Whitman to Testify on 9/11 Health Issues - Central Florida News 13:
Whitman to Testify on 9/11 Health Issues
Sunday, May 20, 2007 6:09:05 PM
NEW YORK(AP)
Christie Whitman, the former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, agreed to testify before Congress about the government's handling of air quality and health issues following the Sept. 11 attacks.
Whitman's attorney told Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Wednesday that she could not testify at a subcommittee hearing because of a pending federal lawsuit against the EPA over its statements that air was safe to breathe in downtown Manhattan in the days after the attacks.
But "if you insist that I appear before the subcommittee while that litigation is still pending, I am prepared to honor your request," Whitman told Nadler in a letter dated Thursday.
"I am extremely proud of the EPA's work in response to the terrorist attacks on our nation on Sept. 11, 2001. The men and women of the EPA were _ and are _ dedicated to protecting the health of the American public and I will be pleased to answer any questions the subcommittee might have about their efforts during my tenure as director of the agency," Whitman wrote.
Nadler said he would accommodate Whitman by rescheduling a hearing that had been set for Tuesday.
Whitman last testified before Congress about the EPA's response to the attacks in 2003. New York officials say some 400,000 were exposed to ground zero dust and 71,000 have enrolled in a long-term health monitoring program for people with and without health problems. Most experts believe there are thousands of people still sick years after ground zero exposure.
A federal lawsuit by lower Manhattan residents accuses Whitman of jeopardizing their health by declaring that "the air is safe to breathe" at a time when, according to the EPA inspector general, a quarter of dust samples were recording unhealthy asbestos levels. A federal judge has refused to dismiss the lawsuit; that decision is being appealed.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Whitman to Testify on 9/11 Health Issues - Central Florida News 13
Thursday, May 17, 2007
2 Hurt by Falling WTC Skyscraper Debris
Fire News: "2 Hurt by Falling WTC Skyscraper Debris
2 Hurt by Falling WTC Skyscraper Debris
Thursday, May 17, 2007
(05-17) 10:17 PDT New York (AP) --
A 15-foot pipe fell off a skyscraper being dismantled near the World Trade Center site and plunged through the roof of a nearby firehouse Thursday, injuring two firefighters, officials said.
Demolition work was stopped on the 40-story former Deutsche Bank building after the sprinkler pipe fell from the 35th floor onto Engine 10/Ladder 10.
The firehouse was nearly destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Six of its firefighters were among the 343 killed responding to the burning World Trade Center, and a bronze memorial to all the firefighters who died is now affixed to the building.
The neighboring skyscraper, being dismantled floor by floor, was heavily damaged when one of the twin towers collapsed into it. Cleanup of toxic material in the building began in 2005, and work to dismantle it began late last year.
Workers from John Galt Corp. were cutting the pipe at around 7 a.m. when it dislodged and fell through the firehouse roof below, officials said. Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries and released, fire officials said. The firefighters weren't hit by the pipe, the department said.
The city Buildings Department issued John Galt Corp. a violation for failure to safeguard the public and property, spokeswoman Kate Lindquist said. A message left with the company wasn't immediately returned Thursday.
Work dismantling the former Deutsche Bank building has been stopped before by environmental regulators. A search is also ongoing for hundreds of human bones that have been recovered from the building over the past 18 months.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Giuliani - A full page of legal threats for GZ vets
Ground Zero Illnesses Clouding Giuliani’s Legacy
[A student in one of my classes last spring, Kojo Davis, kojodavis@mac.com> was a worker on the “pile” as it was known by those doing the cleanup and more than confirmed this report to the horror of our class. He showed us an ugly letter from the Mayor with one sentence thanking the workers and an additional full page of legal threats should any try to benefit from their work there — many in fact had not even received full payment from subcontractors to the 4 major contractors running the work who had been fully compensated by the city.
The student explained that in addition to asbestos the World Trade Center buildings had contained tanks of toxic substances that were mixed in with the debris, adding to its deadly properties. Thousands were thus poisoned — unknown thousands, as so many were volunteers who have returned home many states away not realizing that they had been terribly poisoned. A deputy mayor, Rudy Washington, who had been lung damaged lobbied to get state workman’s compensation deadlines extended somewhat to accommodate workers who began to discover the damage to their lungs (and widespread depression) a year or more after their labors were completed.
Billions of dollars were spent to compensate the families of the 3,000 originally killed on 9/11. But so far most of the tens of thousands injured in the cleanup have been left with minimal compensation if any at all.
This truly is the major NYC scandal of 9/11 and an injustice not yet rectified by an ex-Mayor who has made millions in his subsequent financial ventures and who is running ahead of the pack for the Republicans as their presidential candidate. None of those who worked on the “pile” would trust this man to run a garbage truck, let alone a major military or security operation. Ed Kent]
Ground Zero hero loses cancer fight
Detective sued city to change pensions after 9/11
Monday, May 14th 2007, 4:00 AM
NYPD Detective Robert Williamson shows photo of himself at The Pile.
A retired NYPD street detective who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer after toiling at Ground Zero died of the disease yesterday, his wife and the detectives' union president said.
Robert Williamson, 46, died at his Nanuet, Rockland County, home four years after his March 2003 diagnosis, said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association.
Beginning the day of the 9/11 attacks and for three months after, Williamson spent 16-hour days performing rescue and recovery operations at the World Trade Center site, his sergeant, Michael Kelley, said yesterday.
"He was down on The Pile every single day" for the first two months after the twin towers' collapse, and then five days a week in the third month, Kelley said.
"Some guys took breaks; he was down there digging," Kelley said. "It didn't faze him a bit."
Williamson was among more than 1,700 cops and firefighters who sued the city to change the pension system after the disaster, Palladino said, adding that the married father of three worked "well beyond the required 40 hours at Ground Zero to qualify for a disability pension."
"He is one of the first officers who was deemed disabled as a result of his assignment on 9/11, and now that disability has claimed his life," Palladino said.
Sounding sad but stoic, Williamson's widow said the Emergency Service Unit cops never forgot her husband, even though he retired in 2002. The couple's children are 10, 12 and 15.
"They provided transportation to and from the hospital and brought oxygen tanks and a hospice to the house," Maureen Williamson said. NYPD Supervising Chief Surgeon Eli Kleinman would not comment specifically on Williamson's death.
"As far as we know, there are no particular cancers in the medical literature related to 9/11," Kleinman said. "We're following it very closely."
Williamson's attorney Michael Barasch said Williamson and other Ground Zero workers were "as much victims of the disaster as the 343 firefighters and 2,700-odd people who died" on 9/11. But before he died, Williamson said he would have worked at the site again.
"Did I know the air was not safe? Yes. Would I go down there again today knowing that? Yes. A lot of people made sacrifices," Williamson told the Daily News in 2004. "I might be a casualty of 9/11, but at least I had a few more years with my family."
A funeral is planned for Wednesday.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Bush Administration Goes After SiCKO
Bush Administration Goes After SiCKO
by Michael Moore
crossposted from Dailykos
Hello Kossacks, Michael Moore, here. I know you all are aware of the controversy surrounding my recent trip to Cuba with a group of 9/11 heroes for my upcoming movie SiCKO and the subsequent letter I received from the Treasury Department letting me know I'm now being investigated. Well, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. I just put it in the mail this morning...May 11, 2007
Secretary Paulson,
I am contacting you in light of the document sent to me dated May 2, 2007, which was received May 7, 2007 indicating that an investigation has been opened up with regards to a trip I took to Cuba with a group of Americans that included some 9/11 heroes in March 2007 related to the filming of my next documentary, on the American Healthcare system. SiCKO, which will be seen in theaters this summer, will expose the health care industry’s greed and control over America’s political processes.
I believe that the decision to conduct this investigation represents the latest example of the Bush Administration abusing the federal government for raw, crass, political purposes. Over the last seven years of the Bush Presidency, we have seen the abuse of government to promote a political agenda designed to benefit the conservative base of the Republican Party, special interests and major financial contributors. From holding secret meetings for the energy industry to re-writing science findings to cooking the books on intelligence to the firing of U.S. Attorneys, this Administration has shown time and time again that it will abuse its power and authority.
There are a number of specific facts that have led me to conclude that politics could very well be driving this Bush Administration investigation of me and my film.
First, the Bush Administration has been aware of this matter for months (since October 2006) and never took any action until less than two weeks before SiCKO is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and a little more than a month before it is scheduled to open in the United States.
Second, the health care and insurance industry, which is exposed in the movie and has expressed concerns about the impact of the movie on their industries, is a major corporate underwriter of President George W. Bush and the Republican Party, having contributed over $13 million to the Bush presidential campaign in 2004 and more than $180 million to Republican candidates over the last two campaign cycles. It is well documented that the industry is very concerned about the impact of SiCKO. They have threatened their employees if they talk to me. They have set up special internal crises lines should I show up at their headquarters. Employees have been warned about the consequences of participating in SiCKO. Despite this, some employees, at great risk to themselves, have gone on camera to tell the American people the truth about the health care industry. I can understand why that industry's main recipient of its contributions -- President Bush -- would want to harass, intimidate and potentially prevent this film from having its widest possible audience.
And, third, this investigation is being opened in the wake of misleading attacks on the purpose of the Cuba trip from a possible leading Republican candidate for president, Fred Thompson, a major conservative newspaper, The New York Post, and various right wing blogs.
For five and a half years, the Bush administration has ignored and neglected the heroes of the 9/11 community. These heroic first responders have been left to fend for themselves, without coverage and without care. I understand why the Bush administration is coming after me -- I have tried to help the very people they refuse to help, but until George W. Bush outlaws helping your fellow man, I have broken no laws and I have nothing to hide.
I demand that the Bush Administration immediately end this investigation and spend its time and resources trying to support some of the real heroes of 9/11.
Sincerely,
Michael Moore
--Unfortunately, I won't be able to stick around to answer questions this time (SiCKO premieres at Cannes next Saturday and my schedule is crazy) but I want to be sure you know where I stand. I hope you will stand with me. Thank you for your support and I promise to return again soon for a more involved chat. MM
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American film director, author, and social commentator. He is widely known for his outspoken, critical views on globalization, large corporations, gun violence, the Iraq War, and the George W. Bush administration.
Contact Author
wikipedia profile
mmflint@aol.com www.michaelmoore.com
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
New York police officer died from Ground Zero illness: report
New York police officer died from Ground Zero illness: report:
New York - A New York police officer who guarded the destroyed World Trade Center after September 11, 2001 has died of cancer, becoming the second death in the police force of an officer involved in securing the site. Detective Kevin Hawkins, 41, had spent two months at Ground Zero while debris from the 110-storey twin towers was still burning from the attacks by terrorists, who slammed two commercial airplanes against the buildings and killed more than 2,700 people.
Hawkins, a 20-year veteran in the New York Police Department, recently was a security detail for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He died from kidney cancer just weeks after applying for disability pension as a result of his service at Ground Zero.
The New York Daily News quoted police union leaders as saying that another police officer died from cancer after his posting at Ground Zero. Many police and firefighters were assigned the duty of guarding the burning site immediately after the attacks.
"He fought this disease with the same integrity and strength that he displayed serving our country and our city," said Bloomberg, who was quoted by the Daily News.
Hawkins is survived by his wife and three children.
Proof at last of Ground Zero-lung disease link - News - NY Daily News
Proof at last of Ground Zero-lung disease link - News - NY Daily News:
Rescue workers and firefighters contracted a serious lung-scarring disease called sarcoidosis at a much higher rate after the Sept. 11 attacks than before, said a study that is the first to link the disease to exposure to toxic dust at Ground Zero.
The study, published by nine doctors including the medical officer monitoring city firefighters, Dr. David Prezant, found that firefighters and rescue workers contracted sarcoidosis in the year after Sept. 11, 2001, at a rate five times higher than the years before the attacks.
Sarcoidosis, which can be life-threatening, causes an inflammation in the lungs that deposits tiny cells in the organs, leaving scar tissues that damage them. Some rescue workers and others who were exposed to the dust cloud that enveloped lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center collapsed say they contracted the disease from their work at ground zero.
The study compared the rates of contracting sarcoidosis among fire department employees for 15 years before Sept. 11 and for five years after it. It said firefighters who showed symptoms of the disease on chest X-rays underwent more intensive exams.
After the trade center attack, 26 firefighters were diagnosed with sarcoidosis, the study found. Thirteen were diagnosed in the first year after the attacks, which represents a rate of 86 per 100,000. In the 15 years before the attack, the rate of sarcoidosis was 15 per 100,0000, the study found.
None of the 26 rescue workers, who are in their 30s and 40s, has died of the disease, and about 10 have improved or recovered since their diagnoses, the study found. Two of the firefighters were former smokers, the study found.
Dr. Jacqueline Moline, who directs the largest monitoring program for ground zero workers, which has screened more than 20,000 people at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said several patients in her program have been diagnosed with sarcoidosis.
Mount Sinai plans to publish its own research in the next few months on the rate associated with ground zero work. Last fall, it published a study concluding that 70 percent of ground zero workers suffered from different respiratory illnesses after the attacks.
“We’re all looking to see various diseases that might develop as a result of 9/11 exposure,” Moline said. “We have to be vigilant.” The study was published this week in the May issue of CHEST Physician, a journal published by the American College of Chest Physicians.
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