World Trade Center environmental data report, 2001-2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Part 4. Lessons Learned

sk environmental health ft experts and local health officials about how they 4 performed on September 11, and you’re likely to get the same response: People responded admirably, especially given the unexpected and unprecedented nature of the attack. Photo: Andrea Booher/FEMA News Photo

Former EPA administrator Christie Whitman testified proudly in Senate hearings that “EPA accomplished a remarkable achievement to three national [terrorist] incidents during the same time period,” referring to the response at the World Trade Center, die Pentagon and the anthrax- contaminated buildings at various locations.

“It’s so easy to be critical in hindsight when everybody was out there and their brother and they were really working hard,” says Jessica Leighton, assistant commissioner for environmental disease prevention at the New York City Department of Health.

“At Ground Zero, heroism was in ample supply” among the safety experts who traveled down to rescue the “brave band of rescuers.” “What we did at the Pentagon was the way it should be; there was a real success here at the Pentagon and we want everyone to know,” says Mark Penn, head of OEM for Arlington County, VA.

The highest praise goes to those who supplemented the government’s efforts.

“At Ground Zero, heroism was in ample supply” among those like Bruce Lippy and Don Carson for the International Union of Operating Engineers, wrote Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) of the safety experts who traveled down to rescue the “brave band of rescuers in New York City are endangered by asbestos, dust, and noxious vapors.” According to Rahall, “They are American patriots.”

When asked what, in hindsight, they might have done differently, however, many officials and experts have a long list of suggestions.

It’s clear that there have been many more ramifications in New York than in Washington, so in many ways, one can’t compare the situation in New York and Washington, D.C. because the nature and scale of their crises were so different. Nevertheless there are some points on which

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