Public Employee Press

5 years later
9/11 heroes:
today’s victims

Congressional hearing at DC 37
highlights deadly government failure

By JANE LaTOUR

Without a thought for their own safety, the first-responders and search and rescue crews rushed to the World Trade Center site on Sept. 11, 2001. There they clawed through the pile, searching first for life and then for remains, volunteers mainly from the city’s blue collar working class and public employees who were assigned, many of them DC 37 members.

They stuck to their gruesome task for days, weeks, or months, breathing foul smoke from the fires that smoldered underground for months and air laden with toxic fumes and asbestos dust.

Over 40,000 people responded to the urgent need, but since then their own health needs have gone unmet. The city called them heroes and left them to cope alone with the aftermath. Many now suffer from debilitating diseases; some have died, including three Emergency Medical Service workers. Residents and employees who lived or worked in the neighborhood are also affected.

These tragic facts came out to a national audience Sept. 8 at a congressional hearing held at DC 37, one block from Ground Zero, by the Subcommittee on National Security. Chaired by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), the panel oversees programs that use federal funds to register, screen, monitor, and all too seldom treat individuals who were near the 9/11 disaster site after the terrorist attacks.

In light of DC 37’s major role in bringing together a coalition of forces to address the health and safety aspects of the 9/11 aftermath, the committee sited its hearing at the union hall — probably the first congressional hearing held at a union. “Lillian Roberts, Lee Clarke [DC 37 Safety and Health Director] and DC 37 were the first to sound the alarm,” said Shays.

Heart-wrenching testimony came from Joseph Zadroga, who told of the painful journey of his son, Detective James Zadroga, from Ground Zero to his death from lung disease at 34. U.S. Energy Dept. radiology expert Steven M. Centore, who worked four months at the site, testified about the medical complications that resulted from his exposure and his inability to get any financial help from the federal workers’ compensation system.

Time for action
Political leaders who participated in the hearing included Sens. Hillary Clinton and Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler and Anthony Weiner, all consistent activists on behalf of the exposed workers.

The hearing spotlighted failures at every level of government to meet the critical needs of the 9/11 first-responders, volunteers, recovery workers and residents. Sen. Clinton vowed to continue the fight for federal funds to treat sick 9/11 workers, but on Sept. 14 Senate Republicans sunk the bill to provide $1.9 billion in Federal aid.

As Steven Centore noted from his vantage point as an injured worker, “I feel like it’s a contest to see if they’re going to give in first or I’m going to die first.”

As the city prepared to honor the WTC fallen for the fifth year, Joseph Zadroga read from a letter written by his beloved son: “They remember the dead, but they don’t want to acknowledge the living.”

Locally, there was progress, as Gov. George E. Pataki recently signed three laws that expand benefits for ailing 9/11 rescue workers. One extends the time for workers to apply for Workers’ Compensation benefits for illnesses they contracted at Ground Zero and related sites, but it includes a critical deadline for filing certain forms.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, DC 37 is sponsoring a seminar to provide expert information on the new Workers’ Compensation provision and on pension issues related to 9/11. It is vital that members learn about the law and the cutoff dates, said Lee Clarke.