FDNY unions address 9/11 health concerns after NYC releases new air quality documents
Newly released documents are raising tough questions about what first responders were told about the air they were breathing after the 9/11 attacks.
Leaders of the FDNY's firefighter and fire officer unions stood alongside first responders Wednesday to address what they called a continuing health emergency.
Fire officials say 343 FDNY members were killed on 9/11, and since then, 453 members have died from 9/11-related illnesses. More than 12,000 members have also been diagnosed with at least one World Trade Center-related illness, according to the World Trade Center Health Program.
FDNY Uniformed Firefighters Association President Robert Eustace said first responders always knew the air was harmful.
"The air was not safe, the dust was not harmless, and the consequences would not disappear when Lower Manhattan reopened," he said.
"I've become very close with their families and tragedy still ... every day we see it. We're watching the kids grow up, their families expanding, and going to weddings, and their fathers aren't around anymore," added the UFA's Robert Unger, who represents 700 firefighters on Staten Island.
The FDNY's response comes after the release of more than 170,000 pages of records related to the air quality following the attacks. The documents include reports showing evidence of asbestos months after 9/11 and internal discussions about the city's potential liability from toxic exposure.
The documents were stored in 68 boxes at City Hall that officials say were only discovered last year. The release came as part of a settlement with advocates who sued to make them public.
"The city was making a fiduciary choice to prioritize the economic safety of Lower Manhattan over the health and safety of the firefighters, police officers, construction workers and children who went back to school down there," said FDNY Uniformed Fire Officers Association President James Brosi.
Eustace questioned if FDNY members could've been diagnosed earlier, started treatment earlier, and if families could have been "spared fighting for healthcare compensation."
Union leaders said the city must continue to release every document, and the federal government needs to continue to protect the World Trade Center Health Program Victim Compensation Fund.
Firefighters are also encouraging first responders, construction workers, students and residents who worked, lived or went to school in Lower Manhattan to get screened.
A spokesperson for former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a statement, in part, "The EPA, a federal agency, issued press releases and public statements declaring that air samples showed the air quality near Ground Zero was safe in September 2001. The agency later apologized for those statements, saying it did the best it could with the knowledge available at the time."
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was elected less than two months after the terror attacks, released an op-ed Wednesday that says, in part, "Thanks to the hard work and cooperation of so many, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center and the revival of Lower Manhattan have led to the rebirth of a community that reflects New York City at its best."
However, many first responders say it came with a price.
"What we learned was the air was as toxic as we said it was. What we learned was that we were dying with every breath we took down there," Brosi said. "My father died from a 9/11 cancer. I could tell you where the money he got from the [World] Trade Center still sits. It doesn't help. It has zero relevance to this argument. The relevance is the dignity and people not having to go through hoops to prove that you tried to kill me, to prove that you prioritized the health of their city over the health of their citizens."
