July 2006 News Stories
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(page last updated October 28, 2006)
Gov Hopefuls Vow They Won't Let 9/11 Heroes Gasp for Aid, by Kathleen Lucadamo, NY Daily News, July 31, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/439565p-370253c.html
Come January, a new state governor will inherit the health horrors of thousands of suffering Sept. 11 heroes and yesterday the candidates vowed to help them.
"There is no question there are people who are seriously injured and likely dying from inhalation of toxins while working at Ground Zero," Democratic gubernatorial candidate Thomas Suozzi said yesterday in response to the Daily News' jaw-dropping editorials on the plight of 12,000 ailing rescue workers.
A task force should be created immediately to track who is getting sick, what their symptoms are, how long they spent at the toxic site and what care they require, Suozzi suggested.
"It can't keep being one case here and one case there. There has to be a comprehensive understanding of what the impact was. ... If I am governor and no one has taken the lead on this yet, I will," Suozzi said.
Republican John Faso also called for a monitoring system to make sure Washington fulfills its responsibility to address 9/11 health problems.
"You have to make sure people have the care they are entitled to," Faso told The News. "These health concerns were a long time in the making. ... It wouldn't surprise me if more cases surface in the future."
Democratic front-runner Eliot Spitzer vowed to fight for federal dollars in unpaid workers' compensation claims and more medical and mental health assistance for other first responders, according to his spokeswoman Christine Anderson.
Meanwhile, after The News reported that the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Co., a $1billion federal fund for post-9/11 cases, was spending more cash blocking claims by cops, firefighters and other injured workers than compensating them, the state agency overseeing it demanded to see the fund's books.
"The New York State Insurance Department is concerned that the approximately $1 billion payment to the WTC Captive Insurance Co. ... is not being used in accordance with its intended purposes," the head of the state agency, Howard Mills, fired off to the fund's president Friday. "It is essential that you expeditiously provide my office with a detailed analysis of claims paid and expenses incurred."
With Lisa L. Colangelo
All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
State Big Sniffs WTC Insure-Fund 'Waste', by Susan Edelman, New York Post, July 30, 2006
The state's top insurance watchdog is demanding a "detailed analysis" of how the city-controlled company managing a $1 billion World Trade Center insurance fund is spending money meant to cover claims by injured workers.
Gov. Pataki's superintendent of insurance, Howard Mills, says in a letter sent Friday to the WTC Captive Insurance Company that while the entity has paid no claims, "substantial sums have been expended" for professional services.
Citing the "brave men and women who worked tirelessly" over months to remove debris from Ground Zero, Mills said, the state is "concerned" that the $1 billion in federal 9/11 aid "may not be being used in accordance with its intended purpose."
"This is a clear sign that the Pataki administration wants to get to the bottom of how this organization is spending its money," a source close to Mills told The Post.
Pataki backed a special law to create the insurance company, which is governed by five city officials appointed by Mayor Bloomberg.
Mills' request came as Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called for a federal probe of the WTC Captive fund, citing "possible mishandling" of claims.
Nadler wrote Thursday to the Department of Homeland Security, asking its inspector general, Richard Skinner, to investigate.
"It is outrageous that millions of dollars in federal funds are being used to automatically dispute every single claim," Nadler said in the letter, obtained by The Post.
The congressman first learned of the fund's activities from reports in The Post in April and May. The Post revealed the company spent more than $31.6 million since 2004 on overhead and expenses - including $22 million on legal fees.
"Certainly, a firefighter, police officer or laborer who removed debris from the WTC site, and who now suffers adverse health effects, such as respiratory impairment or cancer, deserves to be compensated for lost wages and other related expenses," Nadler wrote.
He said Congress approved the $1 billion not "simply to fight 9/11 heroes in court," but to pay valid claims. He said many workers are sick, and some have died.
Company spokesman Roy Winnick said Nadler "mischaracterizes the role and performance" of the fund, but pledged cooperation in any probe.
Calling the mass litigation "inevitably costly," Winnick said the company has "faithfully followed" its mandate to insure the city and its contractors. He said it's up to the court to order an evaluation of WTC workers' medical woes.
A lawyer for 9/11 responders, David Worby, disagreed: "The city has $1 billion, but chosen to spend it on lawyers to fight their own cops, firefighters and workers who are sick and dying."
susan.edelman@nypost.com
Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/438475p-369352c.html
Toiling deep in the bowels of Ground Zero, Firefighter Kevin Delano suspected he was breathing in poison but continued hunting for bodies anyway.
Now there's more proof the asthma that has made it impossible for the 52-year-old to cross his lawn without wheezing was caused by the deadly dust he inhaled.
A soon-to-be-published study co-authored by David Prezant, the Fire Department's deputy chief medical officer, has found that FDNY rescuers lost the equivalent of 12 years of lung function because of exposure to toxic dust.
"We knew it was bad, we knew it was bad from the first day," said Delano, who had to retire from the FDNY after 9/11 and also has been battling leukemia. "This just proves it."
Prodded by a series of hard-hitting Daily News editorials that described the plight of 12,000 ailing Ground Zero workers, Mayor Bloomberg has promised to look into whether the city has stiffed its 9/11 heroes.
But Bloomberg has refused, thus far, to acknowledge that the deaths of at least four first responders - and the illnesses of thousands more - were directly related to their toiling in The Pit.
The analysis of fire and Emergency Medical Technician workers conducted by the FDNY and Montefiore Medical Center-Albert Einstein College of Medicine could make Bloomberg reconsider his position. It found that firefighters in The Pit suffered a loss of lung power "equal to that of 12 years of age-related decline."
"Those who had more exposure, those who arrived earlier, had a more severe loss," said Montefiore's Dr. Gisela Banauch, also a co-author of the study, parts of which were released in May and all of which will be published next week in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"We don't know if these rescue persons will recover and continue to lose their function at a normal pace or lose at a faster pace than a normal pace," Banauch added.
Ironworker Joseph Libretti, 48, is one of the many rescuers with scarred lungs. He lost his brother, Firefighter Daniel Libretti, when the north tower collapsed. He then lost his health looking amid the rubble for the remains of his brother and countless others.
"Until the Daily News came with a list of toxins, they went around and told us everything was fine," Libretti said, referring to post-9/11 columns by Juan Gonzalez, one of the first to sound the alarm about toxic air.
"It wasn't just that they lied," Libretti added. "They allowed that lie to fester."
Every breath is now an ordeal for Tarnisa Moore, a 54-year-old grandmother of four who was a supervisor at the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center.
"We were dying and the government was talking about not scaring people," said Moore, who suffers from asthma, lung disease and other ailments. "It was a coverup."
All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
I never complained, or sued, nor will I, but in case I die... , New York Daily News, July 29, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/439270p-369974c.html
They were among the 40,000 who stepped forward for New York and America after 9/11, and they speak here of the price they paid for serving. Their stories are not unusual. No, they are typical among the more than 12,000 men and women who were sickened by breathing the toxic cloud that shrouded Ground Zero. They tell of damaged lungs and psyches, of fears of worse to come and of beliefs that the cloud has brought on cancers and may bring death.
They feel betrayed by a government that said the air was safe and cast aside by officials who failed to address the sweeping nature of the resulting epidemic. Above all, these personal accounts stand as an indictment of a neglectful city and country, which must now right the terrible wrong of forgetting those who did the extraordinary at great personal cost.
A smell you never forget
For 20 years, I served as a detective with the New York Police Department, and I retire tomorrow at half pay without medical disability.
I can still smell the debris of the Fresh Kills landfill. After you stepped off the bus for your 12-hour shift, the stench was just enormous, and as you walked around, you would see bubbling whirlpools. Fifteen minutes in, I would have splitting headaches. I'd go to the tents, where conveyer belts would bring debris to pick through for human remains.
For years after, I had headaches, and I still have bloody noses and sinus problems. I never complained, or sued, nor will I, but in case I die, I've kept everything since that day, every news article, so maybe my two kids will get some compensation for my life.
All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
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'Secret' 9/11 Lies? by Corky Siemaszko, New YorkDaily News, July 28, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/438649p-369566c.html
With New Yorkers already fuming about reports that the feds downplayed the danger of Ground Zero dust, the White House gave EPA chief Christie Whitman the power to bury embarrassing documents by classifying them "secret."
"I hereby designate the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to classify information originally as 'Secret,'" states the executive order, which was signed by President Bush on May 6, 2002.
Although the stated reason for Bush's directive is to keep "national security information" from falling into enemy hands, advocates for thousands of ailing Ground Zero heroes are convinced there's a more sinister motive.
"I think the rationale behind this was to not let people know what they were potentially exposed to," said Joel Kupferman of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project. "They're using the secrecy thing to cover up their malfeasance and past deceptions."
In a series of damning editorials, the Daily News has taken the EPA and Whitman to task for downplaying the dangers posed by toxic air and accused Mayor Bloomberg and city officials of stiffing 12,000 ailing Ground Zero workers.
Bloomberg has promised to look into the claims of the sick cops, firefighters and other Ground Zero heroes. But he has refused to acknowledge that the deaths of at least four first responders - and the illnesses of thousands more - were directly related to their toiling in The Pit.
Whitman, who resigned as EPA chief in May 2003, could not be reached for comment yesterday. In a Newsweek interview that year, she said the White House never told her to lie about the air quality.
However, Whitman conceded that she did not object when words of caution were edited out of her public statements.
"We didn't want to scare people," she said.
Asked last night about the executive order, a White House spokeswoman said she would have a response today.
Two days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Whitman declared, "There appear to be no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City." Then on Sept. 21, Whitman reported that "a host of potential contaminants are either not detectable" or at a level the EPA considered safe.
But on Oct. 26, 2001, the Daily News slapped "Toxic Zone" on the front page and warned that "toxic chemicals and metals" were poisoning lower Manhattan.
Mike McCormick, the medic who found the now-famous tattered Ground Zero flag - and who suffers from a host of respiratory problems - said he never believed the EPA's claims.
All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
Feds Unprepared for New Catastrophe, Hil Sez, by Michael Mcauliff, New York Daily News, July 28, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/438650p-369567c.html
WASHINGTON - America is still not prepared to help people cope with another major terrorist attack or natural disaster, Sen. Hillary Clinton said yesterday.
Speaking at a Senate hearing on revamping national disaster response, Clinton (D-N.Y.) pointed to this week's series of Daily News editorials revealing how government has failed the thousands still sick and suffering from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"I have personally met with many individuals who have been severely impacted," Clinton said yesterday before adding the entire News series to the Congressional Record. "The federal government has no plan to deal with this long-term health crisis."
The Senate was weighing reforms to the Stafford Act, a measure that dictates how the federal government helps local officials when catastrophe strikes.
Clinton said The News series, highlighting the plight of sick 9/11 volunteers, downtown residents and emergency responders, showed exactly why change is needed.
"People are being forced into early retirement. They are on disability - some have died - and we're not even at the beginning of what's going to come," she said later.
"I thought what the Daily News did to personalize it and focus on some of the cases ... really helped elevate the issue," she said.
Clinton's idea, backed by Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), is to create a new national program that recognizes that local governments cannot deal alone with the aftermath of a terrorist strike or a massive hurricane.
"I'm talking about a national system because there but for the grace of God go any of us," she said. "It might be a terrorist attack on us in New York. It might a hurricane in the Gulf. It might be an earthquake in California."
For the victims of 9/11 who are already suffering, she said, the only real answer is more money to treat them. But she wasn't sure the federal government would dig deep enough to help.
"I'm trying," she said. "I can't make any promises, but I'm trying."
All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.
The LMDC'S Gift to N.Y., Editorial, New York Post, July 28, 2006
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/the_lmdcs_gift_to_n_y__editorial_.htm
Now that the Freedom Tower has been fully built and rises magnificently out of what was once an ugly, empty, forlorn pit, it's fitting that the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is set to close up shop.
Thank goodness the LMDC officials were able to get the World Trade Center's insurers to avert further legal action and cough up all the money needed to fund the tower.
What a miracle that the agency got all the sparring parties to agree on an acceptable, affordable plan for a cost-saving memorial and museum at the site.
And how do you like the speed with which the LMDC took down and rebuilt the Deutsche Bank and Fiterman Hall?
After just five years, all that work is already done.
Er, wait a minute - our bad: In fact, none of that work is done.
There is no Freedom Tower.
Won't be one for years. (If ever.)
Insurance companies are still holding out on a big chunk of the proceeds needed to build it. Families of 9/11 victims continue to fight the plans for the memorial. The scarred hulks of Deutche Bank and Fiterman Hall still stand.
Terms for a revised lease between the Port Authority (which owns the land) and developer Larry Silverstein have yet to be finalized, once and for all.
And the hole in the heart of Lower Manhattan continues to collect rainwater.
Nonetheless, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. - set up to ensure quick and appropriate rebuilding at Ground Zero - is wiping its hands, lighting cigars and tacking up the "Gone Fishing" sign.
Question is: Will anybody notice?
Ah, but the answer to that may well be yes - because things may actually start moving, now that the LMDC is stepping out of the way.
And now that Gov. Pataki - who never showed an ounce of interest in doing the hard work needed to get the project done - is cleaning out his desk.
Let's face it: For the most part, the LMDC really has been an impediment to Ground Zero's renewal - though the blame devolves to Pataki, primarily, and to Mayor Bloomberg secondarily.
(The gov and the mayor each appointed half the agency's board members, but Mayor Mike deferred to Pataki & Co. on key issues until last year - when he suddenly threw in some new monkey wrenches of his own.)
Through the LMDC, Pataki saddled the project with the infamous Daniel Libeskind "master plan," which underlies so many of the problems, delays and exorbitant costs - not to mention the grief - that has surrounded the rebuilding since early on.
The agency faithfully followed Pataki's agenda (or lack thereof) - to the chagrin of those looking for a quick, bold rebirth at the site of radical Islam's attack on America.
So, yes, it's fitting that the LMDC is shutting down. Maybe now efforts to rebuild Ground Zero will begin in earnest.
Well, we can hope, anyway.
Can't we?
Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc.
Defense Department Awards Unique Asbestos Destruction Project to A-Conversion, LLC: $1.27 Million Sole-Source Contract Will Employ ABCOV Method, Press Release, Source: A-Conversion, LLC, July 26, 2006
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060726/nyw002.html?.v=48
NEW YORK, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- A-Conversion, LLC, a privately-held New York firm, was given a Department of Defense contract to construct a transportable, modular, asbestos conversion system for field deployment at its installations using the ABCOV Method to destroy its asbestos.
The sole-source $1.27 million contract, awarded by the Pentagon's Contracting Command of Excellence, will employ the patented ABCOV Method, a non-thermal, Environmental Protection Agency approved, mechanical-chemical asbestos conversion process, developed by Tony Nocito.
"The ABCOV method is an extremely reliable process that has the potential to save taxpayers millions of dollars in future asbestos liabilities," says Nocito.
"The development of this transportable, modular asbestos conversion system by the Department of Defense will eliminate the potential danger and costs of transporting asbestos containing materials through their installation's neighborhoods and eliminate the Government's landfill liability," Nocito adds.
The ABCOV(TM) Method has been employed in small-scale operations at fixed locations: Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the US Air Force at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, Con Edison and Madison Square Garden, New York City, as well as various demonstration projects, including the Department of Energy where the savings in destroying radioactive asbestos-containing material (ACM) provides volume reduction and disposal costs.
Since the 1970's the EPA has determined that asbestos and asbestos containing material are hazardous to humans and has banned its use in building materials and other products. Over time exposure to airborne asbestos fibers may cause asbestos related diseases like asbestosis, mesothelioma and lung cancer. Asbestos related liabilities associated with exposure and land fill storage are indefinite -- the costs of these liabilities will inevitably rest with the taxpayer.
Source: A-Conversion, LL
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