The toxic cloud that was Ground Zero

At a hearing today, ex EPA chief Christie Whitman was on the hot seat regarding the EPA's handling of the immediate aftermath and cleanup of Ground Zero. Decisions that were made by that agency and others in the Federal Government have since directly affected the health and safety of rescue workers and residents there following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

As you may remember, the EPA certified on September 12th that the air quality in and around Ground Zero posed no health risks and that the cleanup operations should proceed as quickly as possible. They also assured area residents that it posed no health risks for them to return to their homes. This at a time when reliable information on air quality was not available and asbestos levels were known to be three times higher than national standards.

We now know that these statements were false and the health risks were, sadly, all too real. A study conducted by the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan has revealed that almost 70% of the rescue workers at Ground Zero suffer from various respiratory ailments . There has also been the rise in cases of sarcoidosis (a lung scarring disease) that shows up in firefighters at five times the normal rate. As Thomas Cahill, a professor of physics and atmospheric sciences, who was one of those called in to analyze the air around Ground Zero proclaimed, "You had the workers working on top of a huge incinerator in the rush to get Wall Street going again, it was really dumb."

To get an idea of just how bad things are, take a look at this excerpt from Ground Zero rescue worker Sgt. Matthew Tartaglia in an interview about the health hazards he and others experienced:

"Most everybody has chronic sinusitis. They have ringing in the ears. Some people’s teeth and gums are bothering them. In the last year, I’ve lost seven teeth. They have just broken while I was eating. I have three or four more teeth that are just dying. And my dentist says, “I’ve never seen anything like this in someone who’s healthy. There is something wrong with you but I cannot find what it is. And I can’t stop it either.”

Back to Capitol Hill. Ms Whitman testified that the EPA and others in the federal government took all precautions and acted in an appropriate fashion. She lambasted critics and stated that they engaged in a campaign of "misinformation, innuendo and downright falsehoods.'' Ms Whitman insists that her statements that the "air is safe'" were aimed at those living and working near ground zero, not those who actually toiled on the toxic pile that included asbestos. "Was it wrong to try get the city back on its feet as quickly as possible in the safest way possible? Absolutely not,'' she said.

Does anyone stop to wonder why the government could not at least have given people just a simple warning to take precautions until further information could be obtained? Why was it so important to ignore the reality and proceed as if there were no problems with air quality? The decisions made then have affected thousands of people and their daily suffering attest to this fact. Someone must be held accountable!

Take a look....