass legislation to provide workers compensation benefits for those who helped in World Trade Center site cleanup efforts. Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, who is spearheading the bill, was joined by several other elected officials at a City Hall news conference Wednesday. Bing says although workers and volunteers were exposed to chemical hazards at site, more than one in four workers’ compensations claims are denied. “Because of the need of these 9/11 workers having their claims denied at twice the rate of non-9/11 workers, we really sought of need to have a level playing field created to allow these individuals to have their claims met and satisfied by the workers’ compensation forms," said the assemblyman. "Our goal is simple: Everyone who was exposed to the toxins at Ground Zero should be monitored, and everyone who is sick should be treated," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney. ... (NY1, May 31, 2006)
• Preparing for a Higher 9-11 Toll ... The 9-11 Victims Compensation Fund made awards to 1,400 FDNY employees. But almost twice that number have filed affidavits of their 9-11 service in case they develop or die from an illness stemming from their time at the site ... (Village Voice, by Jarrett Murphy, May 30, 2006)
• A Sign of renewal and a Reminder at Ground Zero ... Fiterman Hall didn't exactly overshadow the official opening of 7 World Trade Center today (the sun was in the wrong position for that) but the ragged remnant of 9/11 offered a silent reminder of how much more work there is to do. ... The ragged remnant of Fiterman Hall, pictured in the background, played silent counterpoint to an exuberant Jeff Koons sculpture that was unveiled today. ... With its shattered walls and missing windows, its emptied floors behind shroudlike nets, the 15-story Fiterman Hall played silent counterpoint — like the unwanted party guest that everyone notices but no one acknowledges — to the candied-apple exuberance of a plump Jeff Koons sculpture that was unveiled by Larry A. Silverstein, the developer of 7 World Trade Center, outside the building's front door on Greenwich Street. ... Fiterman Hall, across Barclay Street, can wipe that smile off quickly. This 1950's office building had been transformed into a classroom hall for the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Nearing the end of a six-year renovation, it was badly damaged on Sept. 11, 2001, by the collapse of the original 7 World Trade Center. It is to be decontaminated, demolished and replaced by a new Fiterman Hall.But the federal Environmental Protection Agency has posed dozens of questions about a draft deconstruction plan that was submitted in January. The state Dormitory Authority, which is overseeing the project with the City University of New York, expects to submit an amended and expanded plan to the regulators in July. On the fastest conceivable track, decontamination might begin in October and run through next February, with a four-. to six-month demolition to follow, suggesting that Mr. Koons's mirror-polished sculpture will be reflecting Fiterman's ghostly presence for quite some time to come. .... (NYTimes, by David W. Dunlap, May 23, 2006)
  
• Over Budget, Fulton Street Transit Hub Faces a Redesign ... Mr. Nagaraja blamed rising real estate values that have forced the authority to pay more for private property at the site. Construction costs have also increased because of more stringent standards for asbestos removal adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency, transit officials said. ... He said a priority would be put on fulfilling commitments that were part of an environmental impact statement on the project, which took two years to complete. ... (NYTimes, by Thomas J. Lueck, May 23, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Compensation claims Continue to Trickle in Late ... About 290 New York City employees have filed workers' compensation claims stemming from the World Trade Center attack since the two-year deadline for filing such claims passed, city officials said yesterday. City employees filed about 900 claims within the two years after the 9/11 attack, and nearly all, 96.5 percent, were found to be valid and eligible for compensation, the officials said. In two-thirds of those cases, however, no compensation was ever paid, because the workers did not ultimately lose wages or incur major medical costs, they said. ... (NYTimes, by Sewell Chan, May 23, 2006)
  
• City Workers' 9/11 Claims Meet Obstacles ... Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's decision to intervene in the case of a former deputy mayor who believes that he became severely ill from working around ground zero after the Sept. 11 attack has cast unwanted attention on the city's handling of 9/11 workers' compensation cases. Scores of such cases — the city could not say precisely how many — continue to drag on nearly five years after the attack. ... Although the system was set up to eliminate the need for litigation, compensation cases can be as protracted and adversarial as lawsuits. Of the 313,102 claims resolved in New York State in 2004, 55 percent involved a hearing at which evidence was provided, and the rest were resolved informally. Most private employers rely on insurance companies to identify and challenge claims that might be fraudulent, but some of the largest employers, like the City of New York, are self-insured and decide on their own when to challenge claims. Industry experts have estimated that 10 to 20 percent of workers' compensation claims may be baseless. ... "I don't think the system is well designed for diseases that have long latency periods," he said. As of last week, compensation claims had been filed by or on behalf of 1,436 employees of the City of New York and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority citing deaths, injuries or illnesses caused by 9/11, according to the State Workers' Compensation Board. That figure does not include claims by police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers, who are covered under separate workplace-injury programs. (NYTimes, by Sewell Chan, May 22, 2006)
  
• NY City Council and 3 Community Boards Reject EPA’s Lower Manhattan Testing Plan ... (NYCOSH, May 22, 2006)
• Residents and Workers Picket Lower Manhattan Development Corporation May 8 to Protest Unsafe 130 Liberty Demolition Plans and Co ... (NYCOSH, May 22, 2006)
• ‘Ms. Whitman, was New York Betrayed by the EPA after 9/11?’ ‘No Comment, Next Question.’ ... (NYCOSH, May 22, 2006)
• Silverstein Says Insureres Might Not Pay $4.6 Billion ... And Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal criticized the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's handling of the Deutsche Bank building. The recurring theme from the assembly members was their frustration over the lack of public accountability and the absence of visible progress, in spite of one ceremony after another. ... (NYTimes, by Charles V. Bagli, May 19, 2006)
• Worker Lobbying Pays Off: Protective Windows Due for 90 Church ... Calling themselves the "little coalition that could," a group of labor activists representing city, state and Federal employees May 9 celebrated their success in wresting a promise from the Housing Authority to install double-paned windows on all floors of the building at 90 Church St. in lower Manhattan. 'KNEW WE HAD TO DO SOMETHING': Lainie Kitt (second from left), a veteran Housing Authority employee, said she became active in the successful push to get double-paned windows installed at 90 Church St. because, in addition to current concern about air quality next to the old World Trade Center site, 'for the next 10 years or so [the site is] going to be one of the biggest construction projects in the world.' ...The coalition members noted that they and hundreds of municipal workers were urged to return to the area after 9/11 by city and state officials desperate to revitalize Lower Manhattan's moribund economy. In keeping with their tradition of public service, they said, the workers had wanted to do what they could to help, but sometimes paid with their health. Paul Stein, Health & Safety Committee chairperson of PEF Division 199, noted that the building's owners had also previously agreed to increase air quality checks at 90 Church St. from semi-annually to quarterly and installed a top-notch air filtering system. "But we really needed to have all three - those other things, and the doublepaned windows. 90 Church St. isn't just dealing with Ground Zero and all its construction," he said. "The building is also adjacent to several others that were contaminated on 9/11 and are going to be pulled down; we have Postal trucks driving up to the bays on one side and dropping off and picking up mail; and we've got all the diesel fumes from the trucks, not to mention the commuter and tourist buses that sit idling on the corner. It's surrounded on every side." ... (The Chief Leader, by Ginger Adams Otis, May 19, 2006)
• Public Lives: The Lung Specialist Who Answered the 9/11 Call ... His task is minimizing the damage to some 14,000 sets of lungs, including his. Breathing easy is not nearly so easy for his firefighter patients, or for him, as it used to be and has cost some their careers. "This is not a research study; this is about people's lives and about telling them that with early diagnosis and aggressive treatment, there's hope," says Dr. Prezant, 50 ... Dr. Prezant, a chief medical officer for the Fire Department (data-driven public health initiatives combating asthma diabetes and other chronic emergency complaints are his next responsibility) and co-director of the department's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, has been tracing and treating the impact of the rescue and recovery work on firefighters' lungs since October 2001. ... (NYTimes, by Robin Finn, May 19, 2006)
  
• Ex- Guiliani Aides Criticize City Handling of 9/11 Claim ... Several associates of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani took the rare step of publicly criticizing the Bloomberg administration yesterday as they reacted with anger and confusion to the city's handling of a workers' compensation claim filed by a former deputy mayor who served Mr. Giuliani for eight years. New details emerged yesterday about the claim filed by the former deputy mayor, Rudy Washington, 51, who has asserted that he has severe respiratory ailments, requiring prescription drugs and emergency hospitalizations, as a result of his work near ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001, and afterward. On March 14, a state administrative law judge ruled that Mr. Washington was entitled to health-care benefits because he had been injured on the job. On April 10, lawyers for the city appealed, arguing that Mr. Washington was not entitled to the benefits because he did not file his claim within two years of the injury. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that he believed the appeal was based on "a technicality" and that the lawyers had erred. "A lawyer was probably reading the law too closely and shouldn't have done that," he said. .... (NYTimes, by Sewell Chan, May 19, 2006)
  
• Deutsche demo demonstration: Protestors gathered at 1 Liberty Place on Monday to demonstrate [against] the Deutsche Bank demolition. The 40-story tower at 130 Liberty St. was badly damaged and contaminated with World Trade Center debris on 9/11. It is being cleaned and demolished by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to make way for the new World Trade Center. The deconstruction has come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks. Workers recently stopped a painstaking search for human remains on the building’s roof after asbestos was found in areas previously deemed clean. The Environmental Protection Agency, which approved the cleanup and demolition plan, has not signed off on the floor-by-floor demolition phase of the building, which is expected to begin next month, because of changes to the plan. ... (Downtown Express, May 12 - 18, 2006)
• Nadler: Rudy Washington Deserves Compensation – and so do Thousands of Other Ground Zero Workers and Residents  (News Release, May 18, 2006)
• Rudy's Deputy: I Have 9/11 Illness ... A deputy mayor in the Giuliani administration who directed officials to test the air after the 9/11 attacks has filed a medical claim for respiratory illnesses suspected to have been caused by the pollution at Ground Zero, The Post has learned. Rudy Washington, who was caught in the plume of dust and debris after the first of the Twin Towers fell and who worked tirelessly downtown for weeks, is the highest-ranking official known to have fallen ill from a suspected WTC-related ailment. Washington's claim for his rising medical expenses, filed about a year ago, was approved recently after a state Worker's Compensation Board hearing, the sources said. The Bloomberg administration has told Washington it plans to appeal the approval. Several sources said Mayor Bloomberg, whom Washington - the highest-ranking black in Giuliani's administration - backed early in his 2001 campaign for City Hall and again last year, is personally aware of the case. ... The sources said Washington got sick almost immediately after the attack, and was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. He was later diagnosed with asthma, a condition that he never suffered prior to 9/11, the sources said. He is now on several medications, and has been in and out of doctors' offices and emergency rooms in the past five years. The former deputy mayor joined a screening program at Mount Sinai Hospital that treats rescue workers and others exposed to the fetid air. ... (NYPost, by Maggie Haberman, May 17, 2006)
  
• Bank cleanup back on ... Work is set to resume at the Deutsche Bank tower at Ground Zero today with regulators increasing their oversight of the toxic cleanup. The 40-story tower was ruined during the Sept. 11 attack and is set for demolition next month. Workers already had begun cleaning out toxic dust generated by the collapsing towers. That work was suspended Friday after the Environmental Protection Agency complained that contaminated debris was repeatedly being carted off site. After meeting with the EPA and other agencies yesterday, the state Lower Manhattan Development Corp. agreed that no more material will be brought off site until a full inspection is complete.   The state agency also asked regulators "to increase their oversight of abatement work in order to ensure that our contractors are fully in compliance with the approved deconstruction plan," said the LMDC's John Gallagher. EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears said no date has been set for the inspection. Meanwhile, the search for human remains inside the tower remains on hold after the discovery of asbestos on the roof. (NYDaily News, by Greg B. Smith, NYDaily News)
• Letter: The Dust of 9/11 ... If the effects of inhaling World Trade Center dust are debilitating but treatable for firefighters, as a recent health study suggests ("Firefighters' Lung Capacity Suffered After 9/11 Work," news article, May 16), New York's public health authorities ought to do two things. First, they should offer screening and treatment to neighborhood residents who suffered significant exposure. Second, they should prevent the next wave of exposures as buildings like Deutsche Bank, containing large quantities of dust, are taken down. That process is now entrusted to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, an agency with no relevant expertise. Better supervision could avert another wave of 9/11 casualties. (NYTimes, by March Scherzer, May 16, 2006)
  
• Firefighters' Lung Capacity Suffered After 9/11 Work ... A new health study shows that the city's firefighters suffered a significant decline in their lung capacity after working at ground zero, but doctors say that in many cases, with proper treatment, the loss may be temporary. The study compared breathing tests done before and after the towers fell and found that firefighters had a loss in lung capacity in the first year after Sept. 11 equal to what they might have lost over a dozen years of normal duty. It was published late last month in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The average loss of 372 milliliters represents about 6 percent of a firefighter's six-liter lung capacity. But it is more than 10 times the normal age-related annual loss. For many firefighters, this diminished breathing ability is not considered a disease but an impairment, like a broken arm, that hampers activity but can eventually return to normal. Unlike ailments and diseases that seem to be related to ground zero exposure but are difficult to prove, the reduction in lung capacity, shown by the before-and-after tests, can be firmly traced to the recovery work. Dr. David J. Prezant, co-director of the Fire Department's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program, and an author of the study, said that with proper treatment and monitoring, many firefighters are likely to recover their normal breathing ability as their lungs cleanse themselves naturally. But Stephen J. Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said that most firefighters knew almost immediately that working at ground zero had hurt their health and that many are not optimistic that things will return to normal. .... To suppress the inflammation caused by the inhaled dust, firefighters in the department's treatment program have been given nasal and pulmonary steroids and decongestants. Dr. Prezant said that in time, the dust particles may be exhaled or dissolved. "Anecdotally, I can say that people in the treatment program, especially those who have had early diagnosis and treatment, feel that their lung function is plateauing or improving," he said. "We have not seen further decreases." But he conceded that some might deteriorate further and eventually reach the point where they can no longer work. Apart from the lung function study, doctors are beginning to see an increased incidence of chronic lung scarring and long-term respiratory ailments among responders. Several studies are now under way to determine whether the increased rates of disease are related to the trade center dust. The results of the study of 12,079 firefighters, which were reported in The New York Post yesterday, also suggest that construction workers and volunteers who helped in the rescue and recovery operation may have suffered similar respiratory losses if they were at ground zero in the first week after the towers fell. ... Although firefighters were able to cough out some of the dust, much remained lodged in their lungs, where it can be surrounded by mucous or enzymes that try to break it down. In that process, airways can become increasingly constricted, reducing the capacity of the lungs to hold air. (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, May 16, 2006)
  
• Don't bank on anything ... The closer the state gets to actually knocking down the ruins of the former Deutsche Bank building at Ground Zero, the more the tricky job seems hexed. New questions have arisen about unsafe work conditions and an inadequate cleanup of toxic dust, while the search for human remains has been suspended after asbestos was found on the roof. The problems with the Deutsche tower at 130 Liberty St. continue to fester and grow as fund-raising for the WTC memorial has been put on hold and John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state agency that oversees the World Trade Center site, resigned last week. On Friday, federal and state regulators asked the LMDC to stop work completely at 130 Liberty St. after observing contaminated debris being brought off site. The LMDC has asked the regulators to "clarify" their definition of contamination and will meet tomorrow to discuss the matter. The LMDC insists the cleanup and demolition work is on schedule, with the 40-story building that was ripped open during the 9/11 terrorist attacks set to begin coming down in June. ... Haberman said a giant coin vault in the building's sub-basement was "ready for demolition." The vault must be removed so a concrete pad can be poured to support a large crane necessary for deconstruction. What Haberman forgot to mention was that the city Department of Buildings two weeks earlier had disapproved of the LMDC's plan to demolish the vault. The city also disapproved of a plan to back-fill the area. As of Friday neither plan had been approved. Also, last week federal environmental officials voiced concern about the coin vault project, specifically worried that clouds of dust might escape into the neighborhood during the work. Haberman also failed to mention that two subcontractors at 130 Liberty were recently hit with thousands of dollars of fines by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In March, a worker for John Galt Co., who was wearing a safety harness he hadn't hooked up, fell 39 feet off a sidewalk shed into the sub-basement. He was hospitalized with broken bones. Last week, OSHA fined John Galt $9,000 for safety violations, including inadequate fall protection, according to Richard Mendelson of OSHA. After that incident, the city Buildings Department hit the LMDC with a violation for failing to promptly notify that agency of the fall. In addition, last December another worker fell off scaffolding that didn't have inner guardrails. OSHA fined Safeway Environmental $1,250; the company appealed the fine. In recent weeks, OSHA joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in questioning the safety of the LMDC's plan to drop crushed concrete 40 stories down a 500-foot chute to street level. "We have raised [safety] concerns," Mendelson said. "Workers have to remove that debris from under that chute so it doesn't get clogged up." ... (NYDaily News, by Greg B. Smith, May 14, 2006)
  
• Tracing Lung Ailments That Rose With 9/11 Dust ... As they push their investigation into the health risks to workers in the recovery and cleanup operations at ground zero, medical detectives are focusing on a group of lung diseases that can lead to long-term disabilities and, in some cases, death. After nearly five years, it is still too early for these doctors, scientists and forensic pathologists to say with certainty whether any long-term cancer threat came with exposure to the toxic cloud unleashed by the trade center collapse. But there are already clear signs that the dust, smoke and ash that responders breathed in have led to an increase in diseases that scar the lungs and reduce their capacity to take in and let out air. ... (New York Times, by Anthony DePalma, May 13, 2006)
  
• Towering Controversy: Continuing Debate Points out Difficulty of Removing a Skyscraper Surrounded by Human Habitation ... At its most recent monthly meeting, Community Board 1 passed an emergency resolution adding yet another voice to those opposing the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s demolition plans for 130 Liberty Street, the former Deutsche Bank building irreparably damaged and contaminated on Sept. 11, 2001. At issue are the qualifications of the John Galt Corporation and the safety record of Safeway Environmental Corporation, two companies hired to raze the blighted building, as well as certain changes in plans not authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additionally, residents and environmental activists attending the meeting expressed alarm over what they said is insufficient emergency planning. Concerns over the hiring of the Galt Corp. center around the company’s alleged lack of experience with asbestos-tainted sites. According to several who came to CB1’s public session to air complaints, the Galt Corp. has only recently obtained the asbestos removal license required by the state Department of Labor and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection. ... (Battery Park City Broadsheet, By Serena Hedison, April 28 - May 13, 2006)
• Razing of Downtown Tower Should Pause, Regulators Say ... Federal and state regulators asked the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation yesterday to stop work on the former Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero. An inspector from the Environmental Protection Agency witnessed the removal yesterday of debris from the building that had not been properly cleaned, said Mary Mears, a spokeswoman for the agency. "This was certainly not the first time," she said. "Now that it appears to be a pattern, we feel compelled to ask them to stop work until we can fix the problem in general." Deconstruction of the 41-story former bank tower at 130 Liberty Street is not set to begin until next month. The current work involves abatement of asbestos and other hazardous substances. Besides the federal agency, the state's Department of Labor and the city's Department of Environmental Protection are monitoring the project. ... Yesterday's debris largely involved floor tiles from around the 35th floor. Work had already stopped for the day by the time the regulators made their recommendation. Cleaning work is performed within sealed areas before the debris is taken downstairs. Ms. Mears said there were at least three prior occasions when inspectors required that debris bins be returned for further cleaning. Last month, the rooftop cleanup was halted after a fragment of asbestos-containing material was found in the ballast. Hundreds of small fragments of human remains have also been found on the rooftop. (NYTimes, by David Dunlap, May 13, 2006)
  
• EPA Wants To Halt Cleanup of Deutsche Bank Building .... Federal and state regulators want to stop cleanup work at the former Deutsche Bank Building next to the World Trade Center site. The Environmental Protection Agency says an inspector discovered debris was being removed before it was properly cleaned. EPA officials have asked the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to stop the work. The LMDC has asked to meet with the regulators on Monday to try to fix the problem. ....(NY1, May 13, 2006)
  
• Bill Introduced For 9/11 Death Benefit Payment ... The State Legislature has introduced a bill amending a state pension law to give line-of-duty death benefits to public employees who die from 9/11-related illnesses. ... (The Chief Leader, by Ginger Adams Otis, May 12, 2006)
  
• 9/11 First Responder Dies: Paramedic Deborah Reeve Succumbs to Asbestos Disease as Ground Zero Casualty List Continues to Grow ... (Public Employee Press, by Alfredo Alvarado, May 2006)
• Tribecans try to block project on environmental grounds.... Local residents and elected officials asked the city to halt the demolition of a stand of North Tribeca buildings, fearing they might be contaminated with World Trade Center dust. The six squat, one- and two-story buildings at Watts and Washington Sts. are being demolished to make way for a new residential tower, which has born the brunt of virulent criticism from local residents who say that the new development will be too large for the neighborhood. The Jack Parker Corp., which owns the property, finished testing the building for asbestos and has applied for asbestos removal permits from the City Dept. of Environmental Protection. But on May 4, elected leaders led by U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler sent letters to D.E.P. and the City Dept. of Buildings, urging the agencies to oversee the demolition and not to issue demolition permits until the site can be deemed safe from W.T.C.-related contamination. . “We want to address the possibility that there may be contaminants from the World Trade Center,” said Andrew Neale, a member of the Tribeca Community Association and Community Board 1. “The community is asking the Parker Corp. to do things properly.” The site, which is bounded by Watts, Washington, Desbrosses and West Sts., is one mile north of the World Trade Center site. Critics fear that toxic Trade Center dust might have impacted the building and the demolition should be monitored by regulatory agencies. ... Nadler’s office was outraged that E.P.A. declined to get involved in the Parker site. “They are forced to deal with those sites [Deutsche Bank and Fiterman Hall,] but they don’t want to deal with anything further away, despite the fact that they are going to start a sampling plan” to test and clean Lower Manhattan residences for any remaining Trade Center dust, Arturo Garcia-Costas, an aide to Nadler, said. ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, May 12 - 18, 2006)
  
• Res No. 187-A ... Resolution calling upon the United States Environmental Protection Agency to abandon its technically and scientifically flawed 2005 Test and Clean Program, and work with the residents and workers, community and labor organizations and elected officials to design and implement an effective, science-based sampling and cleanup program for residences and workplaces in all affected areas. ... By Council Members Gerson, Barron, Brewer, Fidler, Gennaro, James, Recchia Jr., Sanders Jr. and Liu (passed May 10, 2006)
  
• 'A completely unacceptable situation' ... Protesters shouted, "What do we want? Cleanup! When do we want it? Now!" in front of the headquarters of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Monday. ... "It is beyond comprehension and an absolute failure of the public authorities charged with taking it down that so little progress has been made since September 11th. And whatever progress has been made is marred by unnecessary secrecy, bad judgment, and incomplete disclosure of crucial information to the public and to regulatory agencies. Unfortunately, demolition of this building has been and continues to be plagued with poor planning, questionable contracting practices, dangerous work conditions, and apparently shoddy performance by the prime contractor and its subs." Nadler and others have heavily criticized LMDC's demolition plan and choice of demolition contractors since the company bought the building in August of 2004. The groups argue that LMDC has not taken into account public comments on the demolition and is trying to alter demolition plans without approval from the correct agencies. ... Yesterday, Joel Kupferman, a environmental lawyer representing a group of residents, delivered an “intent to sue letter” to the LMDC, the Empire State Development Corporation and the Port Authority for their “handling, storage, transportation and disposal of the solid wastes in the abatement and deconstruction of 130 Liberty Street, which may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment.” ... (Disaster News Network, by Heather Moyer, May 9, 2006)
• The Air down There: Deutsche Bank Demolition Sparks Fears about the Quality of Subway Air ... LOWER MANHATTAN Environmental lawyer Joel Kupferman pointed up at the Deutsche Bank building, but what troubled him last week ran underground. The 1 train rolls through the World Trade Center site, Kupferman noted, and 20 feet behind the heavily contaminated office tower are two ventilation plants with industrial-strength fans meant to push air into the tunnel in case of a fire or other emergency. On the street, open grating offered a straight shot into the 1 and nearby R and W lines. “The takedown of this building poses imminent and substantial danger,” said Kupferman, who’s worried that no steps are being taken to protect subway riders. In the aftermath of 9/11, federal, state and city agencies monitored the air outdoors for harmful chemicals, but no mention was ever made about the air in the subway. The Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center continues to test air outside but not air in the subway. Annual asbestos tests are performed in “randomly selected high-density stations,” said NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges, but no measurements were available for Downtown. The last test occurred in July 2005. ... (Metro New York, by Patrick Arden, May 9, 2006)
• ‘Toxic Tower’ Fears: Downtown Residents, Workers Say Contractor Unfit for Deutsche Bank Project ... “We know the deal all too well: That building has the same dust that gave us asthma and nosebleeds after the [Twin Towers] fell,” said Mary Perillo, a resident of 125 Cedar St., which is across from the shrouded building. “We don’t want to go through that again.” ... “The LMDC is supposed to be a watchdog agency, but who is watching them?” Perillo asked. “They talk a good game, but it’s all PR. You really need the EPA to oversee this.” Residents want the LMDC to provide an emergency plan for the community and re-establish the public process for addressing their concerns. So far, the project has been plagued with problems.... (Metro New York, by Amy Zimmer, May 9, 2006)
• 9/11 vols turn victims ... The Rev. Stephen Petrovich spent 11 days at the Ground Zero's makeshift morgue administering last rites to people and parts of people. Now he is ill and fears, because of the toxic dust he inhaled and swallowed while doing his duty, it may not be too long before someone must read those rites to him. "I don't know what's going to happen, I really don't know," he said, speaking from his home in Huron, Ohio, where he lives on a meager monthly disability payment after he became too ill to keep working. Petrovich said the effects from breathing problems and the precancerous tumor removed with part of his tongue have left him exhausted, depressed and often unable to go out. He needs more than $1,000 worth of medications a month, earns about $900 from Social Security disability and can't afford a car to go to doctor appointments. "Sometimes I can't go out for days," he said. "I cough all the time - it's like a chronic, deep bronchitis." ... For sick New Yorkers, there are places to turn for help. But for volunteers from far and wide, there is very little and few doctors are even equipped to recognize the symptoms from those who sacrificed their health in the debris of the World Trade Center. ... One of those deeply frustrated is Joe Picurro, a 39-year-old iron worker from Toms River, N.J., who said he volunteered for 28 days at Ground Zero, removing twisted metal to get at human remains. When he started having fits of vomiting and severe chest congestion during the summer of 2004, doctors thought he had a bad case of the flu. It took numerous visits to different doctors before he finally learned about the scarring and particles in his lungs. ...(New York Daily News, by Michael McAuliff, May 7, 2006) 
• Lawyers 'Clean Up' on WTC Insurer ... The insurance company created with federal funds to cover the city and its contractors for claims from the World Trade Center cleanup has spent $30 million on overhead - including more than $20 million on lawyers, The Post has learned. Records show the WTC Captive Insurance Co., a nonprofit that manages $1 billion approved by Congress, has not paid any claims by 9/11 recovery workers. Both the insurance company and the city declined to discuss how many lawyers were hired, at what hourly rate, and what work they have billed for the $20 million in fees. Kekst and Company, a public-relations firm hired by the insurance company, called the litigation to fight more than 5,300 illness and injury claims filed by 9/11 workers "costly and time-consuming." ... Sources said the lawyers have helped write a motion to dismiss all recovery-worker claims on the grounds the city was responding to a civil emergency. Lawyers in such cases typically earn $350 to $850 per hour, the sources said. ... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman, May 7, 2006)
  
• Two Big Demolitions Raise Air Concerns ... In a neighborhood once coated with dust and toxins from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, any threat—real or imagined—of more dust-tainted air is enough to raise alarm. So red flags went up last month at two locations near Ground Zero, 130 Liberty Street and 189 Broadway, where the pending demolition of buildings has environmental regulators and neighbors nervous. ... Demolition plans for the shrouded former Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street, which was severely damaged by the collapse of the trade center towers, raised concerns among government regulators last month, and the federal Environmental Protection Agency requested more details about how contractors plan to dismantle the structure and crush and cart off demolition debris. Workers have begun cleaning the interior and they are scheduled to begin dismantling the building in June. ... The apparent confusion between the agencies prompted Community Board 1 to draft and adopt an “emergency” resolution during its public meeting last month. The community board called on the EPA to take a more active role overseeing the building’s demolition and requested that the LMDC revise its plan in accordance with the environmental agency’s recommendations. “There has to be more oversight and accountability on the part of the LMDC,” Julie Menin, chairwoman of CB1, told the Trib. “They don’t have experience in environmental matters.” A block away, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last month halted demolition work at 189 Broadway, which was emptied of tenants in December to make way for the Fulton Street Transit Center, until the EPA could appraise the plan. A CB1 member who lives in the area alerted regulators about the demolition work, which was begun without an environmental review. “We shouldn’t have to rely on a neighborhood watch system,” Congressman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement. ... The Tribeca Trib, by Barry Owens, May 3, 2006)
  
• Deutsche Bank Cleanup Halted ... The rooftop cleanup at the former Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero has been suspended by the federal Environmental Protection Agency until regulators meet with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing demolition of the heavily contaminated tower. On March 31 and April 19, inspectors found ''visible debris and residual fines commingled with the roof ballast'' in areas that were supposedly clean, said Pat Evangelista, the agency's World Trade Center coordinator, in an April 27 letter to the corporation. (Fines are tiny particles.) The corporation said it voluntarily stopped the cleanup on April 20 after a ''fragment of asbestos-containing material'' was discovered in the ballast during the search for human remains from 9/11. The corporation's spokesman, John P. Gallagher, said that the finding should not pose a health risk to workers. (New York Times, by David W. Dunlap, May 2, 2006 )
  
• S.I. Beep: 9/11 Ills May Have Killed My Son ... Stephen Molinaro had his blood tested for 9/11-related illnesses just before he died suddenly last week, his father revealed yesterday at his funeral. "I was the only one who knew - his family never knew," Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro said while delivering an emotional eulogy at his 40-year-old son's funeral at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church. Molinaro said his son, who was found dead in his kitchen early Saturday morning, had done some construction work near Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks. It's unclear whether he had been sick and results of an autopsy are pending. (New York Post, by Stephanie Gaskell, May 2, 2006)

APRIL

• 9/11 Health Resolution Pulled From Consideration: New York delegation opinions differ, Fossella-Maloney resolution will not be considered today ... A Congressional resolution on the 9/11 health crisis that was scheduled for a vote today in the House of Representatives has been pulled (text of resolution). The New York delegation could not agree on language regarding the “responsibilities” of the federal government, New York City and New York State to address the crisis that would be accepted by the Energy and Commerce Committee. Reps. Vito Fossella (R-NY) and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), sponsors of the resolution, expressed their disappointment that the resolution did not pass but also expressed the hope that there will be movement on this issue later in the year. “We believe that this resolution represented an important step forward in forcing the federal government to finally develop a plan to address the growing 9/11 health crisis. It would have requested a plan for monitoring and treatment of absolutely everyone who inhaled the toxic air, including responders, volunteers, residents, workers and students. “The members of the New York delegation had a wide range of opinions on the issues. Unfortunately, we could not come to an agreement on language that satisfied the delegation as a whole as well as the Energy and Commerce Committee. Therefore, we felt it was in the best interests of the 9/11 responders to withdraw the resolution at this time. We will continue working with our colleagues to require the federal government to develop a comprehensive plan to help those who are sick meet their health challenges. “We are disappointed that we not only lack a federal plan to help the sick, but that we also still don’t have a directive for HHS to make a plan. Some members of the delegation were worried about shared responsibilities. ... (News Release, Sept. 29, 2006)
  
• No remains in bank building, 9/11 kin told ... "The opinion of the experts is there is no likelihood of finding human remains," said Charles Maikish, of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center. ... More than 700 human bone fragments were found on the roof of the former Deutsche Bank building on Liberty St. But other parts of the building have never been thoroughly searched and some relatives accused officials of ignoring their concerns. ... (NYDaily News, by Greg. B. Smith, Sept. 29, 2006)
  
• Health Omission .... On September 7, 2006, St. Paul’s Chapel was packed with over 300 people who were concerned about the environmental impact of 9/11 on their health. These included residents, office workers, students and concerned parents. Science and medical experts from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, Bellevue and Mount Sinai treatment centers presented their findings. Elected officials spoke out. Dr. John Howard, the new 9/11 health commissioner, was there to listen to them and to hear comments from the audience. I was disappointed that there was no article about this town hall forum in the Downtown Express. This was an important local event and I don’t understand why it wasn’t covered here. While I appreciate your coverage of this subject in the past I consider this omission a serious lapse. (scroll down, Downtown Express: Letter to the Editor, by Diane Stein, Sept. 29 - Oct. 5, 2006)
  
• EPA AND BACK-DOOR POLITICS JEOPARDIZE PUBLIC HEALTH AND IGNORE HUMAN REMAINS AT THE WTC SITE ... Our Family Groups have asked to sit in on  meetings to monitor the proper treatment of the human remains, which still remain at WTC perimeter five years after the deaths on September 11, 2001.  Our request has not been answered.  We can only surmise that the same back-room tactics used to get the OK for the demolition at 130 Liberty Street will be used as precedent for Fiterman Hall and all the other contaminated buildings. We reiterate our right to be part of the ongoing process which deals with the reclamation of human remains at and near the WTC site, and we once again request that an expert liaison, chosen by the families, be permitted to remain on site during this painful process. We expect something more from the City of New York than the deadly silence we have consistently received regarding the entire human remains issue at the WTC site. And so, to the health concerns of workers and residents and to the concerns about the proper treatment of human remains, the response seems to be, perennially,  "no comment."  The EPA should remember what happened to the health of so many first responders, volunteers and downtown residents the last time expediency was put ahead of health concerns, and the last time a dollar amount was put ahead of human decency. We insist that the EPA reconsider its over-ride of local concerns and protect the population as it is mandated to do. We insist that our elected officials and those running for City and State public office intervene in this matter immediately. This is further evidence of the need for a Congressional Hearing into such issues as toxic air, public health and the retrieval of human remains in the areas surrounding the World Trade Center site. ... (News Release, 09/26/06)
• Rice Reportedly Signed Off On 9/11 "Safe To Breather" Documents ... Former EPA head Christie Whitman has come under fire from city leaders who accuse her of deceiving the public about the air quality after September 11th, but according to the New York Post, Condoleezza Rice also approved documents declaring the air around the World Trade Center site "safe to breathe." The paper says Rice – then head of the National Security council – gave final approval to those infamous EPA press releases days after 9/11. ... (NY1, Sept. 24, 2006)
  
• Pataki pushed EPA ... Gov. Pataki privately pressured regulators enforcing safe demolition of the toxic former Deutsche Bank tower to make sure the Ground Zero building comes down as soon as possible, the Daily News has learned. Pataki chief of staff John Cahill and two other top aides had a closed-door sitdown in Washington last Monday with the No.2 official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a regional EPA spokeswoman confirmed. Pataki's aides requested the meeting to let EPA know "about the need for the project to move forward quickly," according to EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears. By going to the top, Pataki went over the heads of the local EPA inspectors, who have repeatedly questioned the safety of the state's proposed methods for taking down the ruined ... Asked whether Pataki officials had requested the EPA to lower standards as it oversees demolition of 130 Liberty St., Mears said, "No comment." The private meeting highlights the conflict between Pataki's desire to bring down what he calls "a blight on downtown" and neighborhood fears that dust from the fallen twin towers will be released during demolition. Pataki's pressure on the EPA comes as the agency has found itself in a crossfire for not doing enough to protect World Trade Center rescue workers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.Critics of the state's handling of the tower at 130 Liberty St. question why Pataki's aides bypassed local regulators in their push for an accelerated schedule. "These kind of back-room meetings out of the public eye are not reassuring," said Dave Newman of the New York Commission on Occupational Safety and Health, a nonprofit group pressing for a safe demolition. "The large question is quite apparent," he said. "It seems to me it's unlikely they went down there for any other reason than to get the EPA to back off." EPA officials and a Pataki spokeswoman refused to discuss the meeting. Mears did confirm that EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock met in Peacock's Washington office with Cahill, the governor's point man on Ground Zero rebuilding; Charles Fox, Pataki's deputy secretary on environmental issues, and Charles Maikish, head of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center. Peacock "heard them out and reiterated the need to make sure this is done right," Mears said. "We reminded them to do the project in a way that's protective to human health." Mears said the EPA agreed the agency "would get comments back to them as expeditiously as possible." By Thursday, the EPA had approved the state's demolition plan - a plan that had been bogged down in negotiations with the EPA's local office for months. ... (NYDaily News, by Greg B. Smith, September 24, 2006)
  
• Cancer Shock At Ground Zero HS ... When the towers tumbled, the kids were engulfed in a "huge cloud of dust," and Friedlander, the senior-class president, ran for his life. Less than a month later, on Oct. 9, while the WTC fires still smoldered, spitting acrid smoke into the air, Stuyvesant students were called back to the school. Now Friedlander, 22, has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, and fears that his cancer may be linked to that toxic soup. He is one of more than 170 other Stuyvesant grads who have joined a petition calling for a government-sponsored study, screening and health care for kids who went to Stuyvesant in the year after the terror strikes. When the towers tumbled, the kids were engulfed in a "huge cloud of dust," and Friedlander, the senior-class president, ran for his life. Less than a month later, on Oct. 9, while the WTC fires still smoldered, spitting acrid smoke into the air, Stuyvesant students were called back to the school. Now Friedlander, 22, has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, and fears that his cancer may be linked to that toxic soup. He is one of more than 170 other Stuyvesant grads who have joined a petition calling for a government-sponsored study, screening and health care for kids who went to Stuyvesant in the year after the terror strikes. ... He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a white-blood-cell cancer. .... Friedlander is undergoing six months of chemotherapy and staying at his parents' Upper West Side apartment. His mother, Edna Golandsky, is worried. "When he was diagnosed, the air quality at his school was the first thing I thought about," she said. For his part, Friedlander is outraged. "I'm angry that I'm sick . . . and I think of how my Hodgkin's could be linked to going to school at Ground Zero," he said. (NYPost, Sept. 24, 2006)
  
• Rice OK'D Claim of 'Safe Air' After 9/11 ... Condoleezza Rice's office gave final approval to the infamous Environmental Protection Agency press releases days after 9/11 claiming the air around Ground Zero was "safe to breathe," internal documents show. Now Secretary of State, Rice was then head of the National Security Council - "the final decision maker" on EPA statements about lower Manhattan air quality, the documents say. Scientists and lawmakers have since deemed the air rife with toxins. Early tests known to the EPA at the time had already found high asbestos levels, the notes say. But those results were omitted from the press releases because of "competing priorities" such as national security and "opening Wall Street," according to a report by the EPA's inspector general. The chief of staff for then-EPA head Christie Todd Whitman, Eileen McGinnis, told the inspector general of heated discussions, including "screaming telephone calls," about what to put in the press releases. The notes come from a 2003 probe into public assurances made on Sept. 16, five days after the 9/11 attacks. They tell how a White House staffer "worked with Dr. Condoleezza Rice's press secretary" on reviewing the press releases for weeks. Whitman said through a spokeswoman Friday that she never discussed her press releases directly with Rice. She also defended her collaboration with the White House. ... (NY Post, by Susan Edelman, Heather Gilmore and Brad Hamilton, Sept. 24, 2006)
  
• Shaw announces lung program for South Floriday 911 rescuers ... The District 22 congressman was in Palm Beach County Monday to announce a new program for Florida hospitals to provide lung screenings to the hundreds of firefighters and paramedics from Florida who went to New York in the aftermath of 9-11 to assist in the recovery efforts at Ground Zero. ... Typically, an adult loses 31 milliliters in FEV per year. But Ground Zero workers lost 372 milliliters - a rate of decline 12 times the normal annual rate, the report said. ... (Boca Raton news, Sept. 24, 2006)
  
• Spano bill would help Ground Zero workers ... State Sen. Nicholas Spano says he will introduce a bill to help clear the way for Ground Zero recovery workers to sue government agencies over illnesses they suffered in the aftermath of the World Trade Center collapse. State law ordinarily imposes a 90-day deadline from the date of injury on anyone filing a claim against a government agency. Spano said that given the urgency of the recovery work, the nature of the illnesses and the misinformation about health risks involved, workers deserve another year to file a claim. "Their rights should not be taken away from them because of technicalities in the law," said Spano, R-Yonkers. ... (The Journal News, Sept. 23, 2006)
  
• Clinton, Kennedy call for health hearings ... Democratic Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Edward Kennedy are calling on the Republican chairperson of the Senate’s health committee to set up hearings on Clinton’s bill to provide health money for workers and residents suffering from the 9/11 recovery and cleanup operation. The New York and Massachusetts senators wrote to Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming asking him to schedule the hearings. Clinton introduced a bill on Sept. 13 that would set aside $1.9 billion for World Trade Center emergency responders and clean-up workers. The money would go toward health care for those who are suffering from both mental and physical health problems resulting from the disaster. U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents the Downtown district, has a comparable bill in the House. ... (Downtown Exress, September 22-29, 2006)
  
• E.P.A.: Shroud will come down! Agency approves Deutsche demolition .... The Deutsche Bank building, a 40-story cauldron of toxic debris that has lorded over the World Trade Center site for half a decade, will soon be a thing of the past. ... The roof passed a final inspection this week and regulators hashed out final demolition details with the command center and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the state-city agency that purchased the building from Deutsche Bank in order to demolish it. “Everything's okay on our end,” Mary Mears, an Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson, told Downtown Express on Thursday. “Now it's a question of Department of Buildings issuing permits.” E.P.A. sent a letter to the Buildings Dept. on Thursday telling them they had approved L.M.D.C.'s demolition plan, allowing the corporation to apply for the necessary demolition permits. Mears indicated that the L.M.D.C. might need to work out concerns about the possability of a building collapse during the demolition with the Buildings Dept. ... (Downtown Exress, by Ronda Kaysen, September 22-29, 2006)
  
• Long-delayed shroud removal ... We fully understand any of you who are thinking “I’ll believe it when I see it,” but it looks like the shrouded and damaged Deutsche Bank building that has haunted the World Trade Center site for five years may finally begin to come down next month. The Environmental Protection Agency’s spokesperson told us Wednesday the agency likes the adjusted demolition plan Downtown rebuilding officials presented and the E.P.A. expects to give the final okay this week. ... (Downtown Express Editorial, September 22-29, 2006)
  
• Demo of Broadway building, now contaminated, to resume ... If the building wasn’t contaminated before officials demanded demolition work stop, it sure is now. Last April, demolition work at 189 Broadway ground to a halt when U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and Community Board 1 vice chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes raised concerns about possible asbestos and 9/11 contamination in the building. ... “All buildings [facing demolition] that are in Lower Manhattan need to have a characterization report, like 189 Broadway,” said Gottheim. “These buildings are near the [W.T.C.] site, they had tons of dust and debris from the burning site. We have to ensure that a demolition is done properly so that it doesn’t cause any health problems.” Concerns about construction delays should be secondary, said Gottheim. Not everyone was confident that a building that appeared clean might actually be clean. “I’m a little perplexed by your reliance on photographs,” Jo Polett, a Tribeca resident whose apartment was eventually cleaned by the E.P.A. after lingering contaminants were found there, said at the public meeting. “A place can be contaminated and you can’t see it.” ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, September 22-29, 2006)
  
• Air quality controllers: participants check for pollutants in public art project .... With the help of Eyebeam, Singer made analyzing air quality easy by creating color-coded visuals that pop up on the devices’ screens when you point one downward. A sensor within the AIR device detects carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides in the surrounding air, and then a sphere of color starts to appear on the screen: polluted air is terror-alert red, clean air is blue, and shades of orange and yellow fall somewhere in between. ... There were a few other bugs in the rollout of AIR, like defective batteries. But Singer was quick to point out that AIR was created by tech-savvy artists ­— not Hewlett-Packard. “We’re not a major corporation that takes three years and spends millions of dollars to develop a product,” she said. “Though this project is definitely in its beta phase.” She expects the kinks will be worked out by this Monday, September 25, at which point all ten devices should be ready to be distributed to the 100 people who signed up to be part of AIR online. Watch for the results at www.pm-air.net. ... (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, September 22-29, 2006)
  
• Devastating Health Fallout: World Trade Center Cleanup Leaves Woman Suffering ... Connie Joyce was still nearly killed by the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil - even though she didn't go to ground-zero until a month after the 9/11 attack. Joyce, 55, worries that rising medical expenses and severely reduced income will combine to toss her out of her house. More than anything, the Iowa Park woman wants others to know that the disaster that struck five years ago remains a source of pain for many who were not at ground zero. "There are so many people like me, and they're not all in New York," she said. "Now we're sick, but we don't have any help." ... Plenty of irritants could have been inhaled, according to The World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program. Concrete dust, residue of burning plastics and fiberglass were just a few of the things in the air after the World trade Center towers collapsed. Asbestos was also in the dust and debris. According to the screening program, workers might have been exposed to hazards stirred up during site cleanup efforts, and the exposure could have lasted for months. Her problems started not long after arriving at the devastation, Joyce said. She had been working for BelforUSA, a disaster restoration company. A project manager with 10 years experience, Joyce was helping with the cleanup of buildings. She arrived at the scene Oct. 1, 2001. By early January, problems were obvious. "On Jan. 5, I got really sick. I couldn't breath," she said. "Both lungs went down at once." Joyce recovered, but became ill again three days later, she said. "I couldn't breathe at all," she said. Eventually, doctors at a downtown New York center had to perform an open lung biopsy, which showed some material had clumped inside of the organs. "They couldn't identify what it was because there was so much of it," she said. "They simply told me I wouldn't live to get down here." At the end of January, Joyce was able to leave the New York hospital. She returned to Iowa Park in February of that year. ...She's required to have breathing treatments and to use the steroid Prednisone. She said her stay at the New York hospital led to contracting a staph infection. It ultimately meant losing the use of the left side of her face. ... (Wichita Falls (Texas) Times Record News, By Michael Hines, September 22, 2006)
• Gov't Defends Whitman's 9/11 Environmental Reassurances ... The U.S. government asked a federal appeals court Thursday to find that former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman cannot be blamed for telling residents near the World Trade Center site that the environment was safe after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The government told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that a judge was wrong to force Whitman to face a 2004 lawsuit by residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who said they were exposed to hazardous dust and debris from the fallen twin towers. "It is difficult to fathom a pull as strong as the need to calm public fears in the wake of the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history," government lawyers wrote in papers submitted to the court. The government lawyers rejected claims that Whitman should be held personally liable for the environmental consequences of the Sept. 11 attacks and made to pay damages to properly clean homes, schools and businesses and forced to create a fund for medical monitoring of victims. "No decision of any court remotely suggests that a public statement, even a misleading public statement, could violate the substantive due process rights of thousands of individuals," the papers filed by Department of Justice lawyers in Washington said. ... (NBC, September 21, 2006)
  
• Linking 9/11-Related Illness To Toxic Air May Be Tough ... Proving that 9/11 responders are being killed by poisons inhaled at the World Trade Center site will be extremely tough under a draft of guidelines being written by the federal government. Earlier this week, Washington announced it wanted to draft guidelines to determine if any deaths were caused by exposure to toxins at the site. The draft of the guidelines, published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, indicates that there are not enough scientific studies or autopsies of first responders to link their deaths to the toxic site. However, the guidelines lay out a methodology for conducting autopsies going forward. The guidelines propose the creation of a "tissue banking" storage system, enabling medical experts to retest old specimens years after the fact to more authoritatively rule on whether a patient's death was WTC-related if new testing methods emerge. Coroners will be required to check for asbestos, metals and pulverized glass. A spokesman stresses that the guidelines are preliminary and the draft is still undergoing review by outside experts. ... (NY1, Sept. 22, 2006)
  
• Gov't Defends Whitman's 9/11 Environmental Reassurances ... The government lawyers rejected claims that Whitman should be held personally liable for the environmental consequences of the Sept. 11 attacks and made to pay damages to properly clean homes, schools and businesses and forced to create a fund for medical monitoring of victims. "No decision of any court remotely suggests that a public statement, even a misleading public statement, could violate the substantive due process rights of thousands of individuals," the papers filed by Department of Justice lawyers in Washington said. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts in Manhattan refused to dismiss Whitman as a defendant, calling her actions "conscience-shocking." ... (WNBC, Sept. 21, 2006)
• Pressure Still on Feds to Address 9/11 Health Crisis: Reps. Maloney and Fossella want Congress to send a message to HHS ... The fifth anniversary of 9/11 has passed, but the federal government still has no long-term plan to care for those made sick by the toxic air of Ground Zero, and New York-area Members of Congress are not letting them forget it. Today, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Vito Fossella (R-NY) introduced two pieces of legislation related to the 9/11 Health Crisis as they hosted sick 9/11 responders and leading 9/11-illness doctors on Capitol Hill to brief other Members. Fossella and Maloney are introducing a resolution (H. Res. 1031 - text below) under which Congress would request that the Department of Health and Human Services develop a long-term plan to deal with the health crisis. Maloney, along with Fossella, also introduced broad medical monitoring and treatment legislation (H.R. 6124 - http://maloney.house.gov/documents/911recovery/200609Remember911HealthAct.pdf), which is similar to the Remember 9/11 Health Act (H.R. 566), but also includes $1.9 billion in federal funds. This amount is the same that Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) proposed on the Senate floor last week. ... (Maloney News Release, Sept. 20, 2006)
  
• EPA: 9/11 Toxic Air Drifted Away From Ground Zero: Experts Say Contamination Stretched At Least 1 Mile ... "As late as the end of 2001 and the beginning of 2002 the experts were measuring unhealthy air a mile north of the pile at levels higher than the Kuwaiti oil field fires," said Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst for the EPA. That means that people living and working 20 blocks north of Liberty Street could have been breathing contaminated air for months. ... (WCBS, by Marcia Kramer, Sept. 19, 2006)
  
• Guidelines Sought For 9/11 Deaths ... Experts are drafting medical guidelines to help determine whether a person's death was caused by exposure to toxic pollutants from 9/11. John Howard, the Bush administration's medical director of World Trade Center health issues, is working with city agencies to gather data on all deaths possibly linked to 9/11. They will then "determine the existence of patterns of disease and any possible linkages with exposure to WTC toxic agents," Howard said. n a letter to Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), he wrote that the feds plan to fund medical institutions' drafting and implementing of guidelines for examining human remains. It's still unclear how many WTC-cleanup or other workers have died from inhaling asbestos, benzene, pulverized glass and other hazardous materials. While a New Jersey coroner found that exposure to Ground Zero contaminants caused NYPD detective James Zadroga's death by lung disease, city health officials have not linked the death of any Ground Zero worker to WTC exposure. (NYPost, by Carl Campanile, Sept. 18, 2006)
  
• Pryor, L.M.D.C.'s first hire, reflects on final days ... During Pryor’s tenure, the Environmental Protection Agency approved a demolition plan for the Deutsche Bank building on Liberty St., allowing the L.M.D.C. to finally begin cleaning the 9/11-contaminated building that it has wanted to demolish since it bought it in the summer of 2004. Scaffolding now scales the 40-story façade and a crane nearly reaches the top. Nevertheless, the cleanup has been hampered by setbacks. The cost of buying, cleaning and demolishing the building has soared from $135 million to $207 million. A floor-by-floor demolition was supposed to begin in June, but the E.P.A. has still not approved details for the demolition phase, and it is not clear when that will begin. Even the cleanup phase — so far the top five floors have been cleaned of toxins from the collapsing Trade Towers — has had its share of problems. Human remains found on the rooftop delayed the process and the E.P.A. temporarily halted work when asbestos was found in areas considered asbestos-free. ... The L.M.D.C. purchased the building in 2004 from Deutsche Bank, which was bogged down in litigation with its insurers. “The fact that it’s not physically coming down this instant isn’t a statement that work isn’t happening. There’s a lot of work happening.” (Downtown Express, by Ronda Kaysen, Sept. 15-21, 2006)
  
• L.M.D.C. shakes budget, finds $200 million ... When the corporation bought the damaged, contaminated Deutsche Bank building two years ago, it committed to spending $135 million on acquisition and demolition costs and the bank’s insurers assumed responsibility if the dismantlement cost more. Estimated costs of pollution insurance, environmental testing and meeting Environmental Protection Agency requirements – which the L.M.D.C. still has not done – has since brought the project’s total cost up to $207 million, and the corporation hopes to get the additional money back from the insurance companies. (Downtown Express, by Josh Rogers, September 15-21, 2006)
  
• Rudy's Black Cloud: WTC health risks may hurt Prex bid .... Since he appeared in Americans' living room as a figure of reassurance and grief five years ago, Rudy Giuliani's public image has been defined by his performance on Sept. 11, 2001. The day has made him one of the country's most popular men, rich and the front-runner, according to some polls, for the GOP nomination for President. But now his 9/11 aura is facing a challenge from critics who say he wasn't prepared for the attacks and downplayed health risks in the aftermath. His allies dispute the claims. But within his circle, some are worried that a political opponent could hit Giuliani where he's strongest. "The term being used within Giuliani's circle is 'swift boat,'" said a Republican insider familiar with conversations among Giuliani's aides. .... There's no "9/11 Families for Truth," no organized effort to damage [Rudy Giuliani]'s national reputation. But the seeds of it may be sprouting. Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son, Christian, died on 9/11, told the Daily News' Errol Louis that she intends to "Swift boat" Giuliani. 9/11," said Regenhard, who, citing a recent book by Wayne Barrett and Dan Collins, blames Giuliani for 9/11 communications breakdowns. ... (NYDaily News, by Ben Smith, Sept. 18, 2006)
  

• WTC Bombshell-Internal EPA Papers Fuel Christie Crictics ... Christie Todd Whitman, while head of the federal EPA, "conspired" to falsely reassure the public that the air around Ground Zero was safe to breath, according to critics and bombshell new documents. Hugh Kaufman, an EPA senior policy analyst, told The Post yesterday, that [Tina Kreisher] "blew the whistle not just on the White House, but on Whitman as well,"Kreisher's comment was included in the investigator's notes made during the interview with her. But her quote was not released in the EPA inspector general's final report in 2003, which blamed the White House - not Whitman - for telling the EPA to publicly play up reassuring information and downplay concerns about air around Ground Zero. ... Meanwhile, Whitman's newly released financial-disclosure forms show that she said seven months before 9/11 that she would not get involved in any issue related to the finances of the Port Authority - which owns the WTC site - because she or her family owned PA bonds. Its finances could be impacted by lawsuits growing of the cleanup. "I understand the following interests that belong to me, my spouse or my children present a conflict of interest," Whitman wrote at the time. She then listed various investments, including the bistate agency. But Whitman was involved at Ground Zero despite that recusal, although she or her family also owned shares of Citigroup, whose insurance-company subsidiary, The Travelers, paid out hundred of millions of dollars in claims to downtown residents displaced by the attacks. Critics said the documents indicate Whitman encouraged people to move back to near Ground Zero and work on the cleanup despite a health threat, which could have bolstered the bottom line of both the PA and Travelers. That's because both the PA and Travelers now can argue in civil suits that they believed there was little or no danger from the air around the Trade Center based on statements made by the EPA. David Worby, who represents 8,000 workers at and around Ground Zero, said, "The fact that the head of the EPA had a financial conflict defies imagination." ... (NYPost, by Susan Edelman & Dan Manigan, Sept. 18, 2006)
  
• Residents Hear Reports on 9/11 Health Impacts ... They are called the living victims. They are the rescue workers and Downtown residents who suffer respiratory and other health problems from the air they breathed in the months after the attack. “It is abundantly clear that thousands of people are already sick. Eventually, thousands more will be afflicted with late-onset, chronic illnesses.  Every day, every hour, more people begin to develop symptoms or become sicker,” said Congressman Jerold Nadler at a Sept. 7 press conference. That same day, at a well-attended town hall meeting at St. Paul’s Church on Sept. 7, federal 9/11 health coordinator John Howard listened for more than two hours to the results of scientific studies and the testimony of neighborhood residents. Following the meeting he said he believes Downtown residents have suffered ill health as a result of their exposure to the dust from the collapse of the towers. “I don’t think there is any doubt in my mind that there’s an association,” Howard said. ... “The federal, state and city governments are clearly culpable for recklessly allowing thousands of people to be exposed to environmental toxins in the days following 9/11,” he said. On Sept. 5 Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the city would provide $16 million over the next five years to fund a WTC Environmental Health Center at Bellevue Hospital/NYU, which will enable it to assess and treat up to 6,000 additional patients. The Center is scheduled to open in January 2007. There were concerns about having the city’s Department of Health (DOH) as the oversight agency. “When the DOH issued ill-advised guidelines, advising residents to clean up indoor spaces contaminated with WTC dust with wet rags and mops in the early days of the recovery process, it became directly responsible for countless unnecessary exposures. Residents are concerned that this same agency will play a major role in the implementation of the Mayor’s program,” said Nadler. ... (Tribeca Trib, by Etta Sanders, Sept. 18, 2006)
• Officials accused of 9/11 lies: EPA, White House deceived public about Ground Zero air quality, says ex-investigator of Sept. 11 response ... Hugh Kaufman, a former chief investigator for the EPA's inquiry into the response to Sept. 11, criticized government officials yesterday, accusing them of lying to the public about New York's air quality after the terrorist attacks. "Until we fix the broken government, none of us is safe," he said at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington at the screening of a documentary about Sept. 11-related illnesses. ... Before the screening, Kaufman released an EPA document showing that both the White House and Whitman, urged an EPA spokeswoman to "reassure the public" in the aftermath of the attacks. The document summarizes an August 2002 conference in which public affairs officials were interviewed about their department's response to Sept. 11. It quotes Tina Kreisher, a former associate administrator for the Office of Communications, Education and Media Relations. The document says: "When asked whether there was a conscious effort to reassure the public, Ms. Kreisher said there was such an effort. This emphasis 'came from the Administrator and the White House.'" Kaufman also released a February 2001 memo in which Whitman recused herself from dealing with matters affecting her investments, including Port Authority bonds. The Port Authority owns the World Trade Center site. ... Paramedic Marvin Bethea was buried twice in debris on Sept. 11 while escorting people to safety. Five weeks later, he suffered a stroke attributed to Sept. 11 stress and later was diagnosed with adult-onset asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic rhinitis. He was not awarded workers compensation until this year. ... (Newsday, by Jennifer Maloney, Sept. 18, 2006)
  
• Clear the air on 9/11 health issue ... Toward noon on Sept. 12, 2001, Westfield, some 20 miles from Manhattan, was enveloped in a stinking miasma. I was forced to take down the clothes I had hung outside to dry and place them back in my washing machine to rewash. Outdoor sports activities were canceled by the schools. ... (The Star Ledger; letter to the editor Eric Boehlert/Montclair, Sept. 17, 2006)
• Senate Kills Clinton's 2 Billion 9/11 Health Proposal ... Senator Hillary Clinton says she will keep pushing her $2 billion plan to address 9/11 health problems, even after Senate Republicans killed the measure. Senate leaders refused to allow a vote on Clinton's proposal, which would have set aside nearly $2 billion in grants for the treatment of workers and residents in Lower Manhattan. The money would have been doled out over five years, starting next year. Clinton drew up the plan in the wake of a recent report that said 70 percent of 9/11 first responders developed lung problems. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he supports her proposal, though he has disputed the report. (NY1, Sept. 15, 2006)
  
• In a Way, She Never left the Twin Towers ... Lynn Teirney ... It was Mr. Giuliani who appointed her deputy commissioner for intergovernmental affairs for the Fire Department in 1996. A dream job. ... Her red-rimmed eyes are a symptom not of chronic tears but of chronic sinusitis spawned, along with acid reflux, by exposure to the collapse and the recovery effort. ... (NYTimes, by Robin Finn, September 15, 2006)
  
• No $2 Billion for 9/11 Heroes: Senate dumps Hil's bid for med aid ... Senate Republicans killed a bid for nearly $2 billion to help sick 9/11 responders yesterday - blocking the measure without letting it come up for a vote. Senate leaders invoked parliamentary rules, saying Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) amendment to a measure funding port security was not "germane." People suffering the effects from 9/11's toxic dust were outraged by the move. "How could they just throw this out?" said Laura Picurro, of Toms River, N.J., whose husband, Joe, became disabled after doing volunteer iron work at Ground Zero. "Maybe they should talk to these sick and dying workers," she said. "I find it absurd they didn't even consider it." Clinton's amendment would have provided $5,800 a year for five years for each person sickened from Ground Zero exposure. She vowed to resubmit the measure or propose other legislation to help responders and nearby residents. "Their country should answer their calls for help," Clinton said. Although Clinton got stiffed on money for the sick, she did obtain passage of a measure to create a national monitoring system to keep tabs on people who suffer from responding to future attacks or disasters. Mayor Bloomberg, who has been reluctant to link the illnesses of 9/11 responders to their service, said he "absolutely" endorsed Clinton's proposal. "This was a national attack on the country, and I think the federal government has a responsibility," he said. "We cannot handle this ourselves. We just don't have enough money." ... (NYDaily News, by Lisa L. Colangelo, Michael Saul & Michael McAuliff, 15 September 2006)
  
• Probe sought of Whitman and WTC site ... Democrats from New York and New Jersey asked yesterday for an investigation that could lead to criminal charges against former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman for breathing problems suffered by thousands after the Sept. 11 attacks. Whitman told the Associated Press that she and the EPA "agreed then and I reiterate now that the air on the WTC site was not clean -- the consequence of millions of tons of burned debris from the most horrific attack in our nation's history. ... (The Star Ledger, September 14, 2006)
  
• Mayor Bloomberg supports massive Sept. 11 health program ... Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he supports an effort to get nearly $2 billion in federal aid for sick ground zero workers, even if he still won't concede their exposure to the toxic dust at the World Trade Center site made them sick."People who worked on the site or the closer they were, the more symptoms they have that are very troublesome," Bloomberg told reporters. "In a couple of cases those troublesome symptoms have turned into more than that." .Bloomberg, a Republican, said he supported an effort by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., to get $1.9 billion in federal funds to treat thousands of ground zero workers, office workers and area residents who were exposed to asbestos-laden dust and are sick. Senate Republicans on Thursday used a procedural maneuver to put off a vote on Clinton's proposal. Bloomberg said he was "particularly concerned about people five and 10 years from now that will come down with diseases that may or may not have been caused (by ground zero exposure), and if they were caused, then making sure we have the monies available to take care of them." The city has fought lawsuits by workers seeking compensation for claims of ground zero-related sicknesses, but the mayor recently said the federal government should assume responsibility, since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were a national crisis. .. (Newsdsay/AP, September 14, 2006)
  
• New Art Project Combins Science, Technology And Sculpture For Practical Purpose ... With the five-year anniversary of September 11th came renewed debate over the health effects of the World Trade Center disaster. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council is perhaps best know as the collective voice of Downtown arts organizations. Its newest art project, set to start Thursday, could involve hundreds of people in Lower Manhattan joining that discussion. The air quality of Lower Manhattan has been major issue and source of contention for politicians, environmentalists, health officials and now artists are tackling it as well, with the help of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. “We have actually commissioned a group called Preemptive Media,” says LMCC president Tom Healy. “And what Preemptive Media has done is they've made a handheld device – a really cool looking artistic device – but that will help people measure the air quality wherever they live Downtown.” Brooke Singer is one of the cofounders of the artist’s collective Preemptive Media. Their "Social Scultpure" project is call AIR or Area's Immediate Reading. And it involves handing out these devices to people in Lower Manhattan. “It’s a small mobile portable air pollution detection device,” says Preemptive Media co-founder Brooke Singer. “And it has a screen and you will see the levels of your air pollution specifically carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.” ... (NY1, Stephanie Simon, Sept. 14, 2006)
  
• Senator Clinton Announces New Proposal to Address 9/11 Health Effects: Underscores Need to Expand Monitoring and Treatment for First Responders, Volunteers, Residents and Others ... Emphasizing the need to expand medical and mental health monitoring and treatment of those whose health has been affected by 9/11, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today unveiled a new proposal to provide $1.9 billion in medical and mental health monitoring and treatment grants, available from 2007-2011, to firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, building and construction trades workers, volunteers, residents, and others whose health was directly impacted at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills. This funding would be administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and would expand access to health monitoring and health care to all of those who served, lived and worked in the area in the aftermath of 9/11. Senator Clinton announced her proposal in remarks on the floor of the Senate. ... (News Release, September 13, 2006)
  
• Will Whitman Be Prosecuted for 9/11 Lies? Reps Nadler, Weiner & Pascrell Request Special Counsel to Investigate Whether Criminal Charges Should be Filed ... Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) today wrote Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez requesting that a Special Counsel be appointed to investigate whether criminal charges should be brought against former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, and against other government officials, for taking actions that may have endangered the lives of thousands of people following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. "Christie Whitman repeatedly declared the air safe, and now thousands of people are sick, and some have died, from World Trade Center Contamination," said Rep. Nadler. "To add insult to injury, she just went on 60 minutes and tried to blame everybody else for her misdeeds. She must be held accountable," hed added. (News Release, Sept. 13, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Health: Help at Last? ... The big news story on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 seems to be the discovery of the "abandoned heroes" and forgotten victims of the attacks. A New York Post reporter wrote about the "shocking truth": many people had gotten seriously ill from the poisonous dust that the collapse of the Twin Towers spread across lower Manhattan. ... There are still more questions than answers. The scientific picture is far from complete. There is, for instance, no firm information about the health of people who live or work near Ground Zero. And while there has been the promise of action on all levels of government, it has yet to be seen whether the words will be followed with action. Skeptics are also withholding their judgment about some of the high- profile pronouncements from government officials that help is on the way. "You probably won't hear so much on September 12," said Catherine McVay Hughes, a member of lower Manhattan's Community Board One who has long pushed for a better response from all levels of government. ... These results are proof, many say, that the dust from 9/11 can be directly linked to serious health problems. Mt. Sinai's study, however, does not tell the whole story. It did not screen for cancer, or psychological problems. And its focus was entirely on rescue workers at Ground Zero – not people who returned to work in offices in lower Manhattan, or those who moved back into apartments nearby. "The lower Manhattan residents are the forgotten of the forgotten," said Yuichi Tamano of Beyond Ground Zero, a group pushing for recognition of the wider health problems related to 9/11.... (Gotham Gazette, Sept. 2006)
  
• Three New Yorkers Reflect on September 11 ... I mean I still had a huge amount of anger toward Giuliani, because I think he -- besides being the culprit in the whole air quality issue which one day will come out when he’s running for president -- I really feel that he very much neglected his own. ... (Citilimits, Sept. 11, 2006)
  
• U.S. must provide treatment dollars for WTC sick ... Accountability for the health crisis that afflicts Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers rests heavily on the shoulders of federal and New York leaders - and so now does the obligation to provide top-of-the-line, free medical treatment both to the sick and to those who are going to become ill. ... But Giuliani did acknowledge, at least, that "it's everybody's responsibility," while, more importantly, recognizing the need to aid the sick. Said Giuliani yesterday: "I think now the answer is, you've got to take care of these people. The people who were injured, including some of my closest friends and some of my aides who have had serious repercussions, they need medical benefits. They need help. They need assistance, and the city, the state, the federal government shouldn't be shirking the responsibility." ... Helpfully, Eliot Spitzer - New York's presumptive governor in January - takes an aggressive approach, comparing the expense of providing health care for the forgotten victims of 9/11 with the price of redeveloping the Trade Center site. "Of all the costs involved in rebuilding, in making that site what it should be, the cost of taking care of the relief workers isn't even a footnote. So let's just do what's right," Spitzer told the Daily News Editorial Board. "By our dawdling over the last year, in terms of the plan itself, we have seen construction costs go up 30%, which has a dollar impact that so far outweighs anything we are talking about in terms of the health care of these workers. Let's just do what is right and decent." By Spitzer's lights, and ours, the federal government should provide the funding. ... The expenses, when the medical economists finally figure them out, will be considerable. But the burden should not fall on employers and workers who pay for health insurance coverage or on responders who are uninsured. ...In 2003, Clinton & Co. won $90 million to allow Mount Sinai and FDNY doctors to screen responders only through 2009. Then, after another tough push, they secured $75 million for treatment, the first federal dollars so designated. When the feds get around to delivering the money - one lump sum would be best - it will last for at best a couple of years. ... (NYDaily News: Editorial, Sept. 12, 2006)
  
• 9/11 anniversary brings mourning, hope ... Advocacy groups continue to push the city, state and the Environmental Protection Agency on testing these buildings for toxic contaminants left by Ground Zero's cloud of dust and smoke. "We are very much aware of the residents and office workers in the area of the World Trade Center buildings, and their issues have to be addressed in terms of health and contamination of those buildings," said Florence Coppola, coordinator of the UCC Office of National Disaster Ministries. Coppola said the UCC will continue to support health screenings and outreach to impacted people done through NYCOSH and Mt. Sinai Hospital. They will also reach out to people across the country who worked at Ground Zero and are now eligible to file with New York State workers' compensation should health issues arise. "It's good that things are moving forward, but it's bittersweet," she explained. "People are ill and dying." ... (Disaster News, by Heather Moyer, September 11, 2006)
• Guiliani Strikes Back At Whitman ... Former mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke out Sunday for the first time and played the blame game about the air quality at ground zero. CBS 2 obtained documents which allege the government reopened lower Manhattan even though the air was not safe. Former Environmental Protection Agency director Christie Whitman blamed the city. Giuliani on Sunday said not so fast. The true blame rests with her. It's now war. In an exclusive interview with CBS 2, Giuliani slammed Whitman for making people believe the air at ground zero was safe. "The reports we had on air quality from the EPA was the air quality was healthy or at least it wasn't dangerous," Giuliani told CBS 2's Dave Carlin. Whitman fired the first salvo, telling 60 Minutes the Giuliani Administration was responsible for people not knowing the true nature of the air quality at ground zero. When asked by Katie Couric who had ultimate authority over the site, Whitman was quick to point a finger. "Really it was the city who was the primary responder," Whitman said. However, Giuliani maintained Sunday that he was honest and open about air quality issues. "I put out all the reports that existed," Giuliani said. "Of course the reports that I put out were the same thing that Christie Whitman was saying publicly." ... (CBS2, Marcia Kramer, September 11, 2006)
  
• Buildings Rise From Rubble While Health Crumbles ... “Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11,” a powerful and persuasive one-hour documentary on the Sundance Channel tonight, analyzes that cloud (“a devastating toxic soup containing more than 2,500 contaminants”) and addresses its devastating legacy for the thousands of workers and others who breathed it in. News reports have mentioned some of these contaminants before, but this film is an eye-opener, superimposing the information in large letters on the screen and explaining some of their sources. In addition to more than 400 tons of asbestos, this film counts 90,000 tons of jet fuel containing benzene; mercury from more than a half-million fluorescent lights; 200,000 pounds of lead and cadmium from computers; crystalline silica from 420,000 tons of concrete, plasterboard and glass; and perhaps as much as two million pounds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the diesel-fueled fires. Some of those substances are carcinogens; others can cause kidney, liver, heart and nervous-system damage. ... Every disaster seeks a villain, and “Dust to Dust,” directed by Heidi Dehncke-Fisher, gives that honor to Christine Todd Whitman, then administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Whitman is shown several times reassuring reporters that the air is safe. In all fairness, on at least two of those occasions her reassurances (“There is not a reason for the general public to be concerned”) technically appear to refer to New York as a whole rather than to the affected areas near the twin towers. This is, at best, a sin of omission.Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, New Yorkers’ hero of the day, is seen at a lectern announcing, “The air quality is safe and acceptable.” Michael D. Brown, the erstwhile director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, comes off as relatively harmless, merely promising the federal government’s help. The program’s revelations about the rewriting of E.P.A. publicity releases are particularly damning. A Sept. 16, 2001, statement about one contaminant originally stated that samples “showed levels of asbestos ranging from 2.1 percent to 3.3 percent” and that the agency “views a 1 percent level as a definition for asbestos-containing material.” That wording was changed to say, with an Orwellian touch, that samples “contained small percentages of asbestos” and described those levels as “slightly above the 1 percent trigger for defining asbestos material.” Cautionary information in some releases is deleted altogether.These rewrites are openly, disapprovingly discussed here by Nikki L. Tinsley, the E.P.A.’s former inspector general. Many victims speak on camera for themselves, discussing their early symptoms (like nosebleeds and hacking coughs) and their current battles with an array of serious illnesses ... (NYTImes, by Anita Gates, September 11, 2006)
• Help 9/11 workers: The government has a duty to aid those suffering health woes ... There are two interlocking parts, as everyone knows, to the story of what happened five years ago today in lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon in Washington. One is the nightmare of the terrorist attacks. The other is the frenzied attempts at rescue and recovery by thousands of citizens, some of whom traveled from the Rochester region. They risked their lives to save others. ... (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Sept. 11, 2006)
  
• Ground Zero Workers Not Protected By Federal Officials ... (Medical News Today, 09/10/06)
  
• Q&A: Anthony DePalma, Environmental and Conservation Reporter ... Anthony DePalma answered reader questions and comments about workers made sick after exposure to toxic materials at ground zero. ... (NYTimes, September 2006)
  
• Some Kids Left Behind: Stuyvesant alums finally join the fight for 9-11 health benefits ... At home, she composed an open letter to her elected officials. She laid out the EPA's false assurances, as well as the city's promise that Stuyvesant had been wiped entirely free of WTC-related pollution—a promise that turned out to be untrue. Noting that 3,000 or so alumni went to the Chambers Street high school during the 2001-2002 academic year, she wrote: "As victims of 9/11, and, especially, victims of the misinformation campaign, we served as ‘draftees' in the media campaign to reassure the American people. At the least, in recognition of the risks we undertook simply by attending school, we should be guaranteed health insurance for the rest of our lives." She urged city and federal lawmakers to back a bill that would give Stuyvesant students the same coverage some first responders already receive: medical monitoring and, for those who develop pollution-related diseases, treatment. Nordstorm e-mailed the letter to friends, who passed it along to their friends. She later sent a mass mailing to all 500 students in the Stuyvesant Class of 2002, asking them to sign and spread the word. Students wrote to fellow alums on Facebook, the networking website. Nordstrom posted the letter on a blog, and the alumni magazine ran a blurb about it. The students are an obvious constituency. "There's a fair amount of enthusiasm for this idea," says Anna Cummings, of the Class of 2003, an active organizer. To date, the letter has drawn 170 signatures and counting. ... Within one month, on October 9, they were ordered back to Stuyvesant High, with official word that the building had been properly cleaned. Education officials assured their parents that the city had spent $1 million on a full asbestos abatement. Four months later, families would discover the vents hadn't been wiped at all. ... That winter parents hired an engineer, who found high levels of asbestos and lead in the building. Education officials stonewalled, until Senator Hillary Clinton forced them to admit the truth about the vents at a hearing in February 2002. When parents filed a lawsuit, the school department agreed to clean the ventilation system—in the summer of 2002. ... (Village Voice, by Kristen Lombardi, September 10, 2006)
  
• Congress Criticizes Federal Response to Illnesses After 9/11 and Seeks More Spending ... After listening to recovery workers at ground zero and downtown residents emotionally describe how they had been ignored and insulted as they sought help for health problems after 9/11, members of a Congressional subcommittee roundly criticized the federal response yesterday and called for sharply increased medical spending. Subcommittee members, joined by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, accused the Bush administration of ignoring the health problems that arose among workers who toiled at ground zero and the claims of downtown residents who say they were also sickened by the dust. The administration has done little to prepare for a similar disaster in the future, they said. ... Lea Geronimo, a resident of the Lower East Side, said it was the assurance from the E.P.A. that led her to return to her home and office three blocks from ground zero a week after the towers collapsed. She said she developed bronchitis and severe rashes a few months later. “Our lives will never be the same, and we will not tolerate half-measures and the whisper of a promise,” she testified. “We need a comprehensive long-term treatment and study program to provide immediate care for residents and workers in Lower Manhattan.” The health of downtown residents has not been as well studied as that of ground zero workers, but limited medical surveys have indicated that many residents developed respiratory problems after 9/11, though the extent to which those problems have persisted is not known. More than 100 residents gathered Thursday night at St. Paul’s Chapel to demand screening and treatment. ... On Thursday, Dr. John O. Agwunobi, the assistant secretary for health of the Department of Health and Human Services, was named by Michael O. Leavitt, the department secretary, to lead a policy task force to develop programs for dealing with the 9/11 health issues. Dr. Howard said he would continue in his current position as coordinator with groups in New York while also helping to shape new policies. (NYTimes, by Anthonty DePalma, September 9, 2006)
• Editorial: Veterans of Sept. 11... One of the worst things about listening to those who rushed to ground zero after the attacks on Sept. 11 is that you can barely hear their stories. For many, the lungs hardly work. The cough, the ragged breathing, the confusion and even the bitterness make it hard for some of those who labored in that toxic cloud to explain how they feel forgotten. Like Steven Centore, a former federal worker from Flanders, N.Y., who became so emotional at a Congressional hearing in Manhattan yesterday that he had to be gently reminded of his own condition. Sick from his time working at ground zero, Mr. Centore was forced to pay for his treatment, and the federal government offered only one thing, he said: a “screening” that determined he was indeed sick. “You mean I’m just a data point for you,” he recalled saying to the nurse filling out his forms. People like Mr. Centore and maybe 40,000 others from across the country must be treated for diseases that become more obvious every week. As Mount Sinai Medical Center reported Tuesday, as many as seven in 10 of those who worked at ground zero and Fresh Kills on Staten Island have felt their lungs deteriorate because of their heroism. What the veterans of Sept. 11 need now is a national response, which is not a strong suit these days in Washington. There are a number of partial efforts to help by city, state, federal and private sources. But somebody has to make sure that those who are suffering don’t fall through the many gaps. Recommendations worth considering include putting those without health care under Medicare. The federal government should also restore the Victims Compensation Fund, which originally focused on victims’ families and was phased out in 2003. This time the fund should pay for health care of these emergency workers. If something drastic is not done soon, there are lawsuits involving as many as 8,000 people that could end up costing taxpayers a lot more in the long run. For some politicians, the message seems to have gotten through — especially as the nation remembers the attack five years ago this Monday. Members of Congress from the New York area have been pressuring to get more federal money for these responders. And Michael Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, has promised to create a task force to provide some organization and to figure out the best ways to proceed. Creating a task force sounds like a delay rather than an answer, but the politicians from the Northeast who have been trumpeting this cause should now keep pestering Mr. Leavitt to move quickly. ... They came when the nation was attacked. Taking care of them now is a national obligation. (NYTimes, September 9, 2006)
• Lawmakers Say Ground Zero Workers Unsafe ... In a daylong House hearing Friday, lawmakers criticized the government's public assurances about the air around the World Trade Center site. ... City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said the federal government was responsible for work safety at the site, and said of Whitman's post-Sept. 11 assurance, "I don't think that was an appropriate way to word the message."Others appearing at the hearing before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, included Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who accused the EPA of lying to New Yorkers and endangering public health. At a separate event Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the city's handling of the disaster, saying it did distribute masks. ... (WashingPost, by Devlin Barrett, 09/09/06)
  
• Major Changes in NYC Healthcare Use After 9/11: Study ... There was a sharp decline in healthcare usage in the New York City region during the three weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but usage then rose above expected levels over the following months, concludes a study in the September issue of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism. Researchers analyzed health insurance claims from January 2000 to March 2002 for more than two million residents of the New York City region. The greatest decline in healthcare usage in the weeks after Sept. 11 was among people who lived closest to the World Trade Center (WTC) site. For example, there was an overall 11 percent decline in visits to doctors' offices in the three weeks after 9/11, but a 15 percent decline in office visits by people who lived within a 10-mile radius of the WTC. The decline in office visits in those first few weeks was likely related to disruptions in access to healthcare services or transportation, the researchers said. In addition, many people may have decided to postpone healthcare visits in order to take care of more immediate issues. ... Between October 2001 and March 2002, the number of visits to doctors' offices was more than 200,000 over expected levels, the study found. In related news, residents living near the World Trade Center site said the U.S. federal government has ignored health problems they have suffered as a result of the 9/11 attacks. At a meeting held Thursday, accountant Tom Goodkind, 52, said that while there are programs for rescue/cleanup workers, little has been done for area residents, the Associated Press reported. "I don't think that any of these groups have looked at the children of our neighborhoods," Goodkind said. "Collateral damage, that's what I feel like," said tenant group leader Diane Lapson. ... (Forbes, September 9, 2006)
  
• Time to stop the toxic lies of 9/11: Federal, city leaders shouldbe owning up to WTC health risks ... The very leaders who failed to protect countless New Yorkers from the toxic pollution after Sept. 11 are now trying to blame each other. What they should be doing is owning up to their lies and deceits. In the weeks after the World Trade Center collapse, this column repeatedly warned that federal, state and city leaders were all hiding the true extent of environmental hazards in lower Manhattan. Instead of admitting the truth, city and federal officials attacked those columns as alarmist and irresponsible - and they exerted enormous pressure on the Daily News to stop publishing them. ... Whitman now wants to blame Giuliani for lack of safety enforcement at the WTC site. The city was in charge of Ground Zero and the EPA "didn't have the authority to do that," she says. Another deceit. Yes, Giuliani and the city failed miserably to enforce federal safety rules at the site. For weeks, the city did not ensure that every worker used proper respirators and decontamination methods - something federal inspectors noted in a highly critical report on Oct. 6, 2001. But Whitman's agency had the legal power to step in at any time and take control, under a 1998 presidential directive that puts the EPA in charge of cleaning up contaminated sites after a terrorist attack. More importantly, the EPA created a false sense of security among rescue workers and the public after 9/11. Whitman herself said the agency's early testing of air and dust showed "no reason for concern." That reassuring message had its roots in the White House. Three years ago, the EPA's inspector general revealed that White House aides rewrote the agency's initial press releases to lull both the public and rescue workers into thinking everything was okay. ... (NYDaily News, by Juan Gonzales, 09/09/06)
  
• I also became sick, sez top Rudy aide ... In the days after 9/11, former Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota was among the highest-ranking city officials at Ground Zero - a place he visited often during eight months of cleanup. But now Lhota, like so many others who responded to the tragedy, is sick with a life-threatening disease that he believes was caused by his time at Ground Zero. "Do I think it was linked? Yeah, I do," Lhota, 52, told the Daily News. "Can I prove it? No, I can't." Lhota declined to offer specifics about his condition, saying only that he has responded well to months of treatment - all of which was paid for by private insurance. ... "It is the responsibility of government - city, state and federal - to work together to take care of the men and women who worked on that Pile," Lhota said. "We shouldn't be fighting on this issue." Lhota also hit back at charges - lobbed by former Environmental Protection Agency head Christie Whitman on this Sunday's "60 Minutes" - that the city knew air quality on the pile was unsafe and should have forced rescuers to wear respirators. "The comments she has made to '60 Minutes' are grossly inconsistent with the comments she made in 2001," said Lhota, referring to Whitman's repeated assurances then that the city's air was safe to breathe. (NYDaily News, by David Saltonstall, 09/09/06)
  
• 9/11 dogs dodge ailments ... Five years after an estimated 350 fearless canines spent 14-hour days with their noses to the ground, searching for signs of life amid the smoldering, toxic rubble, veterinary researchers have found surprising results. Although nearly 70% of World Trade Center human responders suffered lung symptoms during or after the Sept. 11 attacks, surprisingly, researchers say hundreds of the heroic search-and-rescue dogs have suffered few health issues related to the attacks. "We have found no profound patterns of disease," said Dr. Phil Fox, a veterinarian at Manhattan's Animal Medical Center, who conducted a five-year study on 27 NYPD canine and bomb detection unit dogs deployed after 9/11. "It tells us these dogs are more resilient than we thought." Half or more of the heroic NYPD search-and-rescue dogs, whose average age when deployed was between 4 and 5 years old, have since retired or died, most from age-related ailments or diseases common in older dogs, including cancer. Despite working without masks or protective gear, dogs may have had several advantages over humans: Asthma is uncommon in dogs, most dogs arrived after the collapse and a dog's longer nose allows him to filter the air more effectively. A second study at the University of Pennsylvania of 97 dogs that worked at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island also found no evidence of adverse health effects. ... Still, some critics question the results. NYPD Capt. Scott Shields, whose 11-year-old golden retriever, Bear, was one of the first dogs to search the rubble at Ground Zero, believes a study of this magnitude should be run by a "viable" agency with a bigger budget, more dogs and a team of expert toxicologists and epidemiologists. Bear was injured while working at the site, and the periphery of his wound became cancerous. The brave dog recovered and continued working but then died one year later, just shy of his 13th birthday, from multiple forms of cancer.Today, Shields remains uncertain whether it was related to 9/11. In the past five years, many of the fearless dogs have died, some have retired and others are still happily at work. ... (NYDailyNews, by Amy Sacks, 09/09/06)
  
• Dad wants Christie locked up ... City Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden also was put on the hot seat.Under intense grilling from Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn), Frieden appeared to contradict Mayor Bloomberg's position on the cause of the illnesses now evident among so many rescue and recovery workers. "There is no doubt from the city's point of view that there are people ill because of their exposure at the World Trade Center," Frieden said. ... The congressional hearing occurred a day after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt pledged to release $75 million to treat - and not merely monitor - ailing Ground Zero heroes. (NYDaily News, by Paul H.B. Shin, 09/09/06)
  
• Harmful Legacy of Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero: How Post 9/11 Disaster Policy Endangers America ... The report urges stronger oversight by Congress and advocates major changes in federal disaster response policies, so that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) can carry out their duties to protect health, free from political interference.... (Sierra Club, by Suzanne Mattei, September 8, 2006)
• Residents, politicians point fingers during 9/11 health hearings ... Ex-EPA chief Christie Whitman claims her commetns about air safety were misunderstoof .... Thousands of people affected by the toxic air from 9/11 made a plea for help at health hearings Friday. Officials say there was a lot of finger-pointing, with residents calling for answers and politicians running for cover. ... Retired policeman Joseph Zadroga is now raising his granddaughter because his son died from black lung disease after working at the site for several months. Zadroga says he is now furious with Whitman. ... (abc7, Sept. 8, 2006)
• Hearing in session on growing 9/11 health problems ... Former EPA Chief, Christine Todd Whitman blamed for saying the air was safe, she says she was misunderstood ... Lawmakers are grilling federal attacks today on the growing health problems facing first responders at Ground Zero on September 11th. Former EPA Chief Christie Todd Whitman, who five years ago said the air was safe, now says we all misunderstood her. ... (abc7, Sept. 8, 2006)
• Collapse warning at Deutsche Bank ... Officials have raised concerns about a possible massive floor collapse during the planned demolition of the Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero, the Daily News has learned. In comments to the state agency overseeing the tearing down of the 40-story tower, federal regulators demanded that workers now removing toxic dust from the interior be evacuated before any demolition starts.Occupational Safety & Health Administration officials warned, "An unexpected collapse could very well pancake the floors quicker than employees below could evacuate." OSHA joined state Department of Labor inspectors, who also demanded a total evacuation in the early stages of the demolition until conditions are deemed safe for workers inside the tower. Both agencies expressed concerns about unforeseen factors, including the possibility that vibrations from equipment used in the demolition could cause a sudden collapse."It could be that there are additional static or dynamic loads or vibrations that have not been considered," OSHA wrote. ... LMDC spokeswoman Kori-Ann Taylor said yesterday the demolition would be overseen by the engineering company of Thornton-Tomasetti, which would "ensure that all deconstruction activities maintain the building's stability throughout the process." The agency had said it would begin demolition in the fall, but other officials say they have no idea when the work at 130 Liberty St. will begin. ... (NYDaily News, by Greg B. Smith, September 8, 2006)
  
• Former EPA Chief Blames Giuliani For Lack of Masks at WTC Site ... Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman says it's the Giuliani administration's fault World Trade Center rescue workers are suffering from September 11th-related illnesses, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg is defending his predecessor’s actions. ... Meanwhile, Downtown residents turned out Thursday night for a meeting with medical experts about their post-September 11th health concerns. "We went on from the very beginning to say that this air is toxic, our kids have asthma, I'm having breathing problems, and the only thing that we were told was go back to work, to stay in our homes, to keep breathing that air and to clean it up ourselves," said one Lower Manhattan resident. ... (NY1, Sept. 8, 2006)
  
• Whitman piles blame on Rudy: Says EPA warned city of health risks at toxic WTC ... Giuliani, in a statement to "60 Minutes," said only that government must work to address "any problems that may have developed" as a result of work at Ground Zero ... Press releases from the week after 9/11 do show the EPA urging workers to take mild precautions. They included wearing "dust masks" and urging rescue workers to "change their clothing." But those notes of caution were all but drowned out by reassuring statements by Whitman, whose words were widely interpreted to mean that the air everywhere in lower Manhattan was safe to breathe.... (NYDaily News, by David Saltonstall, September 8, 2006)
  
• HOW WE HAVE CHANGED ,... At the same time, many continue to worry about air quality. Some - including Olivia's father, Tom Goodkind - suffer from illnesses they believe may have been caused by the toxic dust and the smoke from fires that burned at Ground Zero for months. And despite assurances from rebuilding officials that the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St. will be decontaminated floor by floor, many still fear the health impacts of the structure's demolition. Filled with human remains and toxic contaminants, it still stands, shrouded in scaffolding and black netting.The residents wonder aloud, shouldn't the city make sure we're safe before they entice thousands more to live in lower Manhattan? ... City officials had promised that no area in lower Manhattan would be reopened until the dust and debris were cleared and that testing of the air quality had determined it was safe to allow people back. But a recent Newsday investigation found that even as city and federal government were reassuring New Yorkers the air at Ground Zero was safe in the weeks after Sept. 11, some officials were sounding the alarm within their agencies about air quality at the site. "It cost a lot of people their health," Goodkind said. Goodkind now wears a pacemaker and has had two cases of double-pneumonia in the past two years. He doesn't have the energy he used to, and he has trouble breathing. He believes his illness may have been caused by the smoke and dust he inhaled in the months after Sept. 11. ... (Newsday, by Jennifer Maloney, September 8, 2006)
  
• Nation: Our War Zone ... Gerson, 48, is the New York City councilor for District 1, which includes the World Trade Center site, and is a lifelong resident of the city. ... took office on Jan. 1, 2002. After 9/11 the nature of constituent issues drastically changed. Instead of worrying about potholes, I had to worry about whether apartment buildings were safe to live in. Instead of noise and pollution from traffic congestion, it was noise and pollution from debris cleanup. In Lower Manhattan, 9/11 is still a context for virtually all public issues. Of course there's a greater emphasis on preparedness, safety, emergency response. People still worry about the health of the volunteers, the residents, and the workers who were there. As chair of the committee for Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, I do have some frustrations. It's disappointing that we haven't had more progress at the site. Also, in the rush to return to normal, the city and the feds have not always erred on the side of caution with the environmental and health issues, as the recent Mt. Sinai report demonstrates so dramatically. ... (Time, Sep. 8, 2006)
  
• Lawmakers meet in New York to Discuss Sept 11 health problems ... (AP, Sept. 7, 2007)
• WTC health czar gets a swift kick ... U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said he was "bringing in the A-team," headed by his second-in-command, Dr. John Agwunobi, to oversee the task of monitoring and treating 9/11related illnesses. The move puzzled members of the New York congressional delegation, who were meeting with Leavitt and advocates for Ground Zero heroes in Washington to discuss the first batch of federal dollars being released to treat - not just monitor - ailing rescue and recovery workers. Leavitt's surprise announcement came just two days after Howard, the straight-talking director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, was quoted in The New York Times saying: "I'm a czar without a budget." "We were lucky enough to get someone as good and straightforward as Dr. Howard," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan, Queens). "I only hope that he isn't being pushed aside because he told the truth. He certainly isn't the B-team." ... Agwunobi was Jeb Bush's health secretary for four years in Florida before becoming Leavitt's assistant health secretary in December 2005.... (Daily News, by Michael McAuliff & Paul H.B. Shin, September 8, 2006)
  
• Federal 9/11 Health Chief to Speak at Town Hall Meeting ... The federal government’s chief coordinator of 9/11 health programs, faces what promises to be a feisty “town hall meeting” tonight. His visit comes on the heels of a Mount Sinai study that says 7 out of 10 rescuers have health problems that stem from the World Trade Center's collapse. REPORTER: Some residents and people who work or go to school in Lower Manhattan believe their health has been deteriorating since September 11th. They complain the only clinic set up for them – as opposed to firefighters or Ground Zero workers – is small and overwhelmed. ... REPORTER: Community Board One member Kathy McVeigh Hughes says CUNY has been a bad neighbor in the years since the attack. McVeigh: It’s five years and it is an eye sore. It is a constant reminder and it is something that should have been dealt with several years ago. REPORTER: Officials say that by the Fall of 2009 CUNY students will have a brand new state of the art facility that will cost $187 million dollars. College officials concede it took years to get their insurance settlement and to raise the money to rebuild. Winning local public confidence from a neighborhood that has been through so much has been a major challenge for officials. Word that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will soon go out of business is not helping. Community activists have locked horns with the Pataki creation but they say it gave them a place to plug in. Hughes, a civil engineer by training, heads the Community Board Number One’s World Trade Center task force. HUGHES: A lot of unknowns are out there now with LMDC being dissolved. We don’t even know what their time frame is for going out of business"..Who will be overseeing the demolition of Deutsche bank?....So who will the community go to when they have questions and for the accountability. Also after the building is taken down who is going to own that property and get the proceeds from that sale? ... (WNYC, by Fred Mogul, Sept. 7, 2006)
  
• Lawmaker Introduces Bill to Aid Sick 9/11 Responders, Residents ... On the heels of the release of a new study on the health problems of rescue and recovery workers at the World Trade Center site, a local Congressman proposed new legislation Thursday that is aimed at helping them, as well as those who lived and worked in Lower Manhattan. Under the 9/11 Comprehensive Health Benefits Act, anyone with related illnesses would get health benefits under Medicare. It would also put together a consortium to monitor and do research on the illnesses, as well as create a federally funded medical center to focus on them. Congressman Jerrold Nadler – who represents Lower Manhattan – introduced the bill. He says the federal government is to blame for telling people the air was safe downtown shortly after the attacks. ... Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is introducing companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.... Congressman Nadler does not expect the bill to pass in the closing weeks of Congress, but he hopes to hold hearings on the issue, when the new congress starts meeting in January. ... Meanwhile, Governor George Pataki wants the federal government to step up. Speaking with NY1's Rebecca Spitz, the governor says Washington should do more to help first responders and Lower Manhattan residents. ... (NY1, Sept. 7, 2006)
  
• Documents: Feds, City Knew of Ground Zero Toxins:  part II-- Memo: NYC Reopend WTC Area Despite EPA Warning ... has obtained documents revealing that Lower Manhattan was reopened a few weeks following the attack even though the air was not safe. The two devastating memos, written by the U.S. and local governments, show they knew. They knew the toxic soup created at Ground Zero was a deadly health hazard. Yet they sent workers into the pit and people back into their homes. One of the memos, from the New York City health department, dated Oct. 6, 2001, noted: "The mayor's office is under pressure from building owners ... in the Red Zone to open more of the city." The memo said the Department of Environmental Protection was "uncomfortable" with opening the areas but, "The mayor's office was directing the Office of Emergency Management to open the target areas next week." "Not only did they know it was unsafe, they didn't heed the words of more experienced people that worked for the city and E.P.A.," said Joel Kupferman, with the group Environmental Justice Project. Another part of the memo noted: "The E.P.A. has been very slow to make data results available and to date has not sufficiently informed the public of air quality issues arising from this disaster." ... It also doesn't suprise Carmen Flores, who lives in an apartment in the Baruch Houses that was engulfed in the 9/11 toxic plume. Her health has deteriorated and she has multiple medicines. "I feel forgotten," she said. Bruce Sprague, an E.P.A. official in the New York and New Jersey region during 9/11 admited to CBS 2 News the agency was finding alarming air quality readings at Ground Zero and in the surrounding areas. Sprague said the E.P.A. had written much more conservative health assessments, but the memos had to go to Washington. And when the White House got its hands on them, they -- according to Sprague -- softened them. ...(WCBS, Marica Kramer, Sept. 7, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Five Years Later: Questions about health effects remain, Researchers can't explain differences among responders ... Most emblematic among the respiratory illnesses, doctors say, is World Trade Center cough. ... "Basically, this started as a bit of a cough, but it seems to have gotten worse," said Charos, who adds that now, any exposure to airborne irritants produces coughing spasms. "I just don't have the endurance I used to have. ... Picciotto, a resident of Chester, N.Y., was treated for scratches on both corneas, which healed in a couple of months. He also had hearing problems caused by dust that was impacted in each ear canal. He said it took about a year for the debris to exit through his sinuses. Like Charos and others, Picciotto developed the dry, hacking cough, though he has weaned himself from his respiratory medications. ... (Newsday, by Delthia Ricks, Sept. 7, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Five Years Later: At WTC site, a rally for aid ... They swept up toxic dust from offices and sidewalks along Ground Zero, or simply remained in their lower Manhattan neighborhoods, living and working as life came back to normal. They are residents, undocumented immigrant workers and others who for years have said they, too, are sick - but are now bolstered by a conclusive medical study linking World Trade Center dust clouds to debilitating health problems. Scores of those workers and residents rallied across the street from Ground Zero yesterday, demanding that the state and federal government document their illnesses and provide them with long-term medical treatment. "In five years, we haven't seen one dollar," said Ines Belaez, 62, of Jackson Heights, who said she worked seven days a week cleaning offices along Church Street for a month after 9/11, and now has severe bronchitis, neurological dysfunction and depression. "Why did they lie to us and tell us that the air was clean?" Advocates say that the plight of low-income people and the uninsured has been overlooked as Gov. George Pataki and the federal government have focused on police officers, firefighters and construction workers when creating 9/11 health services. ... (Newsday, by Luis Perez, Sept. 7, 2006)
  
• Smoke Plume Dispersal from the World Trade Center Disaster ... While some airborne material circulated within the urban "canyons," much of the material was lifted above the buildings and transported great distances. As a result, surface level exposures were not as frequent and intense as they could have been under different meteorological conditions. To simulate the transport of pollutants in the plume, the researchers had to understand its behavior on scales ranging from tens of meters to several hundred kilometers. They calculated atmospheric motions using a multi-grid regional atmospheric modeling system covering scales from 250 meters to 300 kilometers. ... (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer, last updated 06 Sept 2006)
• Letter to the Editor:: Five Years Later ... Thank you for your Sept. 6 editorial “The Other Victims of Sept. 11.” As a physician, shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, I thought it was unconscionable, if not downright immoral, for the White House to put pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to suppress information on how toxic the fumes around ground zero truly were. Now, five years later, I feel that it is equally unconscionable that the Bush administration and the Republican Congress have allocated just $52 million for medical care for the thousands of brave rescuers and volunteers who were told the air was safe. And so far, not one cent has reached a real patient. I consider this a moral failure on the part of the federal government. (NYTimes, Robert Stuart, Sept. 6, 2006)
  
• Letter to the Editor:: Five Years Later . .. Thousands of downtown residents and office workers also inhaled large quantities of trade center dust on 9/11. Thanks to misleading advisories and superficial cleanups, many faced continuing exposure when they returned to their homes and offices as well. No facility comparable to the dedicated Mount Sinai Medical Center clinic exists to document the problems in this population, but that should not be a license to ignore its needs.Civilians who suffer long-term health effects also deserve federal support for assessment and treatment. (NYTimes, Mark Scherzer , Sept. 6, 2006)
  
• Business Close Out to Clear Way For Transit Hub ... It was Congressman Nadler and community groups that raised concerns when they learned the MTA was planning to take down the building back in April with no environmental oversight. The concern is that the building was never properly cleaned, and that removing it could stir up toxins. "We want to make sure that this dust, particularly if it is World Trade Center-contaminated, that it is mitigated, and that is not released to the surrounding neighborhood," Community Board 1 vice chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes. Unlike large buildings like the old Deutsche Bank building which is also slated to come down, the building at 189 Broadway is just two stories, and was reoccupied after 9/11. Still, the community groups appealed to the Environmental Protection Agency, and the MTA agreed to submit a plan to the EPA, which it did last month. Some might argue this is just the kind of red tape slowing down the entire rebuilding process, a notion Nadler rejects. "I would rather slow down the physical rebuilding of lower Manhattan and save lives," said Nadler. "It’s important that there's proper oversight and there's minimal exposure to people that live and work down here. A lot of children live in the financial district," said McVay Hughes. 189 Broadway can come down as soon as the EPA signs off on the MTA's plan. But that's not the end. To make way for the transit hub, it'll also have to take down all the buildings across the street. (NY1, by Bobby Cuz, September 06, 2006)
  
• The World Trade Center Disaster and the Health of Workers: Five-Year Assessment of a Unique Medical Screening Program ... Background. Approximately 40,000 rescue and recovery workers were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC). These workers included traditional first responders such as firefighters and police and a diverse population of construction, utility, and public sector workers. Results. Sixty-nine percent of 9,442 responders examined between July 2002 and April 2004 reported new or worsened respiratory symptoms while performing WTC work. Symptoms persisted to the time of examination in 59%. Among those who had been asymptomatic before 9/11, 61% developed respiratory symptoms while performing WTC work. Twenty-eight percent had abnormal spirometry. FVC was low in 21% of our population. Obstruction was present in 5%. Among non-smokers, 27% had abnormal spirometry vs. 13% in the general U.S. population. Prevalence of low FVC among nonsmokers was five-fold greater than in the U.S. population (20% vs. 4%). Respiratory symptoms and spirometry abnormalities were significantly associated with early arrival at the site.Conclusion. WTC responders had exposure-related increases in respiratory symptoms and PFT abnormalities that persisted up to 2.5 years after the attacks. Long-term medical monitoring is required to track persistence of these abnormalities and identify late effects, including possible malignancies. Lessons learned should guide future responses to civil disasters. ... (6 September 2006 online, Environmental Health Perspectives, Herbert et al)
  
• Study: 7 out of 10 WTC rescuers have suffered lung problems ... "There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick," said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mount Sinai.(Newsday, by Luis Perez, Sept. 6, 2006)
  
• Those other 9-11 victims speak out ... As the fifth anniversary of 9-11 approaches, the spotlight has finally trained on all the stories about the fallout from the World Trade Center disaster-all the stories about first responders getting sick from the toxic dust, for example. This week's findings from the Mount Sinai 9-11 study showing that 70 percent of ground zero workers have developed new respiratory illnesses pretty much confirms what activists have long described as a growing health crisis. And that's just the first responders, of course. Residents, office workers, clean-up workers: These people are suffering from the same litany of symptoms, to little recognition. Today, they seized the spotlight. More than 200 of them gathered across the street from ground zero, in lower Manhattan, where they protested the federal government's long-standing silence over the health effects of 9-11. "I'm one of the forgotten victims!" shouted Elaine Guillermo, standing on a makeshift stage, as the 250-strong crowd roared. She launched into a raucous chant-"What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!" ... (Village Voice, by Kristen Lombardi, Sept. 6, 2006)
  Large Study of World trade center Responders Finds Persistent Health Problems in Many: 60 Percent Still Suffer Respiratory Problems from Exposure to Environment at Site ... The findings are based upon medical examinations performed between July 2002 and April 2004 on 9,500 WTC responders. These responders were a highly diverse group and included members of the building trades, law enforcement officers, firefighters, utilities and telecommunications workers, transit workers, and many others. All received a comprehensive examination that included complete physical examination, mental health evaluation, pulmonary function tests, chest x-ray, blood tests and urinalysis. Overall, the monitoring program examined close to 12,000 responders during the 21-month period covered by the study; 9,500 of whom agreed to allow their results to be used in this report. ... The study published today focuses on respiratory health consequences, one of the earliest areas of concern to emerge. The study found that many responders were symptomatic, with high rates of pulmonary function abnormalities as long as two-and-a-half years after the disaster. The findings are particularly striking, in that the workers who served at the World Trade Center tended to be vigorous, healthy workers who held jobs in strenuous professions such as the building and utility trades before September 11. Specific findings included:
  * Almost 70 percent of World Trade Center responders had a new or worsened respiratory symptom that developed during or after their time working at the WTC
  * Among the responders who were asymptomatic before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the WTC
  * Close to 60 percent still had a new or worsened respiratory symptom at the time of their examination
  * One third had abnormal pulmonary function tests, much higher than expected
  * Severe respiratory conditions including pneumonia were significantly more common in the six months after 9/11 than in six months prior ...(News Release, MSSM, September 5, 2006)
  
• Mayor Bloomberg Announces Comprehensive Citywide Effort to Address 9/11 World Trade Cetner Health-Related Issues ... Establishment of WTC Environmental Health Center Will Expand Medical and Mental Health Screening, Evaluation and Treatment Services to a Greater Number of New Yorkers; Expansion of Health Department’s World Trade Center Unit Will Increase Monitoring, Resources and Communications to Physicians and Affected Individuals; Effort Also Includes Creation of a Mayoral Review Panel to Ensure Maximum Coordination between City Agencies and Assess Sufficiency of City, State and Federal Resources to Address Ongoing Health Needs ... (News Release, September 5, 2006)
  
• Mt. Sinai Releases Health Study Of 9/11 First Responders ... Nearly seven in 10 first responders suffered some sort of lung problem during or after their work at the World Trade Center site, according to a report released Tuesday by Mount Sinai. ... The report suggests that people who responded right after the attacks experience the worst health effects. "I have burnt lungs, I have asthma, reactive airway disease, gastric reflux, post-traumatic stress and a host of other things," said WTC responder John Graham. Senator Hillary Clinton stressed the importance of the study. "I'm underscoring that we look at these numbers and realize the significance," said Clinton. Despite the medical nature of the study, Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed skepticism at the results. "I haven't seen the Mount Sinai study, but I don't believe that you can say specifically a particular problem came from this particular effect," said Bloomberg. ... (NY1, Sept. 5, 2006)
  
• Many 9/11 Workers Have Lung Issues, Report Says ... In the largest study so far of post-9/11 health problems, almost 70 percent of workers who helped with the cleanup of the World Trade Center site suffered new or worsened respiratory symptoms, researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center found. The study found that people who worked on the cleanup had pulmonary abnormalities of twice the rate in the comparable United States population and that the abnormalities persisted for many months and, in some cases, years after exposure. The findings are based on medical examinations performed between July 2002 and April 2004 on 9,500 workers and volunteers who took part in the cleanup of the twin towers, doctors from the center said at a news conference today. The report found a high rate of illness among those studied, and also found that the illnesses persisted in high proportion years after the 2001 event. ... Of the group of 12,000 initially examined, 9,500 agreed to allow their results to be used in the report that will be published in Thursday’s edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Among the report’s chief findings: Almost 70 percent of those who responded had a new or worsened respiratory symptom that developed during or after their time working at the World Trade Center site. Among the workers who were showed no such symptoms before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the site. Almost 60 percent still had a new or worsened respiratory symptom when they were examined for the study. One third had abnormal pulmonary function tests, much higher than expected. Severe respiratory conditions, including pneumonia, were significantly more common in the six months after 9/11 than in the six months before the event. Those who arrived first at the site suffered the heaviest exposures, the report found, which is significant because 70 percent of those screened arrived at the site in the first few days after the disaster, between Sept. 11 and 13. In the past year, the responders seen by doctors involved in the study have suffered from upper respiratory illnesses, like sinusitis, laryngitis, and vocal cord dysfunction; lower respiratory disorders, like asthma and World Trade Center cough; ... (NYTimes, by Maria Newman, 09/05/06)
  
• Q&A:  Anthony DePalma, Environmental and Conservation Reporter ... (NYTimes)
  
• Lung Problems Rife Among WTC Responders ... "There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick," said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the group that has monitored the health of nearly 16,000 ground zero workers. Herbert said that most of the patients in the study first came to ground zero between Sept. 11 and Sept. 13, 2001, which exposed them to asbestos, pulverized concrete, mercury and toxins that will leave them chronically sick. "Our patients were very, very highly exposed, and are likely to suffer health consequences as a result of that for the rest of their lives," she said. Herbert was joined by lawmakers who accused the federal government of not doing enough to protect the workers' health and not spending enough to treat them. Mayor Michael Bloomberg cast doubt on the study's claims, saying, "I don't believe that you can say specifically a particular problem came from this particular event." ... Ironworker John Sferazo, who spent 30 days on the smoldering debris pile and now takes 26 medications a day to deal with his lung problems, said the White House did too little, too late. "If President Bush wanted this situation to be cleaned up, it would have been cleaned up long before now," he said. He said he was having trouble getting words out at Tuesday's news conference because he is constantly short of breath and has restrictive airway disease. "I'm lucky if I can run a city block without dropping dead," said Sferazo, 51.... The mayor announced that a World Trade Center clinic will open in January at a public hospital. Among those who will be treated there are illegal immigrants and uninsured people. (AP/Washington Post, Sept. 5, 2006)
  
• 'A horrible thing' Poll finds widespread anger over treatment of ill 9/11 workers ... Nearly five years after 9/11, 72% of New Yorkers say not enough is being done to help Ground Zero workers battle their emerging health problems - an issue Mayor Bloomberg is expected to address today with renewed vigor. The sense of anger over the slow-footed government response to workers' health needs is consistent across all ethnic and geographic boundaries in the city, the poll found. ... And while he stopped short of drawing a direct link between 9/11 and specific ailments - saying the effects of that day "are still largely unknown" - the mayor also acknowledged for the first time that some workers "have developed higher rates of both respiratory problems and psychological distress." ... "What I heard people saying is, 'We should be ashamed,'" said Mickey Blum of Blum & Weprin Associates, the firm that conducted the poll for The News. "People are angry about this one, and it's every group - young, old, black, white." Blum added that - much like everyone in the city seemed to know someone killed in the World Trade Center attacks - many now say they know someone who was made sick during the cleanup and is not getting proper attention. "People are taking it personally," said Blum, adding that most of the anger seemed to be directed at the feds, whom many see as less effective at addressing the aftermath of 9/11 than the city. ... NYDailyNews, by David Saltonstall, Sept. 5, 2006)
  
• Our debt to Ground Zero heroes: The city will do more for sick rescue workers, says mayor ...When our nation was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of New Yorkers and people from around the country came to our aid by assisting with the difficult and dangerous rescue and recovery work at Ground Zero. Our nation owes them more than an enormous debt of gratitude; we owe them support for their health and well-being. The destruction of the World Trade Center resulted in an unprecedented disaster, and only time will tell what the long-term health effects will be. After 9/11, the only thing we knew for certain was that we had to do everything possible to identify those effects, understand them, and use that knowledge to help people get the best possible treatment, at the earliest possible date. To do that, we immediately began creating a process to systematically monitor the health of those affected by 9/11 and assist them in getting information on the resources and care they would need. The result includes the World Trade Center Health Registry, which monitors health information and provides resources for 71,000 people from New York and around the country - the largest and most ambitious postdisaster health project in the nation. We also immediately initiated a very aggressive screening and treatment program for our firefighters and EMS workers, who receive first-rate health benefits. Quality care is also available to other rescue, recovery and cleanup workers and volunteers - regardless of their insurance status - through screening and treatment programs by a consortium of hospitals around the city and region. In fact, about 30,000 people have already taken advantage of these programs. Our work has been supported by the federal government - but now we need that support to continue. Our administration will continue working to convince the state and federal governments to make a long-term commitment to monitoring and treatment programs for those affected by 9/11. We have also been supporting legislation to reopen the federal Victim Compensation Fund, which was established to provide for individuals who were physically injured in the attacks and the relatives of those who died. The filing deadline was in 2003 - too soon for people who may have become symptomatic later on. ... Today, we will announce a series of new initiatives that build on our track record of supporting those who supported us in the months after 9/11. These initiatives are in response to trends and concerns that we have identified through the WTC Health Registry and other sources, and they build upon the knowledge that medical experts have gained since 9/11. In short, they will reflect our commitment to a health policy that is both responsive and responsible. The effects of 9/11 are still largely unknown, but we now know much more than we did even one year ago. As trends continue to develop, the City will continue to do everything possible to learn about the problems people face and develop effective strategies to deal with them. ... (NYDailyNews, by Michael Bloomberg, Sept. 5, 2006)
  
• 9/11 health problems widen ... Mariama James is neither a firefighter nor an emergency medical technician, and after the World Trade Center attacks, she spent no time working on the pile as a volunteer responder. The 35-year-old mother of three is a bookkeeper who lives at 90 Gold St., four blocks east and one block north of Ground Zero. But right after Sept. 11, when a thick layer of dust from downtown blew in through her windows, James, who was eight months pregnant at the time, said she started feeling pain in the middle of her chest. Then came the cysts that appeared from her face to her groin, and "really horrific" allergies and respiratory problems that she said affect both her and her children, who are now 14, 20 and 4. She said her husband, who was out of town for months before and after 9/11, suffers from none of these ailments. .... "I'm very angry today," said Jonathan Bennett, a spokesman for the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, a private group that works on workplace safety issues. "It's perfectly reasonable for the guidelines to focus a great deal on the people who had the heaviest exposure, but there's no reason to ignore people who had lighter exposure," Bennett told me.He said he doubted that a physician who read the guidelines, and then treated a patient who lives on Duane Street who's having problems breathing, would ever suspect there was a link to Ground Zero.... (Long Island, Newsday, by Sheryl McCarthy, Sept. 4, 2006)
  
• Nested Case–Control Study of Autoimmune Disease in an Asbestos-Exposed Population ... Objective: To explore the potential association between asbestos exposure and risk of autoimmune disease, we conducted a case–control study among a cohort of 7,307 current and former residents of Libby, Montana, a community with historical occupational and environmental exposure to asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Methods: Cases were defined as those who reported having one of three systemic autoimmune diseases (SAIDs) : systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) . Controls were randomly selected at a 3:1 ratio from among the remaining 6,813 screening participants using frequency-matched age and sex groupings. Results: The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for SAIDs among those " 65 years of age who had worked for the vermiculite mining company were 2.14 (95% CI, 0.90–5.10) for all SAIDs and 3.23 (95% CI, 1.31–7.96) for RA. In this age group, exposure to asbestos while in the military was also an independent risk factor, resulting in a tripling in risk. Other measures of occupational exposure to vermiculite indicated 54% and 65% increased risk for SAIDs and RA, respectively. Those who had reported frequent contact with vermiculite through various exposure pathways also demonstrated elevated risk for SAIDs and RA. We found increasing risk estimates for SAIDs with increasing numbers of reported vermiculite exposure pathways (p < 0.001) . Conclusion: These preliminary findings support the hypothesis that asbestos exposure is associated with autoimmune disease. Refined measurements of asbestos exposure and SAID status among this cohort will help to further clarify the relationship between these variables. ... (Environmental Health Perspectives, August 2006; Curtis W. Noonan, Jean C. Pfau, Theodore C. Larson, and Michael R. Spence)
  

• Stuy grad's 9/11 dsut crusade: Five years later, health coverage concerns linger in the air for elite school alums ... The Environmental Protection Agency told Stuyvesant High School administrators the air was safe less than a month after Sept. 11, 2001. Students like Lila Nordstrom dutifully returned to the elite public school on Oct. 9, 2001, as fires were still smoldering at the World Trade Center site and trucks were still carting debris right outside the building. Nordstrom was a senior then. Now, she’s a Vassar graduate without health insurance and she’s concerned about how toxic dust may have affected her health. “We were minors at the time,” Nordstrom, 22, said. “We had no say in the decision to go back. Our parents didn’t know. I realize now how egregiously messed up the decision was at Stuyvesant. We were like canaries, used by the government to show that downtown was open for business.” Nordstrom — the only member of her family not to outgrow childhood asthma — is fighting to get a government-sponsored health insurance and monitoring program for students attending Stuy High during the 2001-2002 school year. She used Facebook.com to track down roughly 170 former students to sign onto an open letter she sent to several elected officials like Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton. “A lot of students still don’t want to talk about it or deal with it,” she said, adding many felt the focus should remain on first responders. “There are monitoring programs at city hospitals for emergency workers and there should be, but what about us? If people start getting sick in three years, we may not be able to detect it.” ... (Metro Ny, by Amy Zimmer, Aug. 31, 2006)
  
• Nadler: NYC 9/11 Health Guideline Still Too Limiting ... Congressman Jerrold Nadler released the following statement in response to the release of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Clinical Guidelines for Adults Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster: "I am pleased that the Department of Health has finally, at long last, released these guidelines. They confirm that New York continues to suffer from a health crisis caused by the World Trade Center disaster. "Recognizing those with health problems should have been a first step taken years ago. Five years later, victims need accessible treatment, not mere guidelines. "Furthermore, I am concerned that the approach here is still too limiting. I am particularly troubled at the inadequate attention given to the issues of contaminated indoor spaces and chronic exposure populations." (News Release, August 31, 2006)
  
• Rep. Maloney React to NYC's Release of 9/11 Health Guidelines .... “These guidelines paint a bleak picture about the health effects of 9/11, but are an meaningful step forward in helping doctors to better treat patients exposed to the toxins of Ground Zero.  This is important because the doctors at the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program have testified before Congress that they have seen a number of patients coming into their monitoring program who received the wrong diagnosis and the wrong treatment from their primary care physician – people with pulverized glass in their lungs getting diagnosed with asthma.  Hopefully now with these guidelines released to all doctors, this number can be dramatically reduced.” ... (News Release, August 31, 2006)
  
• Health Officials Release New Guideline to Treat 9/11 Victims ... For the first time in nearly five years, city health officials released guidelines Thursday to help doctors recognize and treat September 11th related illnesses. ... Previously, the city's department of health issued guidelines on how to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and mental abuse. Now health officials say they have enough information to release advice on how to treat people with respiratory problems. ... (NY1, August 31, 2006)
  
• Critics: EPA Should 'Do its Job' on 3rd Anniversary of Damning Internal Report ... (Homeland Response, By Sandy Smith, August 29, 2006)
• Five Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Residents Still Concerned About Health Issues ... For thousands of residents living in Lower Manhattan, there was no escaping the dust, smoke and fumes in the days, weeks and even months following the September 11th attacks. And now, five years later, many still have real concerns over what could be happening with their health as a result. ... Nelson Marty has lived in downtown Manhattan for nearly 30 years. But since the events of 9/11, he says his health just hasn't been the same. “I am a runner. I have done the New York City Marathon twice. After 9/11, in 2002, my asthma re-manufactured itself,” he says. “Up until then I had no medication whatsoever.” Now he's taking Advair, an inhalable steroid meant to prevent asthma attacks, at least twice a day. It may seem like only a mild change, but doctors and community advocates say Marty serves as just one example among hundreds, if not thousands, of Lower Manhattan residents who could be suffering post-9/11 health woes.... (NY1, Kafi Drexel, August 28, 2006)
  
• Early on, dissent over air quality: Public statements after 9/11 under scrutiny in wake of lawsuit, illnesses ... Even as the city and federal government were reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe in the weeks after Sept. 11, some officials were sounding the alarm within their agencies about air quality at the site. A series of court documents and internal memos reveals, among other things, a City Hall divided over when to reopen downtown to workers and shoppers, and a failure to enforce regulations aimed at assuring that workers were protected in the sooty, dust-filled air. Five years later, the cost now may be coming due in mysterious illnesses, shortened careers, even lost lives - and a class action lawsuit by 7,000 people. On Oct. 6, 2001, while the city and the Environmental Protection Agency were repeatedly reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe, a top city Health Department official wrote a three-page memo raising "critical environmental issues" related to the disaster. Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinney wrote that there were deep disagreements between the city's Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Protection over whether the air was safe enough to allow people back into the zone. "The mayor's office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy," McKinney wrote. "According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of Ground Zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. I was told the mayor's office was directing OEM to open the target areas next week." McKinney, now with OEM, did not respond to a written request for comment. 'Strict standard' In response to Newsday's questions, the city's law department issued a statement saying no area was reopened until testing had found it safe. "Areas were not reopened to the public until they were cleaned of dust and debris and testing demonstrated at least two consecutive days of asbestos levels below the strict standard for reoccupancy of schools," said Kenneth A. Becker, chief of the law department's World Trade Center unit. ... The city's Department of Environmental Protection, which conducted tests for asbestos in the days immediately after Sept. 11 that showed dangerously high levels of the fibers, did not reveal those test results to the public. The results were later disclosed by the state in response to a Freedom of Information request. Within a few weeks of the attacks, the city - aware that it probably would face massive litigation over the environmental hazards - had begun preparing itself. One official expressed concern that environmental claims might "bankrupt" the city. Three weeks after the collapses, in a signal of brewing concern, Fire Department doctors urgently requested $6 million to study health effects of Ground Zero work on firefighters. ... Very early on, city officials were concerned about the potential cost of 9/11-related environmental claims. In September 2001, the city hired the accounting firm Ernst & Young to perform a risk assessment. The firm estimated in an October report that the city faced a potential liability of more than $450 million for environmental claims and needed $2.8 billion in insurance coverage. The long-term health concerns, in part, spurred the city to try to limit its liability starting relatively early on after the attacks. On Oct. 15, a letter written by city lawyers and signed by Holden, the city official in charge of Ground Zero, asked the state to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency to pay for claims not covered by insurance. "I am concerned that the construction management firms [CMs] and the city will be open to exposure years after the project based on hazardous materials claims," the letter said. "This type of exposure would bankrupt the CMs and perhaps the city." ... CONTRADICTIONS IN THE AIR: SEPT. 19, 2001 "I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink." - Christie Whitman, U.S. EPA administrator. OCT. 6, 2001: The Mayor's Office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy. According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of ground zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. -Memo from Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinny (Newsday, by Graham Rayman, August 27, 2006)
  
• Health of World Trade Center workers questioned early: City documents reveal mounting concerns about health risks and spotty enforcement of regulations ... Even as the city and federal government were reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe in the weeks after Sept. 11, some officials were sounding the alarm within their agencies about air quality at the site. A series of court documents and internal memos reveals, among other things, a City Hall divided over when to reopen downtown to workers and shoppers, and a failure to enforce regulations aimed at assuring that workers were protected in the sooty, dust-filled air. Five years later, the cost of those decisions may be now coming due in mysterious illnesses, shortened careers, even lost lives -- and a class action lawsuit by 7,000 people. On Oct. 6, 2001, for example, while the city and the Environmental Protection Agency were repeatedly reassuring New Yorkers that the air at Ground Zero was safe, a top city health department official wrote a three-page memo raising "critical environmental issues" related to the disaster. Associate Commissioner Kelly McKinney wrote that there were deep disagreements between the Office of Emergency Management and the Department of Environmental Protection over whether the air was safe enough to allow people back into the zone. "The mayor's office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to occupancy," McKinney wrote. "According to OEM, some city blocks north and south of Ground Zero are suitable for reoccupancy. DEP believes the air quality is not yet suitable for reoccupancy. I was told the mayor's office was directing OEM to open the target areas next week." McKinney, now with OEM, did not respond to a written request for comment. Strict standard' In response to Newsday's questions, the city's law department issued a statement saying no area was reopened until testing had found it safe. "Areas were not reopened to the public until they were cleaned of dust and debris and testing demonstrated at least two consecutive days of asbestos levels below the strict standard for reoccupancy of schools," said Kenneth A. Becker, chief of the law department's World Trade Center unit. ... Within a few weeks of the attacks, the city -- aware that it probably would face massive litigation over the environmental hazards -- had begun preparing itself. One official expressed concern that environmental claims might "bankrupt" the city. ... Very early on, city officials were concerned about the potential cost of 9/11-related environmental claims. In September 2001, the city hired the accounting firm, Ernst and Young, to perform a risk assessment. The firm estimated in an October report that the city faced a potential liability of more than $450 million for environmental claims and needed $2.8 billion in insurance coverage. The long-term health concerns, in part, spurred the city to try to limit its liability starting relatively early on after the attacks. On Oct. 15, a letter written by city lawyers and signed by Holden asked the state to persuade FEMA to pay for claims not covered by insurance. "I am concerned that the construction management firms and the city will be open to exposure years after the project based on hazardous materials claims," the letter said. "This type of exposure would bankrupt the CMs and perhaps the city." ... (Newsday, by Graham Rayman, August 26, 2006)
  
• Rescuers face crisis - report ... The report underscores what could be an exploding health care crisis for rescue and recovery workers, as well as people who lived or worked near the twin towers. ... (Daily News, by Greg Wilson, August 26th, 2006)
• 9/11 Shrine, With the Tragic, Toxic Dust ... A Lower Manhattan store’s display of its apparel coated with the stuff of disaster became a shrine after the attacks. The apparel and the dust, sealed since 2002, are now a historical society exhibit. ... It is always dangerous to disturb toxic dust, but this dust is historic, and possibly sacred. This week, a crew in hazard suits navigated a sealed bubble at the New-York Historical Society to recreate an eerie time capsule of Sept. 11, 2001, as the fifth anniversary approaches. ... Nothing like the installation has been done before, she said. The fragile textiles and the toxic dust that coated them required delicate handling. Curators had to protect themselves from the exhibition artifacts and also ensure the safety of museum visitors. ... (NYTimes, by Glenn Collins, August 25, 2006)
  
• Claim: 9/11 dust tests misleading ... An Environmental Protection Agency scientist told the New York congressional delegation that the agency used misleading data about World Trade Center dust. Cate Jenkins, a senior scientist at the agency's office of solid waste and emergency response, said in a letter to the delegation that reports on tests from 2002 and 2003 misrepresented the alkaline nature, or pH level, of the dust, The New York Times reported Friday. Some doctors have theorized that many illnesses developed by recovery workers and nearby residents were contributed to by highly alkaline dust from the fallen towers, the Times said. ... (UPI, Aug 25, 2006)
  
• E.P.A. Whistle-Blower Says U.S. Hid 9/11 Dust Danger ... A senior scientist at the Environmental Protection Agency has accused the agency of relying on misleading data about the health hazards of World Trade Center dust. The scientist, who has been sharply critical of the agency in the past, claimed in a letter to members of the New York Congressional delegation this week that test reports in 2002 and 2003 distorted the alkalinity, or pH level, of the dust released when the twin towers collapsed, downplaying its danger. Some doctors suspect that the highly alkaline nature of the dust contributed to the variety of ailments that recovery workers and residents have complained of since the attack. Tests of the gray-brown dust conducted by scientists at the United States Geological Survey a few months after the attack found that the dust was highly alkaline, in some instances as caustic or corrosive as drain cleaner, and capable of causing severe irritation and burns. The tests that are being challenged by the E.P.A. scientist were conducted by independent scientists at New York University. Those tests also indicated that larger particles of dust were highly alkaline. But they found that smaller dust particles — those most likely to reach into the lower airways of the lungs, where they could cause serious illnesses — were not alkaline and caustic. The geological survey’s tests did not differentiate the dust by particle size. A spokeswoman for the agency, Mary Mears, said in a statement that the E.P.A. stood behind its work on ground zero environmental hazards, as did the N.Y.U. scientists. The scientist making the complaint, Cate Jenkins, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry and works in the agency’s office of solid waste and emergency response, said the test results helped the E.P.A. avoid legal liability. Residents of Lower Manhattan have sued the agency in federal court, claiming that it bungled the cleanup. Dr. Jenkins said the test reports had a costly health effect, contributing “to emergency personnel and citizens not taking adequate precautions to prevent exposures.” In her statement, Ms. Mears distanced the agency from Dr. Jenkins, who has worked for the E.P.A. since 1979 and has been in conflict with the agency for years over her whistle-blowing activities. ... (NYTimes, by Anthony DePalma, Aug. 25, 2006)
  
• Scientist Says EPA Covered Up World Trade Center Dust Danger ... An Environmental Protection Agency scientist is accusing his office of relying on misleading data about the World Trade Center dust. According to the New York Times, the researcher wrote a letter this week to the New York Congressional delegation, detailing reports in 2002 and 2003 that distorted the pH level of the dust. Some doctors believe the high alkaline levels are what caused many of the illnesses now being suffered by recovery workers. ... (NY1, Aug. 25, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Death Bill Gives Families A Second Shot; EMS Unions Hail Workers' Comp Filing Break ... Mr. Eppinger, noting Mr. Bloomberg's influence over the Law Department's Workers' Compensation unit that must approve all EMS 9/11 claims, said the Mayor's strong opposition to the new laws had him worried. ... (Chief Leader, by Ginger Adams Otis, 8/25/06)
  
• Draft Report: Thousands Sick From WTC Rescue, Cleanup ... The report, yet to be released, is from the hospital's World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Program and is based on four years of studying the lingering health impact of Sept. 11. The medical evidence suggests rescue and recovery workers are sicker than the general population five years after the attacks. ... "The health effects of rescue recovery and volunteer work at the WTC cite were highly prevalent, severe and persistent in the nearly 10,000 workers we saw clinically between 2002 and 2004," according to the WTC Medical Monitoring Program.The evidence showed sharp increases in respiratory symptoms after Sept. 11, including abnormal lung capacity in a third of the workers one to two years after exposure, and lung problems affecting five times more people than you'd expect in the general population, doctors said. ... "We're willing to say that the medical problems persist. The pulmonary problems, the sinus problems, the indigestion, the breathing test abnormalities persist in these workers at much higher rates than are found in the population in general," said Dr. Jacqueline Moline. The draft finds that those with the highest rates of lung problems were the people engulfed in the dust cloud that could be seen for miles after the towers collapsed, with 54 percent reporting lower respiratory problems and 66 percent reporting upper respiratory problems. ... The Mount Sinai doctors warn the consequences are likely to get worse, saying "there may be future late-emerging health consequences, possibly including cancers among the World Trade Center responder population." Doctors planned to step up the monitoring of cancer cases. In the draft, the number of cancer cases was not included. Doctors believe most cases wouldn't show up for at least 10 years, but hundreds of people claim they've already developed World Trade Center-related cancer. (WNBC-TV, August 25, 2006)
  
• 9/11 Lead Tests Covered up ... Three days after 9/11, city Department of Transportation officials hurriedly arranged environmental testing at the agency's headquarters at 40 Worth St. in lower Manhattan.Those tests, performed by an outside consultant, revealed major lead contamination in the building. Some tests showed lead levels 10 times higher than federal regulations allow for indoor dust, according to internal agency documents recently obtained by the Daily News. The test results were especially significant because the 20story office building that houses DOT is located 10 blocks north of Ground Zero, in an area that City Hall and the federal government reopened to hundreds of thousands of office workers a few days later - on Sept. 17. At the time, health officials kept insisting there was no threat to public health from the fires at Ground Zero. Early environmental tests, they said, showed no worrisome contamination from asbestos or other toxic substances that were released after the twin towers collapsed. The lead contamination at 40 Worth St. was a clear challenge to that official story. Who could be sure there was no similar contamination in scores of other nearby office buildings where people had returned to work? On the department's 10th floor, for example, where the office of Commissioner Iris Weinshall is located, a dust sample from a window near the elevator showed lead levels three times above federal safety standards. The contamination there, however, was never publicly revealed by city officials who eventually posted thousands of environmental test results on a Web site of the city Department of Environmental Protection. The agency quietly notified its employee union, District Council 37, about the problem and hurriedly ordered the building's landlord to fix the problem. "Extensive cleanup was done before the employees were allowed to return a few weeks later," said DOT spokeswoman Kay Sarlan. "The city tried to give us some ridiculous reason that it [the lead contamination] was from before 9/11," said Lee Clarke, health and safety director for DC 37. Nearly five years later, it has become increasingly apparent that city officials simply hid from the public some of the worst results of their environmental testing in those early days. ... Many of these documents would have stayed buried were it not for Joel Kupferman, an attorney with the nonprofit New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. Kupferman has spent the past five years doggedly filing scores of Freedom of Information requests with every government agency for 9/11 documents. ... Virtually the entire New York congressional delegation demanded Tuesday that the EPA do what it should have done from the start, what its own inspector general recommended three years ago. It should inspect and, if necessary, clean every building in lower Manhattan - and even Brooklyn - that was contaminated by dust from Ground Zero. (Daily News, By Juan Gonzalez, August 25, 2006)
• 9/11 Health Woes Reach Far Beyond New York ... Ground zero worker Jimmy Willis' lung problems got so bad in the years after Sept. 11 that he finally left New York, hoping the dry air of Nevada would blow away the after-effects of toxic World Trade Center dust. But when he moved two years ago, Willis also left behind New York-based medical expertise on the subject of 9/11 related illnesses, joining a diaspora of hundreds of ground zero rescue workers scattered across the United States. It is a population many health experts, union leaders and politicians say is vulnerable to poor medical treatment because the government has delayed release of guidelines that would help doctors around the country diagnose and treat illnesses linked to the attacks. A standard medical protocol for health care workers is just one element of what a growing chorus of advocates says should be a long-term, national program to test and treat sick workers. Five years after the attacks, Willis, 51, suffers from respiratory disease and gastro-intestinal bleeding. The creation of testing guidelines, called protocols, was shelved for years. Most recently, officials indicated a release by the end of this year. The lag has come under criticism from workers' advocates. ... Exactly how many rescue workers responded to the attacks is unknown, though estimates usually range above 40,000. ... Testing guidelines are crucial, however, to helping a doctor in any clinic or network recognize symptoms, said Kathy Kirkland, the association's executive director. She said standardized protocols can help alert health care workers to the less obvious ailments connected to ground zero work. Take the gastro-intestinal problems afflicting Willis. "That's fairly common among World Trade Center responders, but it's something a lot of clinicians wouldn't recognize, wouldn't know," she said. Or the lungs. A standard pulmonary test doesn't reveal the true extent of Sept. 11-related damage, she said, because although it can measure lung capacity it doesn't gauge the wear-and-tear inflicted on the organs. "A lot of guys on the surface seem to have normal lung function, but compared to what they had before, their lungs have aged a whole lot faster than they should have," Kirkland said. "Again, that's not something the average clinician would think to check." ... (AP, by Devlin Barrett, August 25, 2006)
• Dormitory Authority Selects Firm to Clean and Demolish Fiterman Hall, A CUNY Building Damaged on September 11th ... PAL Environmental Safety Corp. of Long Island City has been selected to remediate hazardous materials and take down Fiterman Hall of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Dormitory Authority officials announced today. Dormitory Authority Executive Director Maryanne Gridley and Managing Director of Construction James M. Gray said today that the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) has signed the Letter of Intent. DASNY is supervising the decontamination and deconstruction of Fiterman Hall on behalf of the City University of New York (CUNY). The contract value is $16,313,000. ... The authorized budget for the entire project is $187.5 million, which includes the PAL contract. Funding for the decontamination, deconstruction, and rebuilding is coming from the New York State and City budgets, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, a portion of New York City’s allocation from the Federal Emergency Management Office (FEMA), the September 11th Fund, and a property insurance settlement. ...PAL Environmental Safety Corp. has been in business for 13 years and is headquartered at 11-02 Queens Plaza South, Long Island City. Its gross sales for 2005 were $29.97 million.... (News Release, Aug. 25, 2006)
  
• Where's the money? ... From everything we know — and with no public process, what we know these days is pretty much restricted to what the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. decides to share with the press –L.M.D.C. had long ago capped what it would spend to bring down the Deutsche Bank. In its February 27, 2004 press release announcing the building purchase and setting out the terms of its agreement with the Deutsche Bank and its insurers, L.M.D.C. states: “The agreement caps the cost of cleaning and demolition to $45 million and the insurers would pay any costs above the agency’s cap.” These same assurances were reiterated a year later by then president (and now chairperson) Kevin Rampe in response to questioning from Councilmember Alan Gerson at a February ‘05 City Council hearing on the demolition of 9/11contaminated buildings. Please add those of us who’ve been working to make the 130 Liberty St demolition safe to the chorus of community voices asking for the whereabouts of the $45 million earmarked as community enhancement funds. (Downtown Express, Letters to the Editor: Kimberly Flynn, August 18-24, 2006)
  
• Report: Search for human remains at WTC skyscraper is thorough ... (AP/AMNY.com, by Amy Westfeldt, August 24, 2006)
• Feds ripped on WTC cleanup ... The feds must take their own advice and follow the recommendations of a 2003 report on how to clean up toxins unleashed on 9/11, a contingent of local lawmakers demanded yesterday. Reps. Charles Rangel, Jerrold Nadler, Major Owens and Carolyn Maloney blasted all levels of government for botching the 9/11 cleanup, which Nadler said continues "to slowly poison" people who live and work downtown. They want the Environmental Protection Agency to follow the recommendations laid out in a 2003 report by the agency's inspector general, including: Testing for a wider variety of contaminants.; Bringing cleanup efforts up to Superfund standards. Expanding the cleanup zone above Canal St., and to Brooklyn and possibly to Jersey City. Nadler and the other Democrats said officials owe more to all of those whose health suffered due to 9/11. "We're not paying for their medical insurance, we're not monitoring them - all of the things we've been talking about since the Daily News wrote about it," Nadler said, referring to a News campaign to get government funding for health care of rescue and recovery workers. "That's a major disgrace." ... (NYDailyNews, by Greg Wilson, August 23rd, 2006)
• Our Firefighters’ Health ... These results do not support heavy metal poisoning as a causative factor. Rather, our findings support a dust-chemical induced irritant-inflammatory process as the cause for upper and lower respiratory disease. These are serious diseases that deserve serious attention. New York’s bravest deserve the best medical care, and treatment options should be based on medical validity and scientific fact. (NYTimes Letter to the Editor: Kerry J. Kelly, M.D. & David J. Prezant, M.D., Aug. 23, 2006)
• Last Gasp: ground Zero volunteers suffer in silence as the clock ticks on their health ... From sleep apnea to severe depression, these men and women are undergoing a host of health problems presumably related to their rescue work. ... Feal, 39, is the founder and president of The FealGood Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to promoting the plight of sick and injured first responders and to providing volunteers and recovery workers with financial assistance. A foot injury sustained during the recovery efforts led to gangrene and the subsequent loss of part of that foot, and he says he has had thirty subsequent surgeries. Among his other afflictions stemming from his work at Ground Zero, Feal suffers from acid reflux, a scarred lung and asthma. When he speaks, he gasps for air as though he has just finished a sprint. “Excuse me, I get out of breath sometimes,” he says. Feal claims he is also very compulsive now. ... (New York Press, by Sushi Cheema, August 23-29, 2006)
• 9/11 air fears stifled ... Less than a month after 9/11, a top city Health Department official blasted an order from City Hall to reopen several blocks near Ground Zero, and warned that "air quality [for asbestos] at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy," an internal memo shows. "The Mayor's Office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to reoccupancy," wrote Associate Health Commissioner Kelly McKinney in his startling Oct. 6, 2001, memo. At the time, McKinney was in charge of the city's environmental hazards program. His memo reveals sharp disagreements between health officials and other Giuliani administration aides over how to handle environmental contamination after 9/11. The memo was obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. McKinney and the Department of Environmental Protection - the city agency in charge of all asbestos testing - appear to have urged a cautious approach to reopening downtown. In his memo, McKinney noted that DEP Commissioner Joel Miele was also "uncomfortable with opening the target areas" but said, "I was told the Mayor's Office was directing OEM [the Office of Emergency Management] to open the target areas next week." ... DEP's own tests for asbestos in the first week after 9/11, for example, revealed far higher asbestos contamination in lower Manhattan than officials ever acknowledged - and some of the worst test results were never released to the public. In the five days before Sept. 17, 2001, the day most downtown office workers were allowed by federal and city officials to return to work, DEP tested 38 air samples for asbestos on the streets around the Trade Center site. Of those, 27 revealed asbestos levels higher than the .01 fibers per cubic centimeter that the DEP was using as a "safety" threshold. It was not until February 2002 that the city even began publicly posting its own test results on the DEP Web site. The initial test method for air samples, known as PCM, is sometimes not reliable, so DEP began retesting any sample over .01 fibers by a more exact method that scientists call TEM, for transmission electron microscopy. The federal TEM standard for asbestos is 70 fibers per square meter. Of those same 38 tests DEP conducted in the days after 9/11, 18 test filters were so clogged they couldn't even be read under the TEM method. That left only 20 valid test results and eight of them, or 40%, revealed dangerous levels of asbestos in the air. The highest, at 157 fibers, was found on Sept. 12 at Spruce and Gold Sts., seven blocks from Ground Zero. On the same day, a level of 123 fibers was found in another test at Centre and Chambers Sts. - right between City Hall and the Municipal Building. Yet neither of those results has ever been reported by the DEP to the public. The city never disclosed it even conducted tests at those locations. .... (NYDailyNews, by Juan Gonzalez, August 23rd, 2006)
  
• Silverstein Properties Decrees Low-Sulfur Truck Fuel Use by Its Contractors at the WTC Site: MTA HESITANT ABOUT MAKING SAME COMMITMENT AT THE FULTON STREET TRANSIT CENTER: EMISSIONS WOULD BE REDUCED BY 90 PERCENT ... Mr. Silverstein, who made a brief appearance at the meeting where Janno Lieber, World Trade Center project director for Silverstein Properties, was making a presentation, is of course not alone in his ailment. Millions of people around the country, and thousands in Manhattan, suffer from the respiratory condition that, at times, simply makes breathing a difficult task. What sets Mr. Silverstein apart from his fellow New Yorkers, however, is that he is in the unusual position of actually being able to have an effect on the air quality around him. And, as Mr. Lieber announced, this is exactly what Mr. Silverstein, a principal developer of the WTC site, intends to do. According to Mr. Lieber, all construction vehicles working on Silverstein projects at the site will be required to use low-sulfur fuel, a standard that is expected to reduce emissions by 90 percent. "We want to make sure these vehicles minimize the impact on air quality," said Mr. Lieber, acknowledging that hundreds of vehicles will be active around the site. "There's no reason to compromise the quality of life for residents down here." ... Committee chair Catherine McVay Hughes, who expressed her appreciation for the environmental requirement, took the opportunity to ask William Wheeler, Director of Planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- which has undertaken its own monumental construction project with the new Fulton Street Transit Center -- if the MTA would follow Mr. Silverstein's lead and require the use of low-sulfur fuel for construction vehicles at its site. Mr. Wheeler, who was at the meeting to update the committee on the new transit center's progress, demurred. "I think it's a great idea, but I don't know, Catherine, I don't know."Elaborating on his uncertainty, Mr. Wheeler questioned whether the available fleet of vehicles, such as concrete trucks that must idle while their contents are unloaded, would he able to adjust their engines to use low-sulfur fuel. "It's one thing to set it as a goal," he said. "It's another thing to say is it really feasible." ... (Battery Park Broadsheet July 25-September 7, 2006, by Serena Hedison)
  
• Last Gasp: Ground Zero volunteers suffer in silence as the clock ticks on their health ... t’s no longer thick with dust, fumes and debris—that filled the lungs of John Feal, John Sfezaro, Scott Aline, Jack Saltarella, Jim LaPenna and thousands of other recovery workers, cleanup workers and volunteers who toiled here in the days and months following the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. ... From sleep apnea to severe depression, these men and women are undergoing a host of health problems presumably related to their rescue work. But in the nearly five years since the attacks, they have faced numerous obstacles in their quest to obtain workers’ compensation and other benefits. ... Last Monday, just three days before construction began on the World Trade Center Memorial and less than a month before the fifth anniversary of the attacks, Governor George Pataki signed into law bills that acknowledge the plight of the first responders. One new law gives those responders who may die from illnesses related to the attacks the same benefits as those who died during the attacks. A second law allows individuals whose illnesses emerged after the two-year deadline the opportunity to reapply for workers’ compensation benefits. Now, workers and volunteers have two years from the time at which their illness emerges to file. A third, final law allows those who have retired to change their pension status to that of accidental disability should a 9/11-related illness emerge after they have stopped working.  ... Among his other afflictions stemming from his work at Ground Zero, Feal suffers from acid reflux, a scarred lung and asthma. When he speaks, he gasps for air as though he has just finished a sprint. “Excuse me, I get out of breath sometimes,” he says. Feal claims he is also very compulsive now. .... Scott Aline, a crane operator who worked at Ground Zero, of Pataki’s new legislation. “There was a window. The window was closed to us.” He understands, however, that there is a caveat to the good news. “Who knows how many years it’s going to be once we get the money?” he asks. “My lungs are already aged,” he adds. According to a recent medical screening, his 45-year-old’s lungs are equivalent to those of a 59-year-old’s. ... His clients are scattered across the country, among them are those scores of independent volunteers who came to New York City to assist in rescue efforts. And, he says, more sick responders call his office every day. “I’ve had about 100 phone calls in the last 36 hours,” he says. Of all his clients in the two-and-a-half-year-old case, Worby says 60 have died. “They have died from causes that were 9/11 related,” he says. Among the illnesses are leukemia and other cancers. .. (New York Press Volume 19, Issue 34, by Sushi Cheema, August 23, 2006)
• 9/11 benefits law piles it on city ... f we're going to reward the responders for their exceptional sacrifices during a time of national emergency by giving them exceptional benefits, then it shouldn't be just the taxpayers of New York City who pay the bill. The feds certainly need to come up with some money. And if the governor is going to hold news conferences and claim to be such a friend of the Ground Zero responders, he should be putting up more state bucks than he's doing right now. ... Bloomberg estimates that, combined with the medical presumption bill, the new laws will cost about $650 million over the next 10 years. The state is paying only half the cost of the death benefits, or about 1 percent of the total amount, according to the mayor's office. The rest will come from the city's pension funds, which must also pay the pensions of all other city employees who retire, become disabled or die on the job. With questions now being raised about the soundmess of the city's retirement funds, the question is how big a strain an additional $600 million draw would put on them. The laws are now a done deal. But, if we're going to engage in this kind of generosity, the state and the feds need to share the cost. Pataki signed the mandate without offering much in the way of funding it. The World Trade Center attacks were an attack on the nation. The city has received some money from the feds, but the mounting health problems of the responders is a relatively new development whose cost over time could be enormous. It's unfair for the city to bear those costs alone. The feds should step up. And if Pataki is going to sign the laws and take the credit, he should put some money where his mouth is. (NYNewsday, by Sheryl McCarthy, August 21, 2006)
  
• Where’s the Money? .... From everything we know — and with no public process, what we know these days is pretty much restricted to what the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. decides to share with the press –L.M.D.C. had long ago capped what it would spend to bring down the Deutsche Bank. In its February 27, 2004 press release announcing the building purchase and setting out the terms of its agreement with the Deutsche Bank and its insurers, L.M.D.C. states: “The agreement caps the cost of cleaning and demolition to $45 million and the insurers would pay any costs above the agency’s cap.” These same assurances were reiterated a year later by then president (and now chairperson) Kevin Rampe in response to questioning from Councilmember Alan Gerson at a February ‘05 City Council hearing on the demolition of 9/11contaminated buildings. Please add those of us who’ve been working to make the 130 Liberty St demolition safe to the chorus of community voices asking for the whereabouts of the $45 million earmarked as community enhancement funds. (Downtown Express Letter to the Editor, Kimberly Flynn, August 18-24, 2006)
  
• Op-Ed: Poisoned Heroes ... ONE New York City firefighter recently told me about the health problems he has suffered since working at the World Trade Center site nearly five years ago: skin rashes, an inflamed colon, coughing and trouble breathing. He showed me a six-page list of the antibiotics and steroids doctors had prescribed over the years. These drugs helped mask his symptoms. But the problems never went away — until he began a new treatment to rid his body of the toxic substances he had inhaled and absorbed at Ground Zero. ... Still needed, however, even more urgently, is an effort to address the health problems these workers face. Many of the thousands of sufferers, like the firefighter who spoke to me, are getting treatments that offer only temporary relief. We need to figure out the best ways of curing what really ails the Sept. 11 responders. Too often, discussions about the health of these workers have met with official denials that their problems can be directly linked to Ground Zero. The denial began only a week after the tragedy, when Christine Todd Whitman, then head of the Environmental Protection Agency, declared that tests showed the air was safe to breathe. Later scientific studies showed that the air was in fact heavily polluted. And while it is true that the workers’ health problems have not been definitively linked to the environment, a wealth of evidence suggests that the air the workers breathed took its toll. A study of more than 12,000 firemen and emergency medical workers at the site, recently published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, found that on average they had a reduction in lung function equivalent to what would be caused by 12 years of aging. Doctors and other health practitioners at the Olive Leaf Wholeness Center, in downtown New York (where I work as a volunteer), have detected heavy-metal poisoning in many of the Ground Zero workers they have seen. They have given these workers detoxification treatments — including chelation for many patients. Chelation, a treatment often used on children exposed to lead paint, involves giving the patient a sulfur compound that draws heavy metals from the tissues. These practitioners have found that after three to four months of detoxification therapy, the afflicted Ground Zero workers see most of their symptoms diminish or disappear. Chelation is not the only detoxification method. No doubt, other doctors may have found treatments that work better on certain patients. The federal government has provided New York City with $1 billion to cover the cost of liability claims brought by Ground Zero workers. Some of these funds have paid the legal costs of fighting disability and other claims filed by city workers. But no money has yet been appropriated for treatment of heavy metal toxicity. There seems to be an assumption that the workers would prefer a large financial settlement to regaining their health. Political leaders should bring together medical experts who could determine the most effective protocols for ridding the body of heavy metals and make them known to Ground Zero workers and their doctors. ... (NYTimes, by Stan Altman, August 17, 2006)
• Ground Zero ma: Mike heartless ... Zadroga was specifically angered by the mayor's pledge to donate $125 million of his personal fortune for a campaign to stop smoking worldwide, saying the billionaire should use that money instead to aid the 9/11 workers who helped the city. .... (NYDaily News, by Michael Saul, August 17, 2006)
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Other Psychological Sequelae Among World Trade Center Clean Up and Recovery Workers ... (NYCOSH, By Raz Gross, Yuval Neria, Xuguang (Grant) Tao, Jennifer Massa, Leslie Ashwell, Kathleen Davis and Alison GeyhAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences July 2006)
  
• Wounded on 9/11: True Stories of Bad Air in NYC & Posted Response: The air of 9/11: It was worse for New Yorkers than reported ... One can take this one way or another, but I was a smoker for seven years prior to 9/11. In my 20's, I had not been to a hospital for 15 or so years. After 9/11, and after we were all allowed to return to work in lower manhattan, the smoke lingered for many months. My office was located at Franklin and Church Streets. Far enough that only a fine layer of dust was on the street, but definitely close enough to smell the acrid fumes from Ground Zero all day long. At the time, I was 'burning the midnight oil' to get a project done, 14 or so hours a day. Within a month, the symptomns started. First, I had shortness of breath walking up the four flights to my apartment in Chelsea. Then, even finishing a day of work only looking at a dull computer monitor robbed me of energy. The last straw came when I had to stop, THREE TIMES, on my way up the stairs, just to enter my apartment. That night, I remember having a distinct thought, "If I don't go to the hospital, it is so difficult to breathe, that I'll likely simply stop, and never know." My roommate was kind enough to help me down to St. Vincent's. Although there were dozens of people with injuries that seemed worse than mine (including a poor fellow bleeding on the floor), the doctor who went out for a smoke heard my breathing. He stopped immediately. "Do you have asthma?" I replied no, never in all my life. He immediately cut short his break and had me admitted promptly. I cannot remember the exact number, but after the breathing test, he told me that my breathing capacity was only 1/6th normal for a healthy 26 year old male (even a smoker).After months of treatment, I was on the mend. The effects linger. To this day, my breathing has not fully recovered. .. (Scripps Howard News Service, 16 August 2006)
  
• Bloomy $ick of 9/11 Bills ... Sick Ground Zero workers shouldn't be treated better than responders who become ill as a result of other disasters, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. ... (NYPost, By Carl Campanile, August 16, 2006)
• Gov gets WTC ball rolling.... Watching Gov. Pataki at Ground Zero yesterday, there was a sense that someone in government was starting to address the needs of the forgotten victims of 9/11 - however incompletely, however late. The governor's program holds the promise of helping thousands of World Trade Center responders by providing them medical coverage through the workers' compensation system and by boosting the availability of line-of-duty disability pensions and death benefits. .... (NYDaily News, August 15, 2006)
  
• Benefit Boost For Ground Zero Workers ... Gov. George Pataki signed legislation Monday to greatly expand benefits for workers who have died or become sick from toiling in the smoke and dust that hung over the ruins of the World Trade Center. ... Rescue workers claim they are suffering from a variety of respiratory ailments and fear they could develop cancer down the line from asbestos and other toxic substances. .... The governor's office had no immediate estimates for how many people the three new laws would cover or how much money the benefits would involve, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg complained that the legislation would cost the city $500 million over 10 years. "It's just another example of the state of New York doing something that they want to do, but making the city pay," Bloomberg said. "There's no free lunch, and Albany doesn't seem to understand that." The mayor said he did not object to the bill's purpose, "but I want them to fund it if that's what they want to do." ... (CBS, Aug. 14, 2006)