NYC should have come ‘clean’ over toxic air after 9/11
New York City officials should have come “clean” about the toxic air following the Sept. 11 attacks, says 9/11 responder John Feal.
More lives could have been saved if Lower Manhattan’s reopening was delayed and “if the city would have came clean and said the air wasn’t safe, the water wasn’t safe,” he told Horizons host William Brangham.
“What they did was escalate a serious issue into something that now cannot be fixed because we are evolving for the worst,” he added.
New York City officials released more than 170,000 documents this week about the air quality following 9/11. They suggest that authorities were aware at the time of the health risks, despite public assurances the air was safe to breathe.
Feal was a construction worker who was helping clear the wreckage at the World Trade Center site when an 8,000-pound beam crushed his left foot. After nearly going bankrupt from medical bills and watching others get sick, Feal became instrumental in the effort to get compensation for 9/11 first responders.
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