More Bush Cover-Up on Hazards at Ground Zero Cleanup

by Tula Connell, Jul 28, 2006

Even as reports continue to surface about increases in serious ailments, especially lung illnesses, among workers who toiled at ground zero in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, we continue to learn of all the ways the Bush administration has sought to cover up the chemical and other hazards workers faced.

Today’s New York Daily News reveals the White House gave then-EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman the power to bury embarrassing documents by classifying them “secret” after the Sept. 11 attacks.

“I hereby designate the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to classify information originally as ‘Secret,’” states the executive order, which was signed by President Bush on May 6, 2002.

Joel Kupferman of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project told the Daily News:

I think the rationale behind this was to not let people know what they were potentially exposed to. They’re using the secrecy thing to cover up their malfeasance and past deceptions.

Immediately after the attacks, Whitman assured the public the site was safe, according to Democracy Now. A little more than a year ago, President George W. Bush vetoed a bill that included $90 million to monitor the health of rescue and cleanup workers who were at ground zero.

In 2003, it was revealed that just days after the Sept. 11 tragedy, the Bush White House pressured the EPA to tone down reports about the potential health hazards resulting from the buildings’ collapse.

Hundreds of union members and their allies rallied June 16 at ground zero to demand funding for the long-term health needs of workers who are suffering from serious ailments linked to their ground zero work following Sept. 11.

For some, assistance already is too late. Three AFSCME District Council 37 (DC 37) members, paramedics who toiled in the World Trade Center rubble, have died and the union believes their deaths are linked to their exposure to asbestos and toxic substances at the site.

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