Something in the Air

This is horrible. Just horrible. The ripple effects from that horrible day, and all of the lies told in its wake, will continue to haunt us for many, many years to come. From today's NY Daily News:

In a dramatic sign of escalating health problems stemming from 9/11, more than 1,700 cops and firefighters have filed lawsuits against the city claiming they were sickened by work at Ground Zero or the Fresh Kills landfill...

...While most medical experts doubt any cancer clusters would emerge so soon after 9/11, there is extensive evidence of other ailments among those who worked at Ground Zero or Fresh Kills - where nearly 2 million tons of Trade Center debris was taken to be sifted through.

The illnesses include sarcoidosis, a permanent lung condition; asthma; reactive airway disorders; chronic coughs, and emergency workers with glass lodged in their lung tissue, according to medical records reviewed by the Daily News...

Dr. Kerry Kelly, chief medical officer for the FDNY, has been monitoring the health problems of firefighters since Sept. 11 and said while respiratory issues are the most prevalent problem, cancer is a major concern.

"We've had so many different reports from the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] we don't know what people were exposed to. The synergy of all those substances mixed together ... we never had an exposure such as this," Kelly said. "Our concern is, what will be the long-term consequence. Cancer tends to be something that develops after years - but it's very hard to say the cancers we are seeing weren't caused by what happened on 9/11."...

Now, swoop with me, quickly, back to the memory hole. CNN, September 14, 2001:

In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took air samples Tuesday after the collapse of Manhattan's World Trade Center. Three air samples were taken downwind in Brooklyn, across the East River from Manhattan, said Dave Deegan, an EPA spokesman. A non-air sample was taken in downtown Manhattan near the disaster site.

"Apparently, those did not show any elevated level of concern, especially for asbestos, in the dust," he said of the Brooklyn samples.

The Manhattan sample did show "somewhat elevated levels of asbestos," he said. The tests found levels at about 4.5 percent, while safety standards are 1 percent or less.

"So (it's) not a huge spike, but higher than normal levels," he said.

And from February 24, 2002:

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) chief investigator has accused the EPA and other government agencies of deliberately not testing the air quality in the World Trade Center area properly and possibly covering up the reasons why.

"I believe EPA did not do that because they knew it would come up not safe and so they are involved in providing knowingly false information to the public about safety," said Hugh Kaufman, chief investigator for the EPA's Ombudsman Office, at a public hearing Saturday with scientists, residents, and small business owners.

"Not just EPA, the state and the city, too," he said. "We also had testimonies that all the agencies -- local, state, and federal -- have been consorting together every week to discuss these issues."

Kaufman has said earlier this month that he believes the air quality at Ground Zero is worse than the EPA will admit, and that he believes the agency has been misleading the public about the inherent risks for residents and workers in the area.

I'm getting tired of saying this, but: Bastards.