Posted on Sunday 24 June 2007
The New York Daily News is reporting that former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman claims New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani blocked efforts to get Ground Zero workers wearing respirators.
And she said she believes illnesses killing first responders can be blamed on the city’s lack of action.
“I’m not a scientist … but I do [believe that],” she told WNBC’s Brian Thompson.
“I mean, we wouldn’t have been saying that the workers should wear respirators if … we didn’t think there might be health consequences.”
She said the city had the responsibility to make sure workers wore respirators. But many took them off, complaining of heat. She said workers without respirators were barred from cleanup efforts at the Pentagon.
“We were certainly frustrated at not being able to get people to wear respirators because we thought that was critically important to workers on The Pile,” Whitman said.
“Every day, there would be telephone calls, telephone meetings and meetings in person … with the city when we repeated the message of the necessity of wearing respirators.”
Many first responders have become sick with respiratory illnesses since 9/11. Several deaths are already being blamed on the toxic dust. You can see our past coverage here. You can also read articles here, here and here.
Christie Whitman has agreed to testify in front of congress about the health of Ground Zero workers and Manhattan residents living close to Ground Zero.
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