Prod Feds for Funding: Rally for More Help For 9/11 Illnesses

Prod Feds for Funding
Rally for More Help For 9/11 Illnesses

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

More than 200 World Trade Center first-responders, volunteers, rescue and clean-up personnel rallied at Ground Zero June 17 to gain more funds for long-term health monitoring and treatment for health problems related to 9/11 exposures.

DENIS HUGHES: Match rhetoric with action. The event was sponsored by the State AFL-CIO; the AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council; the "Unsung Heroes Helping Heroes," an organization of rescue and recovery workers dedicated to bring "fairness and justice to disaster response workers;" and the New York Chapter of the Sierra Club.

'Recognize Their Efforts'

State AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes, speaking to a crowd that filled the sidewalk along the Ground Zero viewing platform, urged the Federal Government to make a solid commitment to provide funds to the city and state.

"These brave men and women were heroes in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and they remain heroes today," he said. "We call upon the Bush Administration to recognize their contribution and to ensure their long-term health and well-being."

Joining the hundreds of rescue and recovery workers who turned out was Joseph Zadroga. His son, retired Det. James Zadroga, died in January, the first uniformed worker fatality officially attributed to exposure to Ground Zero toxins.

'Take Care of Them'

"There is nothing we can do now for our son. But we have to take care of these people, who worked under those dangerous conditions, by getting them the treatment they need," the elder Mr. Zadroga said prior to the rally.

In an emotional speech, Mr. Zadroga blasted the Bloomberg administration for not getting his son the medical help he needed before his illnesses worsened. He said that Detective Zadroga died on the floor of his bedroom, with his daughter's bottle in hand, and his daughter on the bed.

He also accused the ad ministration of belittling the New Jersey medical examiner's report that said his son's death was "directly related to the 9/11 incident." The event drew many elected officials, including U.S. Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney, Vito Fossella, Charlie Rangel, Jerrold L. Nadler and Steve Israel.

Ms. Maloney, who along with Congressman Fossella succeeded in getting a 9/11 health czar appointed this year, is circulating a letter among her colleagues that urges President Bush to meet with Congress and Ground Zero workers to address the growing health crisis.

Need More Money

Although more than $100 million has been earmarked for medical monitoring, Congresswoman Maloney said that wasn't enough to guarantee ongoing benefits, treatment and screening for the coming decades.

Dr. Robin Herbert, co-founder of the Mount Sinai World Trade Center Monitoring Program, told the crowd some 16,000 survivors had been screened at her hospital, and many had three times the rate of breathing abnormalities expected. She estimated that funding was needed for at least another 30 years as doctors try to assess the long-term damage of inhaling what she called "poisons from vaporized building materials."

Dr. Herbert added that it was "shameless that Workers' Compensation lawyers continue to fight" some WTC-related claims because they weren't filed before the September 2003 deadline.

Kenneth Becker, Chief of the Law Department's World Trade Center Unit, responded that "there is no scientific evidence showing an increase in cancer rates among uniformed services personnel or other persons who worked at the World Trade Center or that links cancer to work done at the site."

Susan Lopez said she's had to relive the horror of Sept. 11 countless times since her husband, Gregg Lopez, helped the recovery efforts.

Mr. Lopez, a member of Teamsters Local 282, now suffers from emphysema, pulmonary fibrosis, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, gastro-esophogeal reflux disease, and ulcers in his throat and stomach.