9/11 Truth 15 Years Later: The Toxic Content of WTC Dust and Debris

Part Three. Jenna Orkin on EPA Lies and the Legacy of 9/11 Investigator Michael Ruppert. Global Research News Hour Episode 152

Results from our monitoring of air quality and drinking water conditions in both New York and near the Pentagon show that the public in these areas is not being exposed to excessive levels of asbestos or other harmful substances… Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C., that their air is safe to breathe and their water is safe to drink.” -statement from then EPA Administrator Christine Whitman (September 19, 2001) [1]

In that cloud of dust people were breathing all sorts of stuff. I spat stuff like oatmeal, full of silica and glass fibers…I think this is criminal…When you keep this information from the public and the workers, you lie to them. The government should be ashamed of themselves for not telling us what we were exposed to.” Israel “Izzy” Miranda, New York firefighter and EMS union leader, who arrived at Ground Zero shortly after the first tower collapsed. (source: Sierra Club) [2]

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Play

Length (59:21)

Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

On the weekend of September 11, 2016 Christine Todd Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency during the 9/11 attacks and the weeks that followed, admitted in an interview with the Guardian that the information she relayed about the air around Ground Zero being safe to breathe was mistaken and offered an apology to all the victims who were sick and dying as a result of that advice.

“I’m very sorry that people are sick…I’m very sorry that people are dying and if the EPA and I in any way contributed to that, I’m sorry. We did the very best we could at the time with the knowledge we had.”

She added:

“Every time it comes around to the anniversary I cringe, because I know people will bring up my name, they blame me, they say that I lied and that people died because I lied, [they say] people have died because I made a mistake.”[3]

So the former EPA head admitted she was wrong but denied she deliberately lied to the public.

There is however overwhelming evidence that this government agency had reason to suspect the air in the vicinity of the World Trade Center following the attacks was not only toxic, and deliberately misled the public about the quality of the air.

As a result, numerous first responders, and ordinary citizens in the New York area inhaled dust and debris containing dangerous quantities of not only asbestos, but lead, mercury, cadmium, toxic organic compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), glass fibers, pulverized concrete, and caustic particles so alkaline they had pH levels near that of liquid drain cleaner. [4]

Over 1,000 people have died from illnesses tied to exposure to debris. That number is expected within five years to exceed the number who were killed on the day of the attacks. [5]

Other aspects of 9/11, including the ‘false flag’ counter-narratives, appear to have gained more prominence in mainstream and alternative media, than the crime of thousands losing their lives as a result of agency disinformation.

This week’s Global Research News Hour, the latest in a series devoted to the 15th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks examines the U.S. government’s environmental watchdog’s crimes with special guest Jenna Orkin.

Jenna Orkin is a Resident of New York City and was one of the first to question the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s assertions that the air in Lower Manhattan following the 9/11 attacks was safe to breathe. She went on to co-found the World Trade Center Environmental Organization as well as other Lower Manhattan activist organizations that revealed and testified to the government’s lies. She presented her research at the Citizen’s 9/11 Omission Hearings in New York in September of 2004. (see video below.) 

Her writing has appeared in Counterpunch as well as Fromthewilderness.com, the newsletter created by 9/11 investigator Michael C Ruppert. Orkin is the author of The Moron’s Guide to Global Collapse as well as Scout: A Memoir of Investigative Journalist Michael C. Ruppert, with Against the Dying of the Light.

Over the course of the hour, Orkin recounts her experiences on the day of the attacks, describes some of the toxic content in the World Trade Centre debris, and explains how and why the U.S. EPA deliberately misled New Yorkers, particularly first responders, as to the hazardous conditions they were exposed to in the days following the collapses of the towers. Later on, she comments on her close association and friendship with Michael Ruppert. As she does in her 2014 book, Orkin makes an effort to humanize a man seen by many today as a hero and a giant within the 9/11 Truth movement.

 

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Play

Length (59:21)

Click to download the audio (MP3 format)

The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM in Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca . The show can be heard on the Progressive Radio Network at prn.fm. Listen in every Monday at 3pm ET.

Community Radio Stations carrying the Global Research News Hour:

CHLY 101.7fm in Nanaimo, B.C – Thursdays at 1pm PT

Boston College Radio WZBC 90.3FM NEWTONS  during the Truth and Justice Radio Programming slot -Sundays at 7am ET.

Port Perry Radio in Port Perry, Ontario –1  Thursdays at 1pm ET

Burnaby Radio Station CJSF out of Simon Fraser University. 90.1FM to most of Greater Vancouver, from Langley to Point Grey and from the North Shore to the US Border.

It is also available on 93.9 FM cable in the communities of SFU, Burnaby, New Westminister, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Surrey and Delta, in British Columbia Canada. – Tune in every Saturday at 6am.

Radio station CFUV 101.9FM based at the University of Victoria airs the Global Research News Hour every Sunday from 7 to 8am PT.

CORTES COMMUNITY RADIO CKTZ  89.5 out of Manson’s Landing, B.C airs the show Tuesday mornings at 10am Pacific time.

Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 6am pacific time.

Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in  Saint John airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 10am.

Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday Morning from 8:00 to 9:00am. Find more details at www.caperradio.ca 

Notes:

1) http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/09/19/rec.wtc.environment/

2)  http://vault.sierraclub.org/ecocentro/ingles/reckless_disregard.asp

3) Joanna Walters (September 10, 2016) “Former EPA head admits she was wrong to tell New Yorkers post-9/11 air was safe”, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/10/epa-head-wrong-911-air-safe-new-york-christine-todd-whitman

4) Air Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero: How the Bush Administration’s Reckless Disregard of 9/11 Toxic Hazards Poses Long-Term Threats for New York City and the Nation. Sierra Club, August 2004, pg 14-16;

http://www.gothamgazette.com/images/pdf/rebuildingnyc/sierraclub_report.pdf

5) Joanna Walters (September 11, 2016), “9/11 health crisis: death toll from illness nears number killed on day of attacks”, The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/11/9-11-illnesses-death-toll


Comment on Global Research Articles on our Facebook page

Become a Member of Global Research


Articles by: Michael Welch

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible for any inaccurate or incorrect statement in this article. The Centre of Research on Globalization grants permission to cross-post Global Research articles on community internet sites as long the source and copyright are acknowledged together with a hyperlink to the original Global Research article. For publication of Global Research articles in print or other forms including commercial internet sites, contact: [email protected]

www.globalresearch.ca contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner.

For media inquiries: [email protected]