The Air at Ground Zero
By Graydon Carter
Vanity Fair Magazine
As someone who live 34 blocks from where the WORLD Trade Center towers once stood, and watched them come down for the corner of Seventh avenue and 11th Street, I will say this: It didnt take a scientist to know that the air downtown was foul and that it was going to have serious health effects on the tens of thousands of rescue workers and volunteers from all over the continent who spent months undoing that mountain of deformed, smoldering steel and rubble. As the third anniversary of September 11 approaches, this is as good a time as any to review how the Bush administration and the Environmental Protection Agency handled the issue of air quality at Ground Zero:
September 12. The day after the attacks, the office of the EPAs deputy administrator told senior EPA officials that all statements to the media should be cleared the (National Security Council, headed by Condoleezza Rice,) before they are released.
September 13. EPA head Christy Whitman issued a press release saying, EPA is greatly relieved to have learned that there appears to be no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City. A section in the original draft of the release had stated that even at low levels, EPA considers asbestos hazardous in this situation. It was deleted by the White House and the NSC.
September 16. The agency issued a further notice, saying, The new samples confirm previous reports that ambient air quality meets [Occupation Safety and Health Administration] standards and consequently is not a cause for public concern. The White House and the NSC removed the following from the original draft of the statement: Recent samples of dust gathered by OSHA on Water Street (almost half a mile from the Trade Center) show higher levels of asbestos in EPA tests.
September 18. Whitman pronounced that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe.
And on it went. The White House was eager to reassure Wall Street employees that the air around them was safe, so that the New York Stock Exchange could be reopened quickly. The EPA followed along by repeated delivering deceptively upbeat news.
In reality, the air quality was toxic and extremely dangerous. As the 110-story buildings fell, millions of tons of pulverized material exploded into the sky, carrying all manner of toxins. Some details:
When they were built, between 1968 and 1973, both towers were fireproofed with material manufactured by W.R. Grace. The fireproofing, like most installations in those days, contained asbestos. It is not dangerous in its installed state, but airborne asbestos is lethal, even in small amounts. A memorandum written by Cate Jenkins, while she was a senior chemist with the EPA states that the level of asbestos in the apartments near Ground Zero was comparable to or higher than that in the homes in Libby, Montana, where the W.R. Grace mine had, over 30 years, produced what is possibly the worst Superfund disaster in American history. Jenkins found that dust collected from a windowsill four blocks from Ground Zero contained 79,000 fibers per square centimeter, 22 times higher than the levels found in Libby.
Also in that enormous cloud were fumes from 150,000 gallons of generator fuel and 30,000 gallons of fluid from the buildings huge electrical transformers, contain PCBs, one of the most toxic industrial chemicals.
The thousands of shattered windows sent billion of microscopic glass particles in the air.
The explosion of thousands of laptop computers and fluorescent lights released dangerous amount of mercury.
The air was filled with tens of thousands of tons of concrete particles, as well as dioxin, another chemical that can cause neurological disorders and birth defects.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the US Geological Survey had a teams testing the particulate dust covering the immediate area and found that some of the dust was as caustic as liquid drain cleaner and alerted all government agencies involved in the emergency response.
On December 27, 2002, the Friday between Christmas and New Years with the site cleared, the stock market fully operational, and the buildings around Ground Zero filling back up with tenants the EPA at last came clean, issuing a report that said the buildings collapse likely produced the highest concentrations of dioxin ever recorded.
The epilogue is both predictable and tragic. According to testimony given before a congressional hearing, as many as 50 percent of workers at the site who were screened now suffer from long term health problems and 40 percent of those dont have health insurance. A report prepared by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that the 78 percent of the workers at Ground Zero were suffering from respiratory or lung ailments and 88 percent had experience ear, nose or throat problems. By late 2003, 2,400 members of the New York Fire Department were on disability leave. Many of the workers at the site have been unable to collect workers compensation.
By Graydon Carter
Vanity Fair Magazine
As someone who live 34 blocks from where the WORLD Trade Center towers once stood, and watched them come down for the corner of Seventh avenue and 11th Street, I will say this: It didnt take a scientist to know that the air downtown was foul and that it was going to have serious health effects on the tens of thousands of rescue workers and volunteers from all over the continent who spent months undoing that mountain of deformed, smoldering steel and rubble. As the third anniversary of September 11 approaches, this is as good a time as any to review how the Bush administration and the Environmental Protection Agency handled the issue of air quality at Ground Zero:
September 12. The day after the attacks, the office of the EPAs deputy administrator told senior EPA officials that all statements to the media should be cleared the (National Security Council, headed by Condoleezza Rice,) before they are released.
September 13. EPA head Christy Whitman issued a press release saying, EPA is greatly relieved to have learned that there appears to be no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City. A section in the original draft of the release had stated that even at low levels, EPA considers asbestos hazardous in this situation. It was deleted by the White House and the NSC.
September 16. The agency issued a further notice, saying, The new samples confirm previous reports that ambient air quality meets [Occupation Safety and Health Administration] standards and consequently is not a cause for public concern. The White House and the NSC removed the following from the original draft of the statement: Recent samples of dust gathered by OSHA on Water Street (almost half a mile from the Trade Center) show higher levels of asbestos in EPA tests.
September 18. Whitman pronounced that the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe.
And on it went. The White House was eager to reassure Wall Street employees that the air around them was safe, so that the New York Stock Exchange could be reopened quickly. The EPA followed along by repeated delivering deceptively upbeat news.
In reality, the air quality was toxic and extremely dangerous. As the 110-story buildings fell, millions of tons of pulverized material exploded into the sky, carrying all manner of toxins. Some details:
When they were built, between 1968 and 1973, both towers were fireproofed with material manufactured by W.R. Grace. The fireproofing, like most installations in those days, contained asbestos. It is not dangerous in its installed state, but airborne asbestos is lethal, even in small amounts. A memorandum written by Cate Jenkins, while she was a senior chemist with the EPA states that the level of asbestos in the apartments near Ground Zero was comparable to or higher than that in the homes in Libby, Montana, where the W.R. Grace mine had, over 30 years, produced what is possibly the worst Superfund disaster in American history. Jenkins found that dust collected from a windowsill four blocks from Ground Zero contained 79,000 fibers per square centimeter, 22 times higher than the levels found in Libby.
Also in that enormous cloud were fumes from 150,000 gallons of generator fuel and 30,000 gallons of fluid from the buildings huge electrical transformers, contain PCBs, one of the most toxic industrial chemicals.
The thousands of shattered windows sent billion of microscopic glass particles in the air.
The explosion of thousands of laptop computers and fluorescent lights released dangerous amount of mercury.
The air was filled with tens of thousands of tons of concrete particles, as well as dioxin, another chemical that can cause neurological disorders and birth defects.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the US Geological Survey had a teams testing the particulate dust covering the immediate area and found that some of the dust was as caustic as liquid drain cleaner and alerted all government agencies involved in the emergency response.
On December 27, 2002, the Friday between Christmas and New Years with the site cleared, the stock market fully operational, and the buildings around Ground Zero filling back up with tenants the EPA at last came clean, issuing a report that said the buildings collapse likely produced the highest concentrations of dioxin ever recorded.
The epilogue is both predictable and tragic. According to testimony given before a congressional hearing, as many as 50 percent of workers at the site who were screened now suffer from long term health problems and 40 percent of those dont have health insurance. A report prepared by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that the 78 percent of the workers at Ground Zero were suffering from respiratory or lung ailments and 88 percent had experience ear, nose or throat problems. By late 2003, 2,400 members of the New York Fire Department were on disability leave. Many of the workers at the site have been unable to collect workers compensation.
