Panel agenda for Air Quality After 9/11 conference, March 2004

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

heart attacks. That analysis had been accepted for publication in the peer- reviewed journal-Aerosol Science and Technology.” In an article published on RENSE.com on April 28, 2002, titled “EPA Cover-up of

Ground Zero WTC Toxics Alleged September 11*^ Environmental Hypocrisy”. Jackie Alan

Giuliano PH.D., reported an analysis of air quality at the World Trade Center made by the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shortly after the attack:

“Not widely reported in the news media is the fact that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gathered data early on about the pollution levels at the site. The Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), a scientific instrument designed to view the site in many different wavelengths, was flown on an aircraft by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA over the World Trade Center area on September 16,18,22, and 23,2001. “A two person crew from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected samples of dusts debris from more than 35 locations within a distance of one kilometer from the World Trade Center site on the evening of September 17 and 18, 2001. While not by any means a complete study, the data showed elevated levels of asbestos and many other pollutants including heavy metals, aluminum, chromium, antimony, molybdenum, and barium.”

A third study, conducted by George D. Thurston, Associate Professor with New York

University’s Institute of Environmental Medicine at Sterling Forest, was reported in the upstate

Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record on August 23,2003. The article stated:

“A study conducted two days after the attack showed that the air quality at Ground Zero had the same pH as Drano. “George Thurston, associate professor with New York University’s Institute of Medicine at Sterlig Forest, who conducted the study, said that the pH level was 10,000 times above normal. Minerals and pollutants are responsible for altering the air’s pH level. When it goes too high, it can cause bums to the upper respiratory system. “Even as the federal government was issuing statements that there were not enough toxic contaminants in the air to put workers at risk, daily Federal Emergency Management Agency briefings at the site warned about phosgene in the air. “One local environmental engineer who attended those classified meetings said there were at least 180,000 pounds of freon

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