The public agencies making critical decisions regarding the health of workers exposed to toxic substances after 9/11 are “turning their backs on the very people they are supposed to protect,” DC 37’s safety chief testified recently.

Lee Clarke, director of the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept., testified before the New York State Democratic congressional delegation on April 28, Workers Memorial Day. She pressed for a team approach between government agencies and the unions, proper training, emergency preparedness programs, and medical monitoring.

The Congress members got $90 million added to the 2003 appropriations bill for short- and long-term monitoring of workers who are experiencing negative health effects from being at Ground Zero. The Mt. Sinai Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine has provided medical screening for over 6,000 exposed workers and volunteers.

Thus far, only 300 members of DC 37 have been screened by Mt. Sinai, but the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control are now considering options that would divert the funds to other programs. Without the money, the program is in jeopardy.

On May 2, NIOSH held a public meeting in New York City on priorities and strategies for monitoring. Sen. Hillary Clinton and U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney testified on the need to continue funding for the program at Mt. Sinai.

At the April hearing, Ms. Clarke said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration “touts the partnership with private sector contractors at Ground Zero as a success, simply because not one worker lost his/her life during the recovery period. But you have also heard the medical experts report that hundreds if not thousands of these rescue workers have suffered and will suffer from numerous short- and long-term illnesses associated with working at Ground Zero.

“How does OSHA measure success? Are they saying that one fatality is too much but hundreds of workers with long-term respiratory illnesses is acceptable?”