9/11 Truth: The 9/11 Cover-Up 9 / 11真理： 9 / 11隱瞞事件真相的行動

Thousands of New Yorkers were endangered by WTC debris—and government malfeasance.成千上萬的紐約人受到危害世台會產生碎片和政府瀆職。

Michael Mason邁克爾梅森

In the aftermath of the first explosion, the air over Lower Manhattan transformed instantly.在經歷了第一次爆炸，空氣曼哈頓下城轉化的瞬間。

“The sky was glittering with glass,” says Nina L., a Tribeca resident who asked not to be further identified. "天空是金光閃閃的玻璃說： "如心的影響，一個頻道Tribeca駐地一位不願進一步確定。 She ran to her window and saw a shower of flaming jet fuel cascading from one of the towers.她跑到她的窗口，並看到一個淋浴的火焰熊熊噴氣燃料級聯並從其中一塔樓。

“This can’t be a good thing to have my windows open,” she immediately thought to herself. "這不可能是一件好事，讓我打開窗戶" ，她立刻想到自己。

Nina closed her windows and shut her air conditioner flues.由封閉，她的窗戶關閉，她空調器火道。 As a former jeweler, she’d worked around dangerous chemicals before and understood the hazards of toxic fumes.作為前珠寶商，她周圍的工作，危險化學品前，並了解災害的有毒煙霧。 From her apartment seven blocks north of the World Trade Center, she sat transfixed until a second explosion jolted her into action.從她的公寓七塊以北的世界貿易中心， 1965年起，她transfixed ，直到第二次爆炸的震動，她到行動上。

Nina tore up an old pillowcase, fashioned a makeshift bandanna over her face, packed her cats into cages, and trekked northward.如心，撕毀了一個老pillowcase ，形成一個臨時演唱了她的臉，填充她的貓科動物進入鐵籠，並來到北上。

“The whole neighborhood was blanketed in a gray snow,” she recalls. "整個街道被覆蓋在一種灰色的雪， "她回憶道。 “Some people were walking by in moon suits.” "有些人步行通過在月球西裝" 。

Although Nina could not have known it at the time, she had just entered one of the most dangerous atmospheric conditions ever to occur on American soil, and she suffers the consequences.雖然如心可能不知道，這在那個時候，她剛剛進入的一個最危險的大氣條件，任何時候都發生在美國國土上，她患有後果。 She had chronic bronchitis until 2003 and still has esophagitis and sinusitis.她有慢性支氣管炎，直至2003年仍然有食管炎及鼻竇炎。 Many health professionals believe others like her won’t experience the harsher, suffocating symptoms for several more years.許多衛生專業人士相信其他人一樣，她將不會體驗到更嚴厲的，窒息症狀數年。

Up to 70 percent of高達70 ％ first responders 先遣急救員 are ill as a result of生病是由於 9/11 contamination 9 / 11污染 . 。 If a similar rate of illness holds true for those who lived and worked near the Twin Towers, the number of seriously ill New Yorkers could climb to 300,000 in the near future.如果發生類似率病情如此對於那些生活和工作在附近的雙塔中，有多少個重病紐約市民可攀升至30萬人，在不久的將來。 About 70,000 New Yorkers so far have listed themselves with the約70000個新的紐約人，至今已上市的同 World Trade Center Health Registry 世界貿易中心健康登記處 , a database that tracks the health impact of the 9/11 attacks.一個數據庫，可以追踪健康的影響9 / 11恐怖襲擊。 The registry has been書記官處已 criticized 批評 for excluding large numbers of those potentially sickened outside a designated one-square-mile area.不把大量的這些潛在感染外指定一平方哩面積。 Despite the insistent denials of city and federal officials, tens of thousands of New Yorkers were unnecessarily exposed to a chemical brew without even the most rudimentary precautions.儘管一再否認市和聯邦官員，數以萬計的紐約人不必要地暴露於化學釀造，連最起碼的防範措施。 Today New York City is still mired in a fog of今天，紐約市仍深陷在迷霧 cover-ups 封面大人 and及 half-truths 半真理 regarding its environmental welfare.就其對環境的福利。

Civil rights attorney Felicia Dunn Jones, who worked a block from the towers, was caught in the initial deluge of dust when the towers fell.民權律師的Felicia鄧恩瓊斯任職塊從水塔，被夾在最初蜂擁而至的灰塵時，水塔下跌。 Although her family rejoiced upon her return home, Dunn Jones developed a serious cough the following January.雖然她的家人很高興當她回到家裡，鄧恩瓊斯制定了一個嚴重的咳嗽翌年一月。 She died barely five weeks later of sarcoidosis, an immune disorder caused by toxic exposure.她的死亡僅5個星期後的結節病，免疫功能紊亂所造成的有毒曝光。 Dunn Jones’s name will be added to the list of victims when the memorial is completed in 2009, and the honor isn’t just a token gesture.鄧恩瓊斯的名字將被加入到受害者名單時，該紀念館落成於2009年，和榮譽不僅是一個象徵性的姿態。 The addition of her name is a加上她的名字是一個 hard-won acknowledgment 好不容易確認 that exposure to 9/11 contaminants can lead to death.置身於9 / 11污染物，可導致死亡。

David Worby 朱worby , a personal injury lawyer, is representing more than 10,000 individuals who claim they’ve suffered serious illness as a result of 9/11.一個人身傷害律師，是代表了超過一萬名的人聲稱，他們已經受到了嚴重的疾病，由於9 / 11 。 Already, 130 of them have died of causes similar to Dunn Jones’s, though Dunn Jones was not a client of Worby’s.目前， 130人已死亡的原因相似，鄧恩瓊斯的，雖然鄧恩瓊斯不是一個客戶端的worby的。 Worby is critical of government officials for their overly sanguine assurances about the safety of the air and is especially critical of the city’s lax enforcement of federal requirements that respirators be worn at contaminated sites. worby是批評政府官員，他們過於樂觀保證安全的空氣，是特別重要的城市的執法不嚴的聯邦規定防毒面具佩戴在污染場址。

“They are getting sick because of people like Christie Todd Whitman and Rudy Giuliani,” Worby says. "他們是生病，因為人都喜歡克里斯汀托德惠特曼並魯迪朱利安尼， " worby說。 Whitman was administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Giuliani was the mayor at the time the towers fell.惠特曼是管理員的環境保護機構，是朱利安尼市長在當時的塔樓下跌。 “My people don’t want their names to be on the wall, because they are not victims of terrorists—they’re victims of bad government. "我的人不希望自己的名字被上牆，因為他們不是受害者的恐怖分子-他們還受害者的壞政府。 Giuliani should be banned from public office for what he did.”朱利安尼應該禁止公職人員為他的所作所為" 。

New York City, the Port Authority, and the contractors who were responsible for the cleanup (Bovis and Turner Construction) are all defendants in the Worby lawsuit.紐約市港務局，及承辦人，負責清理工作（牛和特納建築） ，都是被告在worby官司。

“I started this suit on behalf of one cop that got sick,” Worby says of his class-action lawsuit filed in 2004. "我又重新開始了這套衣服就代表一個締約方會議生病， " worby說，他的集體訴訟在2004年。 “Nobody would touch the case with a 10-foot pole because it was considered unpatriotic to say anything against the cleanup or the EPA. "沒有人會觸及如此，一個10英尺的一極，因為它被認為是愛國，說任何話，對清理或EPA的。 We have come a long way.我們已經走過了很長的路。 They once called the 9/11 cough a badge of honor.他們曾經被稱為9 / 11咳嗽一枚榮譽徽章。 Now they know that the whole thing is a catastrophic government disaster.”現在，他們知道整個事情是一個災難性的政府災難" 。

Since the attacks, various scientific studies have demonstrated that New Yorkers are engulfed in billows of illness and disease related to 9/11.攻擊以來，各種科學的研究表明，紐約市民正席捲裡的疾病和疾病相關的9 / 11 。 First the 9/11 cough and mental health problems caught the attention of local doctors.首先9 / 11咳嗽和心理健康問題受到多方關注的本地醫生。 Then chronic respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions began to surface.那麼，慢性呼吸道和胃腸道的條件也開始露頭。 Recently最近 a program at Mount Sinai 節目在西乃山 noted the emergence of注意到出現 rare blood cancers among 9/11 first responders 稀有血型癌症當中9 / 11先遣急救員 . 。 Experts predict that more problems will surface in the next few decades.據專家預測，更大的問題，將表面，在未來幾十年裡。

While the progression of diseases continues to unnerve New York residents, more people而級數的疾病繼續失去勇氣紐約居民，更多的人 are asking 要求 why basic health and safety standards were ignored and violated in the wake of the attacks.為什麼基本的衛生和安全標準，被漠視和侵犯，攻擊之後。 One nonprofit organization, the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), keeps a一個非營利組織，設在紐約的委員會職業安全及健康（ nycosh ） ，目前維持 diligent watch 勤政觀賞 on 9/11-related issues.對9/11-related問題。

Image courtesy of NOAA形象禮貌諾阿

“The first indication I knew something was wrong was that by September 12 there was no evidence of or even consideration of organization,” says David Newman, an industrial hygienist with NYCOSH. "第一個跡象，我知道有點不對勁的是，由9月12日目前還沒有任何證據，甚至考慮組織說： "大衛紐曼，工業環境衛生與nycosh 。 Newman was consulting on environmental hazards at 9/11 from day one.紐曼正諮詢對環境危害於9 / 11 ，從第一天開始。 “There was no health or safety plan at the site, and this is Safety 101.” "沒有健康或安全計劃，在該工地上施工，而這是安全101 " 。

Asbestos was most likely in various construction materials used to build the World Trade Center, an EPA memo stated.石棉是最有可能在各種建築材料用作興建世界貿易中心，美國環保署備忘錄。 It explained that short-term exposure to asbestos can cause respiratory, skin, or eye irritation.它解釋說，短期暴露於石棉可引起呼吸道，皮膚或眼睛不適。 The information was dangerously incorrect.資料是很危險不正確。

“If our purpose was to save lives and avoid injury and illnesses, we did not have years, months, or even weeks to wait for corrective actions,” said former Occupational Safety and Health Administration chief John Henshaw in a recent House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing. "如果我們的目的是為了挽救生命，避免受傷和生病時，我們沒有幾年，幾個月，甚至幾個星期等待糾正行動， "說，以前的職業安全和健康管理執行長傑夫在最近的眾議院司法小組委員會的聽證會。 OSHA played an advisory role during the WTC cleanup.奧沙發揮了諮詢作用，在世貿中心的清理工作。

Inhalable asbestos particles are microscopic and completely unidentifiable without the aid of a microscope.石棉可吸入顆粒物是微觀上完全無法查證的，沒有借助顯微鏡。 Exposure to asbestos is dangerous in part because it does not cause obvious irritation; contamination manifests itself over the course of years and decades, not days.暴露於石棉的危險性，部分是因為它不會引起明顯的不適;污染艙單本身的過程中多年甚至幾十年，而非數天。 It’s an invisible, deadly, and patient toxin.這是一種無形的，致命的，耐心毒素。 The only effective protection against airborne asbestos is a special respirator.唯一有效的保護，對空降石棉是一種特殊的呼吸機。

“I was down there watching people working without respirators,” Newman says. "我坐下眼看著人們工作，沒有呼吸器， "紐曼說。 “Others took off their respirators to eat. "其他人脫掉身上的呼吸器吃。 It was a surreal, ridiculous, unacceptable situation.”這是一個超現實的，是荒謬的，不能接受的情況" 。

Stringent protocols govern asbestos contamination cleanup.嚴格議定書執政石棉污染清理工作。 After a specialized training period, health exam, and certification, licensed technicians must wear industrial-grade respirators and asbestos-resistant suits.經過專門訓練期間，衛生考試和認證，持牌技師必須戴上工業級呼吸器及石棉耐西裝。 New York City has a history of properly addressing asbestos contamination.紐約市有一個歷史的妥善解決石棉污染。 Back in 1989, a早在1989年， relatively small steam pipe explosion 相對較小的蒸汽管發生爆炸 on Gramercy Park South sent 200 pounds of asbestos blowing onto neighboring buildings.對Gramercy公園南派200磅的石棉吹上鄰近建築物。 As a precaution, the entire building was covered in protective plastic sheeting, and city environmental officials complained that the cleanup would require more than four weeks of painstaking procedures for outdoor decontamination alone.作為預防措施，整個大樓蓋在保護農膜，市環保部門的官員抱怨說，清理工作將需要四個多星期的艱苦程序，為戶外除污。 More than 200 area tenants were displaced for weeks following the accident. 200多個地區居民流離失所幾個星期後，意外的。

The World Trade Center had been, by some accounts, the largest fireproofing project in the world, with possibly 400 to 1,000 tons of asbestos, which was世界貿易中心一直是，由一些帳目，全國最大的防火工程，在世界上，甚至可能是400至1000噸的石棉，這是 released during the collapse 過程中釋放出的崩潰 . 。 Bureaucrats aired their assurances to the world.官僚的代表們保證，到世界各地。

“The air is safe as far as we can tell, with respect to chemical and biological agents,” Giuliani pronounced two days after the attack. "空氣是安全的，因為據我們可以告訴，恕我直言，以化學和生物戰劑， "朱利亞尼宣判後兩天攻擊。

On September 12, a regional EPA office volunteered to send 30 to 40 electron microscopes to Ground Zero to test bulk dust samples for the presence of asbestos fibers, according to EPA whistle-blower Cate Jenkins, yet the local EPA office declined the offer, opting for the less effective polarized light microscopy testing method instead. 9月12日，一個地區環保局辦公自動請纓，派出30至40名電子顯微鏡，以地面為零，以測試散裝粉塵樣品，為在場的石棉纖維，根據環保局告發者篇詹金斯，但當地環保局辦公室拒絕要約，選擇為有效減少偏振光顯微鏡檢測法代替。 Jenkins had further alleged that regional office personnel were told by the local EPA office: “We don’t want you fucking cowboys here.詹金斯還進一步聲稱區域辦事處工作人員被告知，由當地環保局辦公室說： "我們不想讓你他媽的牛仔這裡。 The best thing they could do is reassign you to Alaska.”最好的事情，他們可以做的是重新分配你到阿拉斯加" 。

Three days after 9/11, following questionable air sampling techniques, a spokesperson for the EPA said that levels of asbestos were either at low levels, negligible, or undetectable.三天後， 9 / 11 ，下列疑問空氣採樣技術，發言人環保署表示，各級石棉的人，或是在較低水平，可忽略，或undetectable 。

“I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, DC, that the air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink,” Whitman said one week after 9/11. "我很高興再次向人們新的紐約和華盛頓特區，在空氣是安全的呼吸和他們的水可安全飲用， "惠特曼說，一周後， 9 / 11 。

Under the gray, noxious air, trusting residents returned to their homes in Lower Manhattan, unsuspecting children returned to their schools, and hundreds of thousands of downtown workers trudged to their desks.根據灰色，有毒空氣，信賴的居民返回家園，在曼哈頓下城，毫無戒心的兒童返回自己的學校，以及數以十萬計的工人鬧市中跋涉了自己的桌子。 In the following year, the EPA gave more than 50 public assurances concerning the toxic exposure.在隨後的一年中，環保局作了50多公開保證，有關有毒曝光。 At least another 15 came from New York City officials.另外至少有15個來自紐約市官員。

The systemic failures began occurring almost immediately following the disaster, in part because of an unclear chain of command.系統性故障開始發生幾乎緊接災害，部分原因是一個不明確的指揮鏈。 In times of environmental crisis, a blueprint for a federal response, called the在時代的環境危機，一個藍圖，為一個聯邦的反應，被稱為 National Contingency Plan 全國應急計劃 , entitles the EPA to oversee safety and cleanup efforts—but it does not obligate the EPA to do so. ，有權環保局監督安全及清理工作，但它不強迫環保局這樣做。 During 9/11, New York City initiated a lead role in the environmental crisis response, and as a result, the mayor’s leadership has been called into question.在9 / 11 ，紐約市發起了一個帶頭作用，在環境危機的反應，因此，市長的領導能力受到了質疑。

“We didn’t have the authority to do that [health and safety] enforcement, but we communicated that to the people who did,” Whitman said in a "我們沒有權力這樣做[健康與安全]執法，但我們認為，傳達給人民群眾，他們指出， "惠特曼說，在一個 60 Minutes interview 60分鐘面試 . 。 “Really, the city was the primary responder.” Whitman’s office repeatedly declined an invitation to speak with DISCOVER. "真的，小城市的首要急救員"惠特曼的辦公室一再拒絕邀請發言與發現。

Image courtesy of EPA形象禮貌環保局

At a time that demanded clear thought and action, a brazen can-do attitude emerged from the rubble, and nobody embodied the reactionary spirit more than New York City’s mayor.在時間的要求是明確的思想和行動，公然可以辦得到的態度出現了從瓦礫中，沒有人，體現了反動的精神，更比紐約市的市長。

“You smell it, and you feel there must be something wrong,” Giuliani said. "您是否聞到它，你會覺得，有一定有錯了， "朱利亞尼說。 “But what I’m told is that it is not dangerous to your health.” Days later he encouraged New Yorkers to “go back to normal.” "但是我告訴在於，它不是危險，以你的健康" 。幾天後，他鼓勵新的紐約人"回到正常" 。

Once praised for his heroic response, Giuliani has now made New York City vulnerable to a billion-dollar lawsuit that addresses many haphazard health violations that occurred under his watch.曾經稱讚他的英雄回應，朱利安尼現在已取得了新的紐約市受10億美元的訴訟案涉及許多雜亂無章的健康行為發生在他的關注。 Fewer than 30 percent of Ground Zero workers, for example, wore respirators.只有不到百分之三十的地面零工作者，舉例來說，穿著防毒面具。 After repeated phone calls and e-mails, Giuliani would not return calls or send comments.經過多次電話和電子郵件，朱利安尼將不會返回通話或發送意見。

The president’s 2002 proposal establishing the Department of Homeland Security addressed the lead-agency issue in the event of future crisis as follows: “After a major incident, the EPA will be responsible for decontamination of affected buildings and neighborhoods and providing advice and assistance to public-health authorities in determining whether it is safe to return to the areas.”總統的建議，於2002年成立的國土安全部，並向牽頭機構的問題，一旦未來的危機如下： "後的一個主要事件發生後，環保局將負責清除污染的影響，建築物和街道，並提供諮詢和援助以公共保健當局確定是否能安全返回到地帶" 。

Nevertheless, a lengthy不過，也有長篇 2003 report 2003年報告 (pdf) from the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) hammered the EPA for not fully utilizing its abilities, for making uninformed assurances to New Yorkers, for not taking a proactive approach, and for deferring the onus of environmental decision making to ill-prepared New York City officials. （ PDF格式） ，由美國環境保護局的監察長辦公室（ oig ）敲定環保局沒有充分利用自己的能力，使不知情的保證，新的紐約人，不採取積極主動的態度，並延期舉證的環境決策為了準備不足紐約市官員。

With NYC officials and local landowners left to head up sampling and cleaning facilities, a number of private interests could easily sway air-testing results.與紐約市官員以及當地地主留下來領導採樣和清洗設備，許多私人利益，可以很容易擺動空調測試結果。 An opportunity for collusion exists between the city and landlords: If buildings were found contaminated, property owners could lose millions due to asbestos-blighted buildings, devaluing one of the most lucrative real estate locations in the world.一個機會，勾結存在著城市和業主：如果建築物被發現受污染的，物業業主可能失去數百萬因含有石棉的破舊建築物，貶值的一個最有利可圖的房地產位置，在世界上。 It was in the financial interest of Manhattan’s most wealthy citizens to see their properties up and running at capacity again.這是在財務上的利益曼哈頓最富有的市民看到自己的屬性和運行能力。

Initially, the New York City Department of Health (NYCDOH) took the lead in implementing an indoor cleanup program, which placed the responsibility for asbestos removal directly on landlords and residents themselves, in direct violation of city, state, and federal laws and at an enormous potential health risk.最初，紐約市的衛生署（ nycdoh ）在全國率先推行室內清理計畫，把責任清除石棉直接對業主和居民本身，直接違反了市，州和聯邦法律，並在巨大的潛在健康風險。

Nina, for example, returned to her Tribeca apartment a week after 9/11.如心，舉例來說，回到自己的公寓頻道Tribeca一個星期後9 / 11 。 She found the entire place salted with what appeared to be a fine coating.她發現整個地方鹽醃什麼看來是一個良好的塗層。

“This stuff goes through clothes, cracks, everything,” says Nina. "這種東西貫穿的衣服，裂縫一切， "說，如心。

In the mail, she received a letter from the NYCDOH instructing her how to clean her apartment: Use a wet rag and use a High Efficiency Particulate Airfilter vacuum.在郵件中，她收到了一封來自nycdoh指示她如何清潔她的公寓：用濕破布和使用高效率微粒airfilter真空。 (A study cited in the EPA’s OIG report shows that most residents failed to follow cleaning instructions appropriately.) Only trained, respirator-equipped professionals should conduct asbestos cleanup. （一項研究列舉在EPA的oig報告表明，大多數居民沒有後續的清潔指示妥善處理。 ）只有受過訓練，呼吸機配備專業人員應當進行石棉清理。 Shortly after returning to her apartment, Nina developed crippling headaches and respiratory problems—troubles she never had before.不久後，回到她的公寓，由發達癱瘓，頭痛以及呼吸困難-麻煩，她從來沒有過的。

Eventually, in May 2002, the EPA reclaimed the initiative for indoor air cleanup.終於，在2002年5月，環保局復墾的積極性，為室內空氣清理。 It offered a more involved testing for contaminants, but it still did not adhere to the minimum criteria for protecting human health under the EPA’s own guidelines for a Superfund site.它提供了更多地參與測試的污染物，但仍沒有遵守的最低標準，為保護人體健康，根據環保署的指引自己的一個超級網站。 As a result, the cleanup efforts received little public trust.因此，在全面清理的努力並未獲得公眾的信任。 In the first cleanup attempt, 4,166 entities had registered; only 295 residents and building owners participated in the second program.在第一次清理的嘗試，為4166實體進行了登記，只有295名居民及大廈業主參加了第二個計劃。 Outdoor air sampling and cleaning was another matter.室外空氣採樣和清洗則是另一回事。

“Our rooms were microcosms for what was going on in the neighborhood,” Nina says. "我們的房間的縮影，為什麼事就在附近， "如心說。

A 1 toxic cloud 有毒雲 composed of industrial waste and human remains crept out from the aching, smoldering pit at Ground Zero and wound its way into the adjoining streets.組成的工業廢物和人類遺骸悄悄從著能夠，悶燒坑在地面零和創面地滲透到附近街道。 Its vapors circled around and up buildings, pumped in and out of nostrils, mouths, and lungs, and stung the eyes of every woman, child, man, bird, and beast within a wide range.其蒸氣盤旋及建築物，泵浦和帶出鼻孔，嘴巴，和肺的功能，刺痛眼睛的每一個婦女，兒童，男子，鳥，獸在一個範圍廣泛。 It spread itself on building walls and inside boiler rooms and left its trail on parked cars, handrails, and public benches.它的傳播本身對建築的牆壁和裡面的鍋爐房，並留下其踪跡就停泊的汽車，扶手，及公共板凳。 That day, New York City was blinded by a perpetually sickening haze.這一天，紐約市是個利欲熏心的一個永恆令人作嘔陰霾。 It poisoned the minds of politicians who acted with hubris and paranoia.它毒化了頭腦的政治家們表現出傲慢和偏執。 It obscured the vision of responders and residents, many of whom acted with heroism and reckless bravado, never thinking that their actions might be endangering themselves, their families, their cities, and their very future.它混淆了視覺的急救員和居民，其中許多人表現出的英雄氣概和魯莽虛張聲勢，從不以為自己的行動可能會危及他們自身，對家庭，他們的城市，以及他們的未來。 The cloud billowed southward, over the river, enveloping everything in the dust and debris of blown-apart lives.雲billowed南下，在河中，包容一切，在灰塵和殘骸的吹除的生命。

Teroy Canfield, now a music producer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a student at the Institute of Audio Research in Manhattan in September 2001. teroy坎菲爾德，現在是一家音樂製作人，在塔爾薩，俄克拉荷馬州，是一名學生在研究所的音頻研究在曼哈頓， 2001年9月。 On the day of the attacks, he remembers getting a “light dusting” following the collapse of the towers.在當天的襲擊事件，據他的記憶，得到了"輕噴粉"崩潰後的塔樓。 Several hours later, he joined thousands in their exodus across the Manhattan Bridge toward Brooklyn.幾個小時之後，他加入了數千名在其流亡橫跨曼哈頓大橋走向布魯克林。

When Canfield returned to his apartment near Clark and Henry Streets in Brooklyn Heights, loose papers and other debris were blowing across the area.當坎菲爾德回到他的公寓附近的克拉克和亨利街道在布魯克林高地，鬆散文件和其他雜物被吹整個地區。 His home was in the path of the cloud but supposedly far from the designated danger areas.他的家是在道路上的雲層，但理應遠從指定的危險地區。

“There was dust on our air-conditioning units and on the vents,” Canfield recalls. "有粉塵對我們的空氣調節系統的單位和對噴口， "坎菲爾德回憶道。 “When we turned it on, the dust would blast into the room. "當我們變得與眾不同，粉塵爆炸，將進入房間。 We had wet bandannas and T-shirts, and we would put them on our faces when we went to sleep.”我們已經濕bandannas及T卹，並會把他們的面孔時，我們睡覺去了" 。

Canfield couldn’t decide which was worse—to suffer the heat, to have an air-conditioning unit blowing dust into the room, or to open the windows and endure the noxious odors that were creeping their way into Brooklyn.坎菲爾德無法決定哪些是較差的承受熱，有空調機組吹塵進入房間，或者打開窗戶，以及承受有毒氣味被匍匐他們自己的方式來布魯克林。 More often than not, they chose to run the air.很多時候，他們選擇了開辦了空中。 As Canfield explains, he simply thought the dust was just dust—skin cells, fibers, whatever.作為坎菲爾德解釋說，他只是以為塵埃剛剛除塵皮膚細胞，纖維，諸如此類。

In the following week, Canfield noticed that his dorm room rapidly collected an inordinate amount of the gray stuff, which prompted him and his roommate to clean the place three separate times that week.在隨後的一個星期，坎菲爾德注意到他的寢室裡迅速收集了大量的灰色的東西，促使他和他的室友，以乾淨的地方，三個不同時代的那個星期。 Neither of them had heard of, nor followed, any precautions.其中沒聽說，也不其次，任何防範措施。 School had already resumed, and nobody there seemed to be talking about toxins or asbestos, so why worry, he thought.學校已恢復，而且沒有人，看來大家談論的毒素或石棉，那麼，為什麼擔心，他的思考。

About six months later, Canfield developed a catch in his throat.大約半年後，坎菲爾德制定了追趕他的喉嚨。

“It was like if you swallowed a piece of rice and your instinct is to hack,” he said. "這是想，如果你吞下了一塊水稻和你的直覺是，以哈克， "他說。 “A dry, hard hack. "一個幹，硬哈克。 I might cough three or four times a day, or a week.”我可能咳嗽3次或4次，一天或一個星期" 。

Every so often, the hacking would yield a small clump of tissue—different from phlegm or anything else Canfield had ever seen.一次，黑客將產量的一小叢的組織不同，從痰或任何其他坎菲爾德曾見過。

“It was sometimes brown and pinkish-bloody,” says Canfield, who has never smoked. "人們有時布朗和粉紅血腥， "坎菲爾德說，他們從來不抽煙。 “It didn’t hurt, so I figured it would go away.” "它沒有傷害，所以我想通它會去走" 。

Canfield says that he no longer coughs as frequently as he used to, but he has developed a breathing sensitivity.坎菲爾德說，他不再咳嗽頻密，因為他用的，但他已制定了一個喘息的敏感性。 Ordinary smoke from indoor cooking or an outdoor barbecue seems to bother him the most.普通濃煙從室內煮食或戶外燒烤似乎打擾他最。

“Some people were buried in the dust,” explains Noah Greenspan, a cardiopulmonary specialist at the Pulmonary Wellness and Rehabilitation Center in midtown Manhattan. "有些人被掩埋在灰塵， "諾亞解釋格林斯潘，心肺專科在肺部健康和康復中心在曼哈頓。 “There were a lot of toxins in the air, a lot of things that are very hard to clean out of the lungs, things like fiberglass and asbestos. "有很多毒素，在空氣中，有很多事情是很難清理的肺部，像玻璃纖維和石棉。 If you inhale those things in large quantities, it’s very difficult for the body to recover from that completely.”如果你吸入這些東西數量大，它是非常困難的身體痊癒，這完全是" 。

Greenspan has conducted a number of breathing tests on New Yorkers and expressed concern that many people don’t know that pulmonary rehabilitation is a helpful treatment option.格林斯潘已進行了多次的呼吸測試，對紐約人，並表示擔心，很多人都不知道，肺康復是一個非常有用的治療選擇。 He explained that some victims won’t even show any signs of disease for years.他解釋說，有些受害者甚至不會顯示任何跡象病多年。

“Smokers can smoke for 25 years before they become symptomatic,” he says. "煙民可以吸煙， 25年來，才成為有症狀的， "他說。 “I think we are going to see a similar trend for people who were exposed to 9/11.” "我認為我們將看到類似趨勢的人暴露於9 / 11 " 。

No agency has tracked the number of former residents like Canfield who have since left New York and fanned out across the globe, nor is there an agency outside of state lines devoted to meeting their health-care needs.沒有一個機構有跟踪一批原居民一樣坎菲爾德曾經因為離開紐約，並紛全球各地的，也沒有一個機構以外的國家線，專門滿足他們的衛生保健需求。 At best, former residents are advised to download a treatment guideline from the NYCDOH Web site and pass it on to their doctors.在最好的，前香港居民的人士，宜下載一個治療指南，從nycdoh網站，並通過它自己的醫生。 Canfield, who has no health insurance, tells me that he doesn’t plan on seeing a specialist anytime soon.坎菲爾德，沒有健康保險，告訴我，他不打算就看到一個專科很快。

“I just treat myself if I have to—just eat some soup and my veggies, you know?” he says. "我只是對待自己，如果我要，只要吃一些湯，我的蔬菜，你知道嗎？ " ，他說。 “I don’t have money to go to a doctor.” "我沒有錢去看病" 。

Even those who conducted air sampling in 2001 have suffered.即使是那些進行空氣採樣， 2001年以來經受的苦難。 While the EPA was conducting its own measurements, outdoor air had to be tested for radioactive materials, too, and that required the help of an elite group of government scientists from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).而美國環境保護局正進行自己的測量結果，室外的空氣已被檢驗為放射性材料，而且需要幫助的一個精英小組的科學家，政府從國家核安全管理局（國家核安全局認為） 。

Before 9/11, Steve Centore ran four miles a day, led an active family life as the father of three boys and a daughter, and held a security clearance earned from more than 25 years in government service.前9 / 11 ，史蒂夫琴托雷然4英里一天，率領一個活躍的家庭生活，因為有三個兒子和一個女兒，並舉行了一次安全檢查，從賺取的25年多來，在政府各部門服務。 As a physicist with NNSA, he was among the first sent onto the scene following 9/11.作為一位物理學家與國家核安全局認為，他是第一個派遣到現場，隨後9 / 11 。 The New York City Department of Health asked Centore to conduct air sampling at Ground Zero, but when he showed up at their makeshift command center on Chambers Street, the NYCDOH simply handed him a hard hat and a painter’s mask and told him to get to work.新的紐約市衛生署詢問琴托雷進行空氣採樣，在地面為零，但是當他出現在他們的臨時指揮中心，對商會街時， nycdoh乾脆交給他一個硬的帽子，一個畫家的面具，並告訴他趴下工作。

“We weren’t worried about contamination, and we were told we didn’t need respirators,” Centore says. "我們不擔心污染，並告訴我們，我們並不需要呼吸器， "琴托雷說。 Even though he was a scientist, he still had to rely on the EPA’s findings for his own safety.即使他是一個科學家，但他仍不得不依靠美國環境保護局的調查結果，為他自己的安全。

Centore spent the next four months working among the steaming ruins, looking for radioactive material in both the pile and the debris being carted off to various sites.琴托雷花了4個月的工作當中，蒸廢墟，尋找放射性物質在兩樁和碎片被carted起飛，以不同的站點。 The radioactive air samplings came back negative—he claims everything had been burned up and swept into the air.放射性空氣採樣回來負他聲稱一切都被燒毀了，並橫掃到空氣中。

Centore didn’t think much about the cough he had developed until several months later, when it got so persistent that he ruptured a blood vessel in his upper torso.琴托雷沒想到不多了，他咳嗽了，發展到數個月後，下來的時候，為何如此執著，他破裂的血管，在其上部軀幹。

“It turned half my chest black and blue,” he says. "原來，半年我的胸黑與藍" ，他說。

The bruise initiated a succession of doctor’s visits, but with little relief.該瘀傷發起一連串的醫生的訪問，但沒有太多的救濟。 By 2005 Centore was a different man—not just physically but mentally.到2005年，琴托雷是兩個不同的人，不只是肉體，但弱智。 He could no longer exercise, and he seemed detached much of the time.他可以不再做運動，他似乎超脫的大部分時間內。 His list of medications steadily increased.他的藥品清單穩步提高。 For the first time in his life, he began drinking heavily.對於第一次在他的生命，他開始飲酒過量。 His wife began to take notice of strange behavior.他的妻子開始採取公告的怪異行為。

“She would find me in the middle of the night standing in the driveway, wearing my pajamas and shaking,” Centore says. "她會找到我在半夜三更常委會在車道上，穿著我的睡衣和搖頭， "琴托雷說。 A psychiatrist gave him a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and put him on psychotropic medications for his panic attacks.精神科醫生給他診斷為創傷後應激障礙，並把他的精神科藥物，為他的恐慌襲擊。 He took a leave of absence from work, knowing that he would probably never return.他請假離開的工作，知道他很可能回不來了。

By the spring of 2006, however, a more serious set of symptoms emerged.由2006年春天，然而，更嚴重的症狀出現。 Centore’s organs began deteriorating.琴托雷的機關開始惡化。 First his gallbladder failed him, then his spleen and liver began to malfunction.首先他的膽囊沒有他的話，他的脾臟和肝臟開始失靈。 He would require a liver transplant eventually.他將需要進行肝臟移植，最終。

“I started bleeding everywhere—out of my ears, mouth, penis, and anus, and none of the doctors could figure out why,” Centore says. "我又開始出血，到處出我的耳朵，口腔，陰莖，肛門，並沒有一個醫生能想出如此， "琴托雷說。 “I was in the hospital for four weeks, and I can’t tell you how many colonoscopies I had in that time.” "我在醫院四周，我不能告訴你有多少做直腸鏡檢查，我在那個時候" 。

When Centore asked the doctors if he could leave the hospital after four weeks’ worth of testing, he was surprised by their answer.當琴托雷問醫生，如果他能夠離開醫院，經過4個星期的價值的考驗，他很驚訝，他們的答案。 Centore had been moved to number one in line on the liver transplant list, and doctors told him that he might only have hours to live.琴托雷已被轉移到一個號碼，在網上對肝臟移植手術的名單後，醫生告訴他，他可能只有時間才能生存。 A liver was harvested in time, and Centore survived the operation.肝臟是收成的時候，和琴托雷存活運作。 It has taken him a while to be weaned down from 34 daily medications to only 19, but he’s grateful he has his life.它採取了他一個，而將斷奶下跌，從34每日服食藥物只有19個，但是他的感激，有他的生活。 Although he believes his health problems are related to 9/11 contaminants, he no longer holds grudges.雖然他認為他的健康問題都與9 / 11污染物的，他不再持有結怨。

“Every once in a while I still have panic attacks,” Centore says, “and I go to the doctor all the time, at least once a week. "每一次，而我仍然有恐慌攻擊， "琴托雷說， "我去看醫生，所有的時間，每週至少一次。 I am not out of the woods by a long shot.”我不是脫離險境，由一個長期開槍" 。

Heat up a ballpoint pen, a computer, an office sofa, electric wire, or any other object you might find in a high-rise and there comes a point when you can inhale it.熱了一個圓珠筆，一台電腦，一個辦公室沙發上，電線，或任何其他物品，你可能會發現在某高層也有說到這一點時，你可以吸它。 The Twin Towers contained tens of thousands of computer terminals, each housing about four pounds of lead, and an untold number of fluorescent bulbs that contained mercury.雙塔載有數以萬計的計算機終端上，每房約4磅的鉛，以及無數的熒光燈管含有汞。 Released metal particles from the smoldering pit of the World Trade Center were so fine that they could easily slip past a paper face mask and reach deep into lung tissue, where they are poorly soluble in lung fluid.釋放金屬微粒，從悶燒坑的世界貿易中心被罰款，使他們能夠很容易滑過去一份文件，面罩和深入滲透到肺部組織，他們在那裡不易溶解在肺液。 Metals and glass can remain trapped there for long periods of time and make their way into the heart.金屬及玻璃，可依然被困在那裡很長的時間，使他們自己的方式來心。

Image courtesy of NOAA形象禮貌諾阿

Though the list of known toxins released into the air keeps expanding, it doesn’t deter the ongoing investigations of Thomas Cahill, a professor of physics and atmospheric sciences at the University of California at Davis.雖然名單上已知的毒素釋放到空氣中不斷擴大，但並不阻止正在進行的調查托馬斯的種子，物理學教授和大氣科學，在加州大學戴維斯。 Cahill has led some of the種子業，已導致有些人的 most exhaustive scientific studies 最詳盡的科學論證 of 9/11-related toxins, and he has discovered a large number of health-threatening substances from air samples taken in the weeks and months after 9/11.對9/11-related毒素，但他已發現了大量的健康受到威脅的物質，從空氣樣本中，在幾週和幾個月後， 9 / 11 。

“There were two separate pollution events, and the first was an initial dust cloud,” Cahill explains. "有兩個不同的污染事件，並第一次是一個初步的塵埃雲， "種子解釋。 “What must not be forgotten is that the later effects from the smoldering pile were far, far worse.” "什麼是不能忘記的是，後來的影響，從悶燒樁均遠遠差" 。

Unlike the publicly lambasted EPA tests and findings, Cahill’s studies, which were published in peer-reviewed forums, were widely praised for their accuracy.不像公開譴責環保局化驗和調查結果，種子業的研究，發表在同儕審查的論壇上，都被廣泛推崇，其準確性。 Though the University of California at Davis has offered the conclusions to the EPA, the Senate, and New York City health officials, Cahill says he isn’t aware of a single state or federal agency that has acted on his findings.雖然美國加州大學戴維斯提供了結論轉交給環保局，參院和紐約市的衛生官員，種子業說，他不知道有一個單一國家或聯邦機構已採取行動對他的調查結果。 Through sample analysis, Cahill first discovered that 21 percent of the initial dust cloud contained finely powdered, highly caustic cement—thought to be responsible for the “通過樣品分析，種子業首次發現， 21 ％的初始粉塵雲載細粉狀，高鹼水泥想過要負責" 9/11 cough 9 / 11咳嗽 .” Cahill noticed that the heat generated by the piles was converting gases into highly toxic, very fine aerosols. "種子意識到，在所產生的熱量樁被轉換成氣體的高毒性，非常細微的氣溶膠。 His study “他的研究報告" Analysis of Aerosols From World Trade Center Attack 分析氣溶膠從世界貿易中心攻擊 ” indicated that the contaminated air sometimes descended to ground level over a mile from Ground Zero, far outside the safety zones established by the EPA. "表示，受污染的空氣，有時下降至地面水平超過一英里，從地面零，遠遠超出了安全地帶設立了由環保局。 Within a few hours’ time, a person exposed to the fumes could ingest toxins that would otherwise take a year to accumulate in a typical environment.在幾個小時的時間，一個人暴露於油煙可攝取毒素，否則要花一年時間才能夠累積在一個典型環境。

“The fuming World Trade Center debris pile was a chemical factory that exhaled toxins in a particularly dangerous form that could penetrate deep into the lungs of rescue workers and local residents,” Cahill and his fellow researchers concluded. "復明世界貿易中心碎片樁是一個化學工廠，呼出的毒素，一種特別危險的形式，可以深入滲透到肺部的救援人員和當地居民， "種子業和他的同事的研究人員得出的結論。

It’s painful just listening to Susan talk on the phone.它的痛苦只是聽蘇珊談了電話。 Her gasps and wheezes and long pauses in conversation give you the impression that she may not make it through an entire conversation, and I caught her on a good day.她的壁壘相對較低和wheezes和長期停頓了一下，在交談中給你的印象是，她自己不說，它是通過整個談話中，我被她的一個好日子。 A bad day means that she won’t even be able to make the trek from Queens to her office downtown.糟糕的一天意味著她將不會甚至可以使跋涉，從皇后區到她的辦公室鬧市區。

“The public isn’t aware of just how bad the effects have been,” Susan says. "市民不知道有多麼壞的影響，已"蘇珊說。

“Susan,” an anonymous source, was one of 386,000 people who worked in Lower Manhattan before the attacks. "蘇珊， "一個匿名消息來源，其中38.6萬人在曼哈頓下城前的攻擊。 A week after the attacks, she returned to her job downtown.一個星期之後，攻擊，她回到自己的求職市中心。

“Within 24 hours of returning to work, I had a problem,” she warbles. "在24小時內返回工作崗位時，我有一個問題， "她warbles 。 “I could not breathe at the office.” "我無法呼吸，在辦公室"主任。

Even though she had heard the assurances of officials on television, today she bears the signs of serious toxic exposure: internal chemical burns, chronic respiratory infections, and severe asthma attacks.儘管她聽到了保證的官員在電視上，今天她負有的跡象，嚴重的有毒曝光：內部化學燒傷，慢性呼吸道感染，重度哮喘發作。

For average citizens like Susan, New York City offers only one publicly funded treatment option: the為每一個普通公民一樣，蘇珊，紐約市，僅提供一個由公帑資助的治療選擇： WTC Environmental Health Center 世貿中心環境健康中心 (WTC-EHC) at Bellevue Hospital, a new program launched in January 2007 that will expand to treat about 6,000 New Yorkers with 9/11-related health problems. （世貿中心-東隧）在貝爾維尤醫院，一項新的計劃，發起了在2007年1月表示，將擴大至治療約6000名紐約市民與9/11-related健康問題。 The World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program based at Mount Sinai and the Fire Department of New York’s Bureau of Health Services programs offer services to first responders.世界貿易中心的醫療監測和治療計劃設在西奈山和消防部門的紐約統計局衛生服務項目包括提供服務，以第一反應。 Politicians have proposed 政界人士提議 $1.9 billion in funding over the course of six years. 19億美元資金的過程中，六年。

“We get about 100 to 200 calls a week,” says Dr. Joan Reibman, director of Bellevue’s WTC-EHC. "我們得到約100至200召喚一個星期博士說： "鄧務滋女士reibman主任貝爾維尤的世貿中心-東隧。 “We have a couple of hundred people waiting, so to get an appointment takes six weeks.” "我們有一兩百名市民輪候，所以才能獲需六週" 。

The Bellevue clinic currently serves about 1,300 patients in all.該貝爾維尤診所，目前大約有1300名病人在所有。 Although the three WTC treatment programs have been praised by Mayor Bloomberg’s office, Reibman explained to me that the WTC treatment programs were initiated by private organizations.雖然三個世貿中心治療項目受到好評，由市長彭博的辦公室， reibman向我解釋說，世貿中心治療項目啟動由私人機構。

“Neither the city or the federal government asked anyone to start any of the programs,” she says. "無論是城市還是聯邦政府要求任何人，開始所有程序" ，她說。 Eventually the programs drew the support of city officials and gained funding.最終該節目提請支持，市府官員，並獲得資助。

Critics of the WTC health programs contend that there is no central entity that integrates the gathered information, which could provide a greater understanding of disease incidence as well as a certain level of continuity of treatment.批評世貿中心衛生規劃爭辯說，有沒有一個中央實體整合收集資料，其中可以提供一個更深入了解疾病的發病率，以及某種程度的延續性治療。

“We [the WTC health programs] all work together on the development of guidelines,” Reibman says. "我們[世貿中心衛生規劃]各項工作，共同發展的方針" ， reibman說。 “We all share our information with each other. "我們每個人都分享我們的信息。 We have different populations, so our questionnaires are different.”我們有不同的人群，因此我們的問卷是不同的" 。

Although it still makes her ill, Susan continues to plod downtown to work.雖然它仍讓她生病，蘇珊繼續plod市中心上班。 She says sometimes the air in her workspace makes her eyes burn, but she doesn’t have a choice—disability payments won’t cover the rent or put food on the table.她說，有時空氣中，她的工作使她的眼睛燒傷，但她已沒有選擇的傷殘補償，將不支付租金或把食物放在桌上。

“You can’t dwell on it every single minute,” she says. "你不能多說，它每分鐘" ，她說。 “If people dwelled on what happened, nobody would live downtown because they would be too frightened.” "如果人民群眾對所發生的事情，沒有人會住市中心，因為他們肯定會非常害怕" 。

Curious about whether the workers and residents of Lower Manhattan are still haunted by health problems like Susan’s, Nina’s, and Teroy’s, I took a walk through the streets surrounding the 9/11 reconstruction site.好奇是否有工人和居民的曼哈頓下城仍困擾的健康問題如蘇珊的，如心的，並teroy的，我曾漫步街頭，周圍9 / 11重建工地。 Although six years have passed since the attacks, the number of people I encountered seemingly with residual health problems surprised me.雖然六年過去了，攻擊以來，有多少人是我所遇到的看似與殘餘健康問題，令我感到意外。

“They told us it would be OK to come back here,” recalls Nicholas Rowe, a silver-haired bartender at a nearby Blarney Stone restaurant and bar. "他們告訴我們會會沒事回來這裡， "回顧尼古拉斯羅，一個白髮蒼蒼的酒保在附近blarney石餐廳和酒吧。 In an Irish lilt, Rowe chose colorful words to denounce the EPA’s assurances, none of them printable.在愛爾蘭的lilt ，羅選擇了五彩繽紛的話，聲討美國環境保護局的保證，但他們都不打印。

“Three months after the attacks, we would open the bar doors each day,” Rowe recalls. " 3個月襲擊事件發生後，我們將開酒吧的大門每一天， "羅回憶說。 “And every time I would wipe off the bar counter, there was black dust. "每一次我會摧毀小康酒吧櫃檯，有黑色灰塵。 Now I have nose and throat and sinus infections that keep coming back, and I never had those before.現在我的鼻子和喉嚨和鼻竇感染不斷回來，我從未有過的那些前。 My regulars come in with problems too.”我的常客來的問題太" 。

Just a couple of blocks from the Blarney Stone, I stopped and chatted with Jim Moock, a director of business development at CQG, a market-data provider located in a Broadway high-rise.只是一對夫婦的區塊，由blarney石頭，我停下來寒喧，與Jim moock ，業務發展總監cqg ，一個市場數據提供商設在百老匯的高層。

“Some people had painter’s masks on their faces, apparently the cops were giving them out,” Moock said, recalling the day of the attacks. "有些人曾畫家的口罩，對他們的臉，顯然刑警贈送出去， " moock說，回顧一天的攻擊。 “I didn’t get one. "我沒有送一。 It was chaotic, and the only clear thought I had was, ‘Why didn’t I get one [of the masks]?’”

Moock developed a dry, hacking cough about two weeks after the attacks. Finally, after two months of aggravation, Moock scheduled a visit with a pulmonologist. That visit has resulted in the first of many subsequent checkups throughout the years.

“He gives me a test every year or two, and it has shown diminished [lung] capacity,” explained Moock. “He has me on two forms of inhaled medications that I take daily every morning. One is steroid based, and I’ve been on them since 2001.”

Moock believes he was exposed to the toxic dust in a number of different ways. “When it got to be windy, you would see it blow off the window ledges, and I would be outside and see it land on the sidewalk, and it would just sit there like a clump, not like ashes that would just blow away,” Moock said. “When it got to be windy, you would see it blow off the window ledges, and I would be outside and see it land on the sidewalk, and it would just sit there like a clump, not like ashes that would just blow away, ” Moock said. “This went on for months. I remember watching it rain on this stuff, and it took a lot of rain to get rid of the dust because it was so dense.”

Moock claims he hasn’t seen the familiar pockets of dust for a long time, but does it mean the city is now clean and safe?

In March 2004, in an attempt to “get greater input” regarding the health concerns of New Yorkers, the EPA convened the World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel , made up of 18 professionals from academia and public-health organizations. The panel’s goal was to assess any remaining exposures and risks, ascertain any public-health needs that were unmet, and then to offer a recommended course of action. In order to arrive at educated suggestions, the panel needed solid data.

“The whole process [of gathering data] has been extraordinarily poor in terms of understanding the extent to which people were exposed and possibly remain exposed, and if there are pockets of pollution left,” says Jeanne Stellman, a professor of public health at Columbia University, who served on the panel. “The whole process [of gathering data] has been extraordinarily poor in terms of understanding the extent to which people were exposed and possibly remain exposed, and if there are pockets of pollution left,” says Jeanne Stellman, a professor of public health at Columbia University, who served on the panel.

Various panel members criticized the EPA’s testing methods, suggesting that the data obtained weren’t sound enough to draw the conclusions the EPA had acted on. “There is only a limited amount of data available on what the nature of the exposure was, which varied day to day and hour to hour,” Stellman explains. “There was remarkably little sampling and analysis.”

With so little data available, the panel wasn’t able to determine if the city still required cleanup or not. Too many questions remained unanswered. “At any rate, the issue of cleanup was never resolved,” Stellman says. “And we never got up to the public-health aspects that we were charged with doing.”

The EPA disbanded the WTC Expert Technical Review Panel in December 2005 without explanation. Few recommendations made it into the public record as a result. Instead of continuing the panel, the EPA decided to implement a second program launched in December 2006. The plan intended to address the cleaning and abatement needs of residents of Lower Manhattan, in the exact same locations it had addressed in its first criticized attempt.

In its June 2007 congressional testimony, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the WTC panel’s recommendations and corroborated its assessments. The GAO review stated that the EPA’s decision to incorporate only some, rather than all, of the panel’s recommendations undermined the validity of the second program.

“The majority of panel members do not support EPA’s second program,” the GAO report concluded. “[The second program] was not responsive to the concerns of residents and workers . . 。 . 。 it was scientifically and technically flawed.”

Robert Gulack, an attorney with the federal government, thought he had escaped the toxic environment caused by 9/11. When his department relocated into the Woolworth Building following the destruction of 7 World Trade Center, it took him only a few days to notice the effect on his breathing.

“Three days later I woke up with a severe asthma attack,” Gulack says. “More than half of my coworkers raised their hands during a meeting and said they had illness since coming into the building.”

To the alarm of his coworkers, Gulack began wearing a double-canister respirator to work every day. The precautions couldn’t deter the onset of problems from the contamination he had already suffered, though.

“I was certified as a scuba diver, and I had great lung capacity,” he says. “Now a scan shows damage to my lungs and hyperreactivity to irritants.” Once Gulack was rushed to the hospital for pneumonia following a number of bronchial infections. Now his illness carries a diagnosis of reactive airway disorder.

Gulack explained that even though his agency had received assurances about the building’s air quality from both the landlord and the EPA, later testing (by a private company) proved the area was dangerously contaminated.

Image courtesy of CDC

“I know that I was exposed to things that no human being should be exposed to,” Gulack says. “Not only have I been exposed to asbestos but probably a number of other life-threatening contaminants. I’m 53, I have a wife and kids, and I don’t want to be taken away from them. There was no reason to subject me to those dangers—no justification for this at all.”

As a union steward, Gulack has advocated for employee health concerns and has closely monitored the EPA’s actions since 9/11. He believes that instead of learning from all its mistakes, the EPA remains unprepared for another crisis.

“New victims are being claimed every day as a result of this contamination,” Gulack says. “The EPA has officially taken their bad choices and made it their model. Now all crises will be handled politically, through the White House.”

The EPA’s calamitous handling of the 9/11 cleanup brings White House involvement into question. The damning OIG report showed that important public-health information was held back by Bush’s Council on Environmental Quality, and evidence also suggests that critical press releases were altered, making them contradict scientific fact. As the report noted, “the White House Council on Environmental Quality . . 。 . 。 influenced, through the collaboration process, the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones.”

Gulack’s concerns are substantiated by another indictment of the EPA—this time in their handling of the hurricane Katrina disaster in New Orleans. A June 2007 report from the GAO contains an eerily reminiscent passage: “EPA’s assurance that the public health is being protected from the risks associated with the inhalation of asbestos fibers is limited because the agency has not deployed air monitors in and around New Orleans neighborhoods where demolition and renovation activities are concentrated.” from the GAO contains an eerily reminiscent passage: “EPA’s assurance that the public health is being protected from the risks associated with the inhalation of asbestos fibers is limited because the agency has not deployed air monitors in and around New Orleans neighborhoods where demolition and renovation activities are concentrated.”

Within sight of Ground Zero quietly stands the Statue of Liberty, seemingly ignored in our post-9/11 world. But like an oracle from a distant time, she offers prophetic words of concern. In the shadow of the attacks, the inscription at her base no longer seems to address immigrants but rather speaks directly to New Yorkers who now find themselves disenfranchised and suffocating with disease: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” In the shadow of the attacks, the inscription at her base no longer seems to address immigrants but rather speaks directly to New Yorkers who now find themselves disenfranchised and suffocating with disease: “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Yet some leaders are speaking up for sickened New Yorkers. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Vito Fossella of New York introduced the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act , which would expand the current health programs for first responders, area residents, office workers, and students. New York representative Jerrold Nadler tirelessly champions decisive action on behalf of New Yorkers who are still susceptible to toxins.

“We have to clean this up; it was never done properly,” says Nadler, who also says cleanup efforts could run several billion dollars, but there is no exact figure because nobody knows how extensive the contamination is and if it extends to Brooklyn as well. “We have to clean this up; it was never done properly,” says Nadler, who also says cleanup efforts could run several billion dollars, but there is no exact figure because nobody knows how extensive the contamination is and if it extends to Brooklyn as well.

Because adequate testing has yet to be conducted, nobody knows for certain just how toxic Lower Manhattan remains, but there are plenty of indicators that the 9/11 attacks are still dismantling the downtown infrastructure. Two former Deutsche Bank buildings downtown will soon be demolished as a direct result of 9/11 contamination, and more demolitions are expected.

“To clean it up, it costs between $10,000 and $20,000 per apartment,” Nadler says about the current price of adequate cleaning. “To clean it up, it costs between $10000 and $20000 per apartment,” Nadler says about the current price of adequate cleaning. “Are you going to ask a resident to pay that?”

On June 25, 2007, former EPA administrator Christie Todd Whitman testified before a congressional hearing and repeatedly denied any wrongdoing or culpability in the EPA’s handling of the disaster. Nadler, who represents nearly all of Lower Manhattan, presided over the hearings.

“Let’s be clear: There are people to blame,” Whitman said. “They are the terrorists who attacked the United States.”

Nadler offered me a distinction.

“I divide the population of affected people in different ways,” he says. “First are the ones that were killed, and you can blame the terrorists for those. Then there was the plume—we think about 30,000 people were caught in it. Then there was the plume—we think about 30000 people were caught in it. And those people were also sickened by the terrorists. But the others are first responders on the pile, and most of those are sick due to exposure—there you can blame public officials who permitted them to work on the pile.” Nadler also includes area residents and workers among the victims of public officials.

During the hearings, Whitman acknowledged that some first responders were sickened by the contamination because they did not wear respirators.

“After the first three days, it is not a rescue operation,” Nadler says. “It is simply a cleanup, and there is no excuse for not doing it properly. At the Pentagon site, nobody got sick there because they enforced the safety laws.” Workers who did not comply with safety regulations were not permitted on-site at the Pentagon-run cleanup.

“Every action taken by the EPA during the response to this horrific event was designed to provide the most comprehensive protection and the most accurate information to the residents of Manhattan,” Whitman stated in a press release. Her remarks, however, only served to enrage already traumatized New Yorkers.

Through a spokesperson, Whitman declined to answer any questions for this article, instead offering a prepared statement citing her congressional testimony.

“It is clear there are laws and regulations that were in place, which, had they been followed, would have prevented all this,” Nadler says. “They weren’t followed.”

While the courts try to determine who is responsible for the environmental debacle following 9/11, countless New Yorkers continue to live and work near Lower Manhattan with the assumption that it is safe. The dust is now out of sight, out of mind, and possibly in their lungs, hearts, and bloodstreams.

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