Newsday article clipping on WTC air quality, Aug 2006

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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.

Many are sickened

Public officials relied on a large volume of testing to conclude the air was safe, but the mounting number of ailing claimants has generated anger among people whose lives are intertwined with Ground Zero about those initial reassuring statements.

"If you are a leader, you should make sure your people are safe," said Thomas Barnett, a retired New York City police officer and former PBA delegate. "And all of a sudden because people are dying, you're going to make it an issue? You should have put money on the side for it from the beginning."

Barnett, now 44, played an important, but until now, unreported role in raising health concerns shortly after Sept. 11. Working at Ground Zero in the first week, he recalled being suspicious about air quality at the site. "I felt that if there was no problem, fine, but if there was a problem, it should be brought to the forefront," he said.

Barnett called Joel Kupferman, an environmental lawyer, and on Sept. 19, 2001, he quietly slipped Kupferman into Ground Zero where they spent two hours collecting dust samples. Kupferman sent the samples to two labs. The results showed high levels of fiberglass and pulverized asbestos that had been exposed to extraordinary heat.

The disclosure spurred Kupferman to mount an ongoing campaign to raise public awareness and pressure the government to act on health concerns.

Even as officials were dismissing concerns raised by independent analysts about the dust, McKinney indicates in his Oct. 6, 2001, memo that he took those concerns seriously.

McKinney refers to a U.S. Geological Survey study, which found that the dust was as caustic as drain cleaner. That study was not disclosed to the public until February 2002.

"EPA has been slow to make results available and to date has not sufficiently informed the public of air quality issues arising from this disaster," McKinney wrote.

He also noted that during a multi-agency meeting at Pier 92, a federal public health specialist called the EPA air quality assessment inadequate. "He indicated," McKinney wrote, "that the number of samples collected, the types of analysis performed, and the quality control procedures followed were resulting in an insufficient characterization of the air quality impacts arising from this disaster."

Lax safety compliance

And at a time when those overseeing the cleanup had declared that Ground Zero safety rules were being followed, McKinney noted an EPA memo indicated workers were "not complying" with the rules.

McKinney suggested that the health department should start issuing violations to enforce the safety rules. The idea went nowhere. It wasn't until February 2002 that the city's Department of Design and Construction began to issue fines to companies whose workers disregarded the safety rules, records show.

Neither McKinney, now with OEM, nor health department officials responded to a written request for comment.

Early on, the federal, state and local officials running the site decided that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which enforces workplace safety rules, would only act in an advisory capacity, records show.

Kenneth Holden, the city official in charge of Ground Zero until June 2002, believed that the guidelines in place were 2

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