It's About Time...Only 4+ Years Late

In October 2001, my husband and I visited Ground Zero in New York City during a very sad and solemn Columbus Day weekend. We hailed a taxi and drove through the almost freakishly deserted streets of Manhattan. Our cab driver, who was not native-born American (hmmmm, why does that detail matter?), described how one of the planes flew right over his head, practically straight down 5th Avenue on its way to the World Trade Center. It gave us chills, especially since the sky on this particular morning was just as bright and blue as it was on 9/11.

At Chandler Street, just above SoHo, we joined a steady stream of people in quiet, small groups going in one direction: toward Ground Zero. As we neared the site, we noticed a unique smell in the air - kind of metallic and dirty. During the next few hours we circled the blocks around the site (where I took this picture), passing many people who were wearing surgical masks or scarves over their mouths. Increasingly we noticed the dust in the air and as time passed, we felt a certain scratchiness in our own throats.

One question kept coming to us: how in hell were the construction workers and fire fighters, soldiers and police officers surviving while they worked on the piles of rubble that were still everywhere? Every building within ten blocks still had a shroud of dust on them. How was all of this going to affect the health of residents and caregivers in the short and long-term?

As the years passed, several officials have made attempts at getting to the bottom of this environmental and health nightmare. Mrs. Clinton took a stab at it, among others. Today, I noticed that the former EPA Chief Christie Todd Whitman was refused immunity from a class action suit over her part in this ridiculousness. It's not enough; it's not nearly enough. The rest of the Administration - including Giuliani too - should be refused immunity as well, in my opinion.

Here's an excerpt from this sad and sorry tale:

NEW YORK - A federal judge blasted former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christine Todd Whitman on Thursday for reassuring New Yorkers soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that it was safe to return to their homes and offices while toxic dust was polluting the neighborhood.

U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts refused to grant Whitman immunity against a class-action lawsuit brought in 2004 by residents, students and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn who said they were exposed to hazardous materials from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

"No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws," the judge said.

She called Whitman's actions "conscience-shocking," saying the EPA chief knew that the fall of the twin towers released tons of hazardous materials into the air.

Conscience-shocking indeed.