City Councilwoman Gale Brewer and Council Speaker Julie Menin are calling for a city Department of Investigation inquiry into the lethal toxins in Lower Manhattan following the September 11th attacks.<\/p>\n
They held a press conference on Thursday morning at City Hall where they were joined by attorneys and advocates.<\/p>\n
Residents and first responders were told that the air quality near ground zero was safe to breathe, but activists are demanding a thorough investigation into what the city really knew about the air quality.<\/p>\n
“We in Lower Manhattan were told, not only by the federal EPA, but by the city of New York, that the air was safe to breathe, we stayed in Lower Manhattan, as a result thousands and thousands of first responders and downtown residents have become sick with cancer, many of whom have died,” Menin said. “It is unconscionable that the city of New York did not take responsibility for basically lying to not only first responders, but to the whole downtown community.”<\/p>\n
Recently discovered documents indicate that the Giuliani administration and those that followed sought to cover up test results and other evidence of toxic exposures — or at least they were not forthcoming.<\/p>\n
The DOI now needs additional funding to complete their investigation.<\/p>\n
Brewer and Menin estimate it will cost the DOI about $6 million to unearth reams of relevant environmental review records kept from public view by the city for decades, and are calling for the Mamdani administration to agree to fund it.<\/p>\n
“We really need to see all the possible documents from the city, so that survivors and their families can have some satisfaction – and that’s what the full DOI investigation, as required by my law, will give us, and them,” Brewer said in a statement .<\/p>\n
The city has previously refused to disclose most environmental records about the toxins, citing potential lawsuits from the thousands of first responders and residents who developed serious health issues that could cost the city billions.<\/p>\n
If the DOI gets additional funding, the investigation is expected to be complete by the middle of next year.<\/p>\n
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