The Freedom Tower

From the Staten Island Advance:

“When officials rushed to the scene of the steam pipe blast in midtown Manhattan, they did something besides hand out masks and test the air for contaminants: One federal agency went into “full inspection mode,” allowing officers to issue citations if responders weren’t wearing required masks or companies were failing to provide necessary safety equipment.
In this way and several others, response to Wednesday’s exploded underground steam pipe differed from how various agencies responded to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
While officials insist that the steam pipe blast did not result in dangerously contaminated air, it caused a billowing plume of steam and debris reminiscent of the smoke pillar that rose from the World Trade Center’s debris six years ago. Hundreds of people have reported developing serious health problems as a result of breathing in that toxic dust.
So when an 83-year-old, asbestos-insulated pipe burst beneath 41st Street and Lexington, first responders and government officials demonstrated increased awareness and concern about the potential for post-disaster illness. Regular exposure to asbestos has been shown to increase people’s risk of getting cancer and other ailments.
For example, the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) reacted differently to the steam pipe blast than it did to the Sept. 11 attacks by immediately opening an investigation. Agency workers will penalize anyone who was found violating safety regulations.
“We were not, during the recovery of the World Trade Center, in an enforcement mode,” said OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald.
Six years ago, OSHA workers distributed respirators at Ground Zero, but did not issue citations to people who did not wear them, or to workplaces that did not provide them. Many responders did not wear masks as they worked on the pile at Ground Zero and at the recovery site at Fresh Kills.”