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Marenco
06-07-2018, 02:13 AM
9/11 Victims Battling Over 70 Forms of Cancer. Their Fate Is in Congress’ Hands.

Eight days after 9/11, former EPA administrator Christine Whitman told New Yorkers that the dust-filled air that filled New York City’s skies was safe to breathe. We now know how shockingly false this declaration of safety was.

In fact, more people may have died from healthcare complications resulting from breathing in toxic debris than people who died in the 9/11 attacks nearly 17 years ago. According to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), more than 500,000 people are battling cancer and other diseases linked to the toxins that poured into the air following the attacks. Of the 500,000 exposed, NIOSH estimates 35,000 will develop cancer at a rate 21 percent higher than the general population.

And unless Congress acts, these victims won’t get compensation for years of injury and irreparable damage endured from prolonged exposure to these toxins.

Ground Zero burned for 99 days. In a speech to the American Chemical Society in 2003, atmospheric scientist Thomas Cahill, who analyzed samples from Ground Zero, said the debris was essentially an enormous concoction of toxic chemicals and gases.

“The debris pile acted like a chemical factory,” Cahill said. “It cooked together the components of the buildings and their contents, including enormous numbers of computers, and gave off gases of toxic metals, acids, and organics.”

According to the National Resources Defense Council (PDF link), the 16-acre site contained 1.2 million tons of building material and contents, which burned at temperatures close to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit along with 90,000 liters of jet fuel and 130,000 gallons of transformer oil. The “chemical factory” Cahill described was an estimated 300 to 400 tons of asbestos, 50,000 personal computers (each of which included mercury and lead), 300 mainframe computers, hundreds of miles of wires containing polyvinyl chloride, 23,00 mercury containing light bulbs, and 12,000 miles of electric cables containing polychlorinated biphenyls.

In 2003, the EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) admitted that, in reference to Whitman’s statement declaring the air “safe to breathe” on September 19, 2001, the agency “did not have sufficient data and analyses to make such a blanket statement” regarding safety. The OIG also revealed that the White House pressured the EPA to remove cautionary statements in favor of reassuring ones.

10 years after 9/11, former President Barack Obama signed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (Zadroga Act) into law. Named for a New York City Police Detective whose death was determined to be caused by exposure to 9/11 toxins, the Zadroga Act provided for the WTC Health Program and reopened the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). In 2016, Congress reauthorized the Zadroga Act.

The Zadroga Act has provided $12 billion in funding for the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF). The Health Program provides free monitoring, medication, and treatment, while the Fund provides tax-free compensation as a lump sum payment. While the WTC Health Program is fully funded through 2090, the VCF is due to expire on December 18, 2020.

Time is of the essence for workers, volunteers, and survivors to determine eligibility. Of the 500,000 people exposed at Ground Zero, only 20 percent are members of the Health Program and only 5 percent have submitted claims to the Compensation Fund. Of the 35,000 individuals projected to develop cancer, less than 1/3 have been certified by the WTC Health Program. And of the $7 billion in funding, over $3 billion has already been paid to claimants.

Individuals may be eligible for free healthcare and compensation if between September 11, 2001 and May 30, 2002 they were present:

1. At Ground Zero
2. In Lower Manhattan, south of Canal Street (working, residing, attending school, or visiting)
3. The Staten Island Fresh Kills Landfill
4. In any area related to, or along, debris removal routes (e.g. piers and barges)
5. At the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York City or temporary morgues
6. In areas where WTC dust-contaminated vehicles or equipment were cleaned or rehabilitated

As the deadline looms, it begs the question- will Congress let the fund expire, leaving 9/11 victims in the dust? Will the fund close before the true effects of exposure to 300 to 400 tons of asbestos are exposed? Mesothelioma, just one of over 70 cancers eligible for 9/11 compensation, takes about twenty years to rear its ugly head, but the Fund is due to expire only 19 years after 9/11.

The VCF was originally due to close in 2016. However, victims of 9/11 have had the benefit of New York’s representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, relentlessly fighting on their behalf for health and compensation benefits, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D), then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D) and Rep. Peter King (R). Thanks to their leadership, the VCF was extended through December 18, 2020 and the WTC Health Program was fully funded through 2090.

However, it’s important to remember that even though Congress voted to extend the Zadroga Act, 113 members of the House and 33 members of the Senate voted against it. Candidates on the November 2018 ballot need to be asked directly if they support extending the Zadroga Act or not. The future of hundreds of thousands of people depends on it.

https://gritpost.com/congress-9-11-healthcare-funding/

Jamesiv1
06-07-2018, 02:58 AM
I've been feeling a little under the weather myself.

Where do I sign up?

TheTexan
06-07-2018, 03:06 AM
I've been feeling a little under the weather myself.

Where do I sign up?

This isn't a joke. Those 500,000 people that were exposed are battling future cancer they don't even have yet. Cancer by itself is tough, but future cancer?

They will need all the strength they can get.

euphemia
06-07-2018, 05:49 AM
There’s no telling what was lurking in the walls and basements of the places that were destroyed. The pigeon poop alone would have lots of nastiness in it. New York is a filthy nasty city.

dannno
06-07-2018, 08:55 AM
“It cooked together the components of the buildings and their contents"

What did? The jet fuel??? Small office fires at the top?

Firestarter
06-07-2018, 09:16 AM
The workers cleaning up Ground Zero were dropping dead and becoming severely ill already in 2003. At first the government denied that these people got ill and were dying because of exposure to dangerous toxics. Only after people started speaking out in the press, this was acknowledged: http://www.activistpost.com/2016/04/thousands-have-cancer-hundreds-are-dead-from-a-massive-chemical-attack-on-americans.html


Of the samples taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 25% contained levels above the 1% “safe” threshold. Already 3 days after 9/11, the head of the EPA, Christine Todd Whitman, lied: "The good news continues to be that air samples we have taken have all been at levels that cause us no concern". On Sept. 18, 2001, Whitman reassured residents that the air "is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink".
According to a report by the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General of August 21, 2003, the White House Council on Environmental Quality reviewed and even changed EPA statements to make the public health risks sound less alarming. The report cites “reopening Wall Street” and “national security” as reasons for the spin. Even Mayor Rudy Giuliani stood next to Christie Whitman to announce that the air was safe.
A year after 9/11 half of the program’s patients — some 7,000 firemen, police officers and volunteers — were still sick. The EPA only tested and cleaned individual apartments on request, and “forgot” central air systems and common areas: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3076626/ns/health-your_environment/t/anger-builds-over-epas-report/


In April 2008 a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that Whitman cannot be held liable for knowingly misinforming the public. Earlier this year Whitman finally apologised for the misinformation.
Since September 2001 at least 1,000 people have died because of the exposure to debris from the wreckage of the WTC. More than 37,000 are officially recognised as sick.
In 2011 the federal WTCHP was established, since then a total of 1,140 registered members have died. It has 75,000 registered members, 87% of whom worked on rescue, recovery and clean-up (the rest are New York residents or workers). To keep the truth covered the WTCHP doesn’t even record causes of death: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/11/9-11-illnesses-death-toll

In 2013 some 1,140 new cancer cases were reported of Ground Zero rescuers and responders; this toll skyrocketed to more than 2,500 in 2014: http://nypost.com/2014/07/27/cancers-among-ground-zero-workers-skyrocketing/


Interestingly ‘lucky’ Larry Silverstein told that the plans for the new WTC-7 were already made in April 2000. Because the asbestos would have to be removed before a demolition would be allowed this would be expensive (for the whole WTC complex an estimated 200 million dollars): http://www.mintpressnews.com/911-larry-silverstein-designed-new-wtc-7-one-year-attacks/214821/

Here’s the video where Silverstein tells about the plans from April 2000 (he doesn’t mention about plans for the removal of asbestos).

https://youtu.be/j-_WYHwUtcI