New Documents Show NYC Hid Asbestos Risks After 9/11

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration released more than 170,000 pages of records this week that document air quality conditions around the World Trade Center site after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The city stored the files in 68 boxes for more than 20 years before officials found them last year. The release comes as the nation prepares to honor the 25th anniversary of 9/11. 

The records include air quality reports, contamination logs and internal memos from the administrations of former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg. They also include a 2001 memo from a senior scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who warned that the city’s asbestos testing guidelines couldn’t work in practice. City officials plan to release more documents over the next year through a new online portal.

This release settles a lawsuit that advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch filed after the city denied its 2023 records request. A judge later ruled that former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration violated New York’s Freedom of Information Law when withholding the files. The city agreed not to appeal and will meet monthly with 9/11 Health Watch to track its progress on releasing the remaining documents.

“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said at a news conference announcing the release of the documents. Ben Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, said the records show the city knew about the danger even while it kept telling the public the air met safety standards.

Linda Reinstein, president and co-founder of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, tells us, “The release of the new documents is huge. But we always knew when we saw the plume that it wasn’t a good place to be.” 

Internal Memos Warned of Health Risks and Lawsuits

One document at the center of the release is the Harding memo. City Hall lobbyist Michelle Goldsen sent it to then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding in October 2001, just weeks after the attacks. The memo informed Harding that the city’s Law Department expected 35,000 potential plaintiffs to sue for injuries related to Ground Zero.

The memo also warned that health advisories telling people to return to Lower Manhattan too soon could expose the city to lawsuits for causing “toxic exposure or emotional harm.” Goldsen suggested that Congress create a compensation fund or that the city seek federal protection against future claims. She specifically flagged the risk of “toxic tort cases that might arise in the next few decades,” according to the memo.

City officials kept reassuring the public even as these warnings circulated internally. Just 5 days after the attacks, Giuliani’s administration said the public faced a very low risk of short-term or long-term health effects. By early October, officials called the air “safe and acceptable.” Bloomberg made similar statements in February 2002, saying test results showed acceptable air quality and that “some people are just never going to want to believe that.”

Federal officials sent the same message. Then-EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman told the public just a week after the attacks that the air was safe to breathe and the water was safe to drink. The EPA’s internal watchdog found that Whitman’s office didn’t have enough data to support that claim 2 years later. Whitman apologized in 2016, saying she was sorry that people got sick and that her agency did the best it could with the information available at the time.

Health Toll From Ground Zero Exposure Continues Today

According to the World Trade Center Health Program, more than 9,000 people have died from illnesses connected to September 11, including 600 firefighters. That toll now exceeds the nearly 3,000 people killed in the attacks and the more than 300 firefighters who died during the rescue effort. The 9/11 Memorial reports that doctors have diagnosed at least 49,000 people with cancers linked to 9/11 and its aftermath.

These newly released records help explain why. Inspectors found asbestos on roofs, cables and building facades at 15 John Street, a building about a third of a mile from Ground Zero. A resident living about half a mile away wrote to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection in February 2002 describing how she scooped dust off her coffee table with a paper bag because she had no electricity to vacuum. She told investigators the cleanup felt “mostly futile” because the dust was so light it kept resettling.

Ground Zero Health Conditions

• Asbestosis
• Breast cancer
• Chronic respiratory illness
• Colon cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Lung cancer
• Lymphoma
• Mesothelioma
• Prostate cancer
• Thyroid cancer

As Dr. Raja Flores recently discussed with us, people who worked on the recovery efforts, lived, worked and went to school in Lower Manhattan or were exposed to the smoke and dust plume that spanned boroughs all face a higher risk.They’re urged to discuss their exposure history with their doctors. 

Dr. Flores explains screening and monitoring is key for anyone exposed. A baseline chest X-ray, lung function test and physical exam can help a doctor track changes over time. These conditions often take years or even decades to appear after asbestos exposure. 

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Will the New Records Lead to New Lawsuits? 

People who developed an illness after exposure to Ground Zero dust or debris may have legal options, even decades after the attacks. Reinstein shares her take with us saying, “For me, the biggest aha moment, which wasn’t a surprise, is that the government lied. And that’s unacceptable. They betrayed the first responders, people who suffered and died and the families. The betrayal is huge. It will take a long time to rebuild trust.”

Joe Lahav, a lawyer and on-site legal advisor at The Mesothelioma Center, notes people who use the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, the federal government program established to compensate those who’ve received diagnoses, typically sign waivers relinquishing their right to sue in exchange for access to it. “That program does not require proof of negligence or attempts to hide information from the public on the part of government officials. It only requires proof that someone was exposed during the timeframe permitted and that the person has a qualifying medical condition.” 

Lahav adds, “The Harding Memo and other newly-released documents, while significant, are unlikely to change things for people who have a claim or are considering a claim based on 9/11 exposure to airborne toxins. There has been pretty ample evidence available for some time that the NYC government knew about the risks posed to people exposed to 9/11 toxins, but downplayed them. The most recent document releases are unlikely to change things or create new liabilities for the government.”

Where to Turn for Help Now 

Patient Advocates tell us many people who qualify for support never file a claim because they don’t realize their illness may be connected to the attacks. The release of these documents may help raise awareness. 

Snehal Smart, a medical doctor and a board-certified Patient Advocate at The Mesothelioma Center, says, “If someone thinks their illness may be connected to time spent in Lower Manhattan after 9/11, they should speak with their doctor and get medical documentation about their illness. The doctor may also need to relate the diagnosis to the 9/11 exposure to dust/asbestos/debris. Second, they need to document their exposure to apply for the World Trade Center Health program.”

Snehal adds,”To register for the World Trade Center Health Program, they can submit an application, online or on paper, and include their documented exposure and medical records. Once they are eligible and enrolled, they will go through a series of medical tests and continued monitoring annually to detect any underlying diagnosis related to 9/11 exposure. If a diagnosis is found, their treatment could be covered.” 

She notes the Patient Advocates at The Mesothelioma Center can assist with the eligibility and application process. They can also connect people to specialists in asbestos-related illnesses like mesothelioma and help people learn more about support for a 9/11-related illness.

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