City of Dust

  “If there are discrepancies, I want to know about them. If people have been feeding information into our data bank that is not accurate or for which they wish to escape, I want to know about it. If there’s been fraud, I want to know about it,” Hellerstein said, looking out over the plaintiffs’ lawyers seated in front of him, “and so does the United States attorney.”

  He also demanded transparency, accountability, and judicial control over the settlement process. Then, just about half an hour after he had stood up to address the court room, Hellerstein was finished. “That is the end of the program,” he told the stunned lawyers. He thanked them, and quickly left.

  Hellerstein’s impassioned tirade blew up the settlement that had taken two years to draft, and left both sides bewildered and concerned. After weighing their options, the city and its contractors challenged Hellerstein’s authority to interfere in the settlement, filing an appeal that bounced the matter back to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. It had become clearer than ever that no matter what legal routes could be navigated, the city would continue to be burdened for the foreseeable future with the uncertainties of 9/11 and its afterclap. The judge’s strong reaction would undoubtedly make it more difficult to reach the kind of consensus that a broad settlement requires, although few doubted that a settlement eventually would emerge. Some plaintiffs praised Hellerstein for literally standing up for them in court, yet they were left even more confused than ever about what would happen to them, and how long they would have to wait for help to arrive.

  For a brief time, the draft settlement had seemed to offer a way out of the darkness. It did not answer the burning questions about the dust, but it did provide a framework for getting on with life in a city that had spent too long already in the shadows of that day at the dawn of the new millennium. Science hadn’t upended the settlement. Neither had the law. It was scuttled because Hellerstein stood up and declared that the system had not worked. Nearly a decade after the towers fell, the courts had not proved liability on the part of the city or its contractors, and had not produced scientific evidence linking the dust to serious disease. Regardless, Hellerstein believed that the $1 billion ought to be spent. The fixes he demanded in essence created a successor to the original compensation fund, but one that would end up burning through as much as $400 million in legal fees to distribute the money. This outcome made it clear that putting up such a bounty may be the least effective way of providing help in the aftermath of a disaster. By avoiding the tough decisions, by winking at the law and bypassing the science, Hellerstein earnestly hoped to satisfy the public’s concern that justice be done. But it won’t be clear for a long time whether what he did really satisfied anyone.

  Index

  Symbols

  $1 billion fund, 273

  lawsuits, 264–265

  21 MC 100, 256–259

  50-H hearings, 266

  1975 fire at telephone company switching station, 90

  1993 World Trade Center attack, 104

  9/11 studies

  reliability, 217

  results of

  Mount Sinai studies, 223–225

  Mount Sinai study 2006, 218–223

  A

  Abadie, James, 60, 268

  accelerated latency, 246

  advocacy, 305, 307

  afterclap, 313, 315

  Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, 154

  Agent Orange, 274

  air monitors, 77

  air quality, 37, 39–40

  Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, 256

  air-monitoring equipment, 49

  Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), 22

  alkalinity of dust, EPA reaction, 296

  AMEC, 58

  American Home Products, 249

  anguish of families, 272

  Anna (rescue dog), 129–131

  anosmia, 305

  apartments, decontaminating, 150

  Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, 182

  Army Corps of Engineers, 55

  asbestos, 15, 19, 102, 296

  dust, 20

  exposure levels, 35

  mesothelioma, 102

  safety standards, 35–37

  aspergillosis, 131

  asthma, 158, 223

  Asthmamoms.com, 146

  AstraZeneca, Budesonide inhalers, 90

  ATC Associates of New York, 70

  Atlas, Sarah, 128–134, 275

  Ausmus, David, 58, 72–74

  autopsies

  guidelines for, 235

  of Zadroga, James, 229–231

  AVIRIS (Airborne Visible/Infrared imaging Spectrometer), 22

  B

  B-cell lymphoma, 140

  Baden, Dr. Michael, 232

  Baker, Al, 210

  Baker, Candiace, 320

  Barash, Michael, 232

  Barbaro, Frank, 109

  Barnett, Tommy, 69

  Bechtel, 58

  Bellone, Michael, 277

  Ben-Veniste, Richard, 152

  Bennett, Kiki, 287

  Bennett, Rick, 199–201, 287

  Benson, Samuel, 49

  benzene, 242

  Bern, Marc, 249

  Bienenfeld, Dr. Laura, 136

  biomonitoring, 93

  Bloomberg, Mayor Michael, 174, 183

  lawsuits, 240

  reaction to 9/11 studies, 221

  victim’s list; Godbee Jr., James, 206

  Zadroga, James, comments on, 235

  bodies, removal of, 61

  Borja, Ceasar, 187–188, 209, 212

  Borja, Cesar A., 186–188, 192, 210, 214

  Times, 210–214

  Borja, Eva, 214

  Bovis, 60

  Abadie, James, 268

  Bovis Lend-Lease, 58

  brawl between firefighters and police officers, 293

  Breton, Dr. Gerard, 183, 192, 229

  Budesonide inhalers, 90

  Burton, Michael, 44–46, 267

  Bush administration

  ground zero health claims, 184

  Howard, Dr. John, 184

  missed opportunities, 294–295

  money, 176–179

  Bush, President George W., 35

  Borja family, 209

  C

  cancer, 304, 307

  cancer policy, 319

  Caporale, Barbara, 161

  Centers for Disease Control, 50

  Central Labor Council, 107, 112

  certainty, 302, 312

  Chan, Sewell, 210

  characteristics of dust, 17

  chemicals, 303

  Chertoff, Michael, 264

  Chevat, Benjamin, 173

  children, dust’s effect on, 158

  chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Rogers, Kevin, 135

  Church of Scientology, 112

  class-action lawsuit on behalf of public and private employees, 253–259

  Clinton, Bill, 32

  Clinton, Senator Hillary, 107, 152–153, 159, 171–173

  Borja, Ceasar, 187

  reaction to studies of 9/11, 220

  closing schools, 150, 152

  Cohen, Neal L., 28

  Coles, Tony, 44

  collapse of Twin Towers, 16

  proving links to, 191–193

  collecting dust, 12–15

  command structure, 292–293

  Community Board 1, 147

  compensation, 179, 303

  September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, 179–180

  complaints against EPA, 78, 154

  composition of dust, 18–22, 254

  Con Edison’s Brooklyn-Queens Emergency Electric Operations Unit, 134

  Connaughton, James L., 160

  consistency, evidence, 308

  Consolidated Edison, 47

  construction companies, 58

  depositions, 267

  insurance, 61

  construction workers, 99–100

  Mount Sinai Med
ical Center clinic, 106–107, 110

  contractors, construction companies, 58

  insurance, 61

  contracts, safety rules, 54

  Corrigan, Malachy, 92

  coughs, World Trade Center cough, 96

  Council on Environmental Quality, 40

  counterterrorism, 34

  Couric, Katie, 184

  CPK (creatine phosphokinase), 125

  Crisci, Diane, 46

  D

  daily incident action plan, 57

  Daily News, Pulitzer, 214

  Damato, John, 320

  Daniels, Mitch, 176

  Daubert Principles, 246

  de la Hoz, Dr. Rafael, 136

  deaths, New York State Department of Health study, 277–278

  Deborah Heart and Lung Center, 181

  debris, sorting through, 55–56

  debris pile, 53

  decontaminating apartments, 150

  Department of Design and Construction, 44, 292

  Department of Environmental Protection (New York City), 150

  Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 150

  Department of Sanitation, 55

  depositions, 267–268

  Detectives’ Union, 310

  DiRubbo, Leo, 60

  dose reconstruction, 303

  dose response curve, 308

  doubts about dust, 215–218

  dual nature event, 20

  Dunn-Jones, Felicia Gail, 193–202, 287

  victim’s list, 202–204

  dust

  alkalinity of, EPA reaction, 296

  asbestos, 20

  characteristics of, 17

  collecting, 12–15

  components of, 254

  composition of, 18–22

  effect on children, 158

  effects of replicating, 19

  pH values, 23

  proving links to, 191–193

  samples

  collected by EPA, 33

  collected by Joel Kupferman, 69–72

  EPA results, 75

  storage of, 24

  dust masks, 17

  dust plumes, 23

  dust samples, EPA results, 75

  E

  earthquakes, Mexico City (1985), 43

  Edison crew, 33

  effects of dust on firefighters, 82–83, 90–91

  emergency command center, 27–29

  environmental health, 10

  Environmental Health Perspectives article, 220–222

  EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 32, 35

  air quality, 39–40

  alkalinity of dust, 296

  asbestos safety standards, 35–37

  complaints, 154

  complaints against, 78

  dust samples, 33, 75

  indoor contamination, 149, 153–157

  clean up, 157–160, 163–165

  missed opportunities, 290–292

  Office of Inspector General, 159

  sampling stations, 49

  withholding of files, 245

  epidemiologists, 300

  ETI Laboratory, 70

  evidence

  certainty, 303

  lack of definitive proof, 308–309

  presumptive proof, 309–311

  proving dust caused problems, 215–218

  self-reported data, 216

  exposure levels, asbestos, 35

  extensive discovery, 280

  F

  fair compensation, 303

  fallout from release of Kupferman’s dust samples results, 72–77

  Feal, John, 215

  federal compensation, 303

  Federal Emergency Management Agency. See FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

  federal government

  compensation programs, 179

  September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, 179–180

  missed opportunities, 297

  Fein, Dr. Alan, 200

  Feinberg, Kenneth R., 179–180, 200

  Zadroga, James, 226

  FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), 93

  money appropriated for workers, 112

  fen-phen, 249–250

  Fiero, Columbia, 69

  The Filipino Reporter, 213

  fines for safety violations, 54

  fire departments, 50

  firefighter radios, 272–273

  firefighters, 51–52

  brawl with police officers, 293

  command structure, 293

  effects on, 82–83, 90–91

  forest service rangers, 52

  Fossella, Vito, 171

  Fox Lane High School, 241

  fraud, 276–278, 281

  Fresh Kills, 55–56

  Frieden, Dr. Thomas, 297

  Fullam, Dave, 117, 121–124, 127

  Fullam, Marty, 117–124, 127–128, 275, 281

  lung transplant, 126

  polymyositis, 125

  future illnesses, 276

  future liability, 319

  G

  Ganci, Peter, 28–29

  GAO (Government Accountability Office), 178

  gastrointestinal issues, 305

  Gavett, Stephen H., 18

  German Shepherds, 131

  Giuliani, Mayor Rudy, 30–31, 293

  air quality, 30

  emergency command center, 27–29

  firefighters, 293

  liability protection, 175

  Godbee, James, 237

  Godbee Jr., James, 205–206

  Godbee, Michelle Haskett, 205

  Gonzalez, Juan, 71–72, 75, 186

  Government Accountability Office (GAO), 178

  ground zero, 56, 61

  clearing of, 60

  debris pile, 53

  ground zero presumption bill, 142

  Gulack, Robert, 161

  H

  Handerson, James A., 258

  Hariton, D’Angelo, 250

  Hauber, Raymond, 281

  Hayden, Deputy Chief Peter, 51–52

  “Health for Heroes,” 136

  heart problems, 305

  Heintz, Mark, 120

  Hellerstein, Judge Alvin K., 255–259, 272–274

  settlement, 320–324

  Henderson, James, 279

  Herbert, Dr. Robin, 218–219

  Heyward, Leon, 313

  Hill, Sir Austin Bradford, 308

  Hirsch, Dr. Charles S., 46, 191, 239

  autopsies, 235

  Dunn-Jones, Felicia Gail, 202–204

  Godbee, Jr., James, 205–206

  victim’s list, reconsiderations, 225, 229–234

  Holden, Kenneth, 45, 59–60

  Hon, Jeffrey, 295

  Howard, Dr. John, 183–184, 218, 240, 297

  autopsy guidelines, 235

  reaction to 9/11 study, 222

  research, 301

  Hughes, Catherine McVay, 145, 313

  Hughes, Tom, 148

  human hair, 21

  I

  idiopathic anaphylaxis, 132

  illnesses, future illnesses, 276

  immunity, New York City, 268–272

  indoor contamination, 152–153

  EPA, 149, 153–157

  clean up, 157–160, 163–165

  schools, 152

  closing of, 150–152

  Fox Lane High School, 241

  Stuyvesant High School, 151

  Inspector General for the EPA, 40

  insurance, construction companies, 61

  insurance company created to defend NYC from 9/11 lawsuits, 263

  International Association of Firefighters, 92

  It’s Time to Sue, 243

  J

  J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 100, 107, 110

  James Zadroga Act, 185, 236

  Jenkins, Kate, 245

  Jimmy Nolan’s law, 282

  Jones, Joseph, 196–198, 287–288

  Judge, Father Mychal, 120

  K

  Kayle
e (rescue dog), 132

  Kelly, Commissioner Raymond, 237

  Kelly, Dr. Kerry, 82–83, 88–91, 95, 97, 306

  Kenny, Jane M., 155–156

  Kerik, Bernard, 28

  Kilbourne, Dr. Edwin, 154

  Kupferman, Joel, 65–69, 78

  class action lawsuit, 164

  dust samples, 69–72

  L

  labs

  ATC Associates of New York, 70

  ETI Laboratory, 70

  Landrigan, Dr. Philip, 24, 108–114, 154, 219–221

  Responders, number of, 217

  latency periods, 246

  Latham & Watkins, 264

  lawsuits, 164, 240–241, 263, 270–271

  $1 billion fund, 264–265, 273

  class-action lawsuit on behalf of public and private employees, 253–259

  culling the cases, 280–281

  depositions, 267–268

  fen-phen, 249–250

  future illnesses, 276

  Jimmy Nolan’s law, 282

  limited discovery, 279

  medical records, 275–276

  motion to dismiss, 268

  settlement, 274–275

  negotiations, 282–283

  summary judgment, 266

  Walcott, John, 242–244

  lead, 162

  leadership, Rudy Giuliani. See Giuliani, Rudy

  Leavitt, Michael, 159, 184

  leukemia, 244

  Levin, Dr. Stephen M., 101–107, 218

  respirators, 104

  Levy, Harold O., 150

  liability, future liability, 319

  liability protection, 175

  Libby, Montana; asbestos contamination, 156

  Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, 59

  life expectancy, loss of, 303–306

  Lilis, Dr. Ruth, 109

  limited discovery, 279

  Lioy, Dr. Paul J., 9–11, 25, 97, 160, 313

  dust masks, 17

  litigation, 271

  lower-respiratory problems, 305

  lung transplants; Fullam, Marty, 126

  Luongo, Deputy Inspector James, 55

  M

  mainliner’s lung, 231

  Maloney, Rep. Carolyn, 153, 171–179

  response to James Zadroga’s denial to victim’s list, 233

  Zadroga bill, 309

  Manhattan Project, 303

  Martin, Robert, 154–155

  Mattei, Suzanne, 38, 245

  Mayo Clinic, fen-phen, 249

  McKinney, Kelly, 46–49, 78

  McVay Hughes, Catherine, 146–149, 152–153, 163, 166

  panel to study aftermath of World Trade Center attacks, 160–166

  McVay, Scott, 146

  medical records, lawsuits, 275–276

  Melius, Dr. James, 110