by Lionel Bascom — July 24th, 2006 — No comments
The New York City Police Benevolent Association is getting behind a registry for cops who worked at Ground Zero to monitor illnesses related to toxins in the air at the site.
The PBA is among the latest to complain that government monitoring may be too little too late.
“Over 8,000 workers are currently filed against the city of New York, the Environmental Protection Agency and dozens of private and public contractors who allegedly failed to protect workers against environmental toxins at the Ground Zero and Fresh Kills landfill sites where the debris from the WTC was taken and sorted, according to attorney James Farrin, a North Carolina personal injury lawyer.
Farrin says thousands of workers now claim the cancers, respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses they are suffering are a result of poor environmental protection and a lack of proper management oversight at the cleanup locations.
He cites the autopsy results of retired34 year old New York police detective James Zadroga. Doctors concluded that Zadroga’s death was directly related to respiratory failure due to the toxins he breathed at the Ground Zero site, the lawyer claims.
The autopsy report set off a wave of articles in New York City newspapers drawing attention to the plight of safety officers and emergency workers who now seem to be paying a steep price for their service after the attacks. The federal government has appointed Dr. John Howard to oversee its response to the public’s growing concern, but the NYC PBA’s spokesperson, Pat O’Leary, says his fellow officers may not have time to wait on the government.
“Those who are alive today need to know what kinds of symptoms they should be watching for,” O’Leary said.
At least 25 police officers have joined the registry but those numbers are expected to swell rapidly.