A Fallen Hero - Video Inside

[Gold9472]

(Gold9472: Thanks to Willie Rodriquez for sending this to me.)

Dear Mr. Rodriguez:

With the start of the 110th Congress, I joined Senators Schumer, Kennedy, Lautenberg and Menendez in re-introducing the 9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2007 that would provide over $1.9 billion in medical and mental health monitoring and treatment grants, available from 2008-2012, to firefighters, police officers, EMTs, paramedics, building and construction trades workers, volunteers, residents, and others whose health was directly impacted at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills as well as those who responded to the Pentagon attack. This funding would be administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and would expand access to health monitoring and health care to all of those who served, lived and worked in the se area s in the aftermath of 9/11. Similar legislation was introduced late last year.

Time is passing while brave, selfless people are getting sick and dying. This has to be one of the President's top priorities in his upcoming budget.I contacted the President's Director of the Office of Management and Budget to ask that some additional funds be included in the President's Budget for 2008 when it is sent up to Congress next month; but if the President will not act, then we will .

Late last year , my colleagues and I called on the President to include funds in his upcoming Fiscal Year 2008 Budget, due to be released in February. [See -http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=266329&& ]. In the event that the funding is not included, we will push hard for our own legislation to be enacted. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which I am a member and Senator Kennedy is Chairman has jurisdiction over the9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2007 and has also committed to hearings on 9/11 health effects in the near future.

A five-year study conducted by Mount Sinai Medical Center of Ground Zero first responders found that almost 70 percent of World Trade Center ( WTC ) responders had new or substantially worsened respiratory symptoms following their work at the WTC site. Among the responders who were asymptomatic before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the WTC site. Studies published by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) also show that over 90 percent of FDNY rescue workers had new respiratory symptoms follo wing their work at WTC; over percent continue to have respiratory and or mental health symptomatology; the average decrease in pulmonary function in the first year after WTC was 372ml (12 times the annual decline in the five years pre-WTC); 25 percent of those tested who were present during the morning of the attack have objective evidence for airway hyper reactivity consistent with asthma; and nearly 700 (5 percent of exposed workforce) have qualified for respiratory disability pensions.

I have continually cautioned that those who breathed the toxic air around Ground Zero in the days, weeks and months after 9/11 would suffer health effects and now our worst fears are being realized. I am pleased that this is one of the first bills to be introduced in the new Congress and I will continue to fight for this funding because I believe we have a moral obligation as a nation to help those whose health was affected by 9/11. We must relieve their suffering and get them the help they need and deserve.

Sincerely,
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

[Gold9472]

Lawmakers Push 9/11 Responder Aid Bill

http://www.occupationalhazards.com/N..._Aid_Bill.aspx

By Katherine Torres
1/8/2007

New York and New Jersey lawmakers, joined by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., re-submitted a bill that would provide $1.9 billion in medical and mental health monitoring for emergency response workers whose health was directly impacted by the 9/11 aftermath.

The 9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2007 – re-introduced by Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; and Kennedy, D-Mass. – is one of the first bills to be presented to the new Congress.

The money would be paid out from 2008 to 2012 to firefighters, police officers, EMTs and others who were at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills, on Staten Island, in addition to those who responded to the Pentagon attack.

Clinton: "If the President Will Not Act, Then We Will"
Late last year, Clinton, Schumer and Kennedy called on President Bush to include 9/11 responder funds in his upcoming fiscal year 2008 budget, due to be released in February. In the event that the funding is not included, the five senators have said they will push hard for their own legislation to be enacted.

" … Over the past 5 years, I have repeatedly and urgently called for the necessary funding to help 9/11 victims get the medical assistance they need," Schumer said. "Today, as the attacks continue to claim new victims, I hope the president understands that we can't afford to wait any longer."

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, of which Clinton is a member and Kennedy is chairman, has jurisdiction over the re-introduced bill and also has committed to hearings on 9/11 health effects in the near future, Clinton said.

"Time is passing while brave, selfless people are getting sick and dying," Clinton said. "…If the president will not act, then we will."

Studies: Many WTC Responders Showing Health Effects
A 5-year study conducted by Mount Sinai Medical Center of Ground Zero first responders found that almost 70 percent of World Trade Center (WTC) responders had new or substantially worsened respiratory symptoms following their work at the WTC site. Among the responders who did not show symptoms of ill health before 9/11, 61 percent developed respiratory symptoms while working at the WTC site, according to the study.

Studies published by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) show that more than 90 percent of FDNY rescue workers had new respiratory symptoms following their work at WTC and that more than 30 percent continue to have respiratory and/or mental health symptoms.

[Gold9472]

9/11 hero's fatal sickness
49-year-old responder dies of esophageal cancer tied to the toxic dust

http://www.silive.com/news/advance/i...810.xml&coll=1

Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By TEVAH PLATT
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 may have claimed still another Staten Island victim.

Frederick J. Stuck III, 49, a retired deputy sheriff and a first responder on Sept. 11, died yesterday at his Port Richmond home. His wife, Lou Ann, said the cause was esophageal cancer, which she believes resulted from exposure to the toxic dust clouds that have made thousands of New Yorkers sick.

When asked yesterday about her husband's experiences on Sept. 11, Mrs. Stuck's voice became strained. "I can't talk about this," she said. "This was the cause of the whole thing."

The couple's son, Frederick IV, said his father had responded immediately following the attacks and was part of a search for survivors at the former World Trade Center PATH station. For at least six weeks, he worked long hours in the rubble. He returned only briefly to Port Richmond during that time, coming home covered in the dust that smothered Lower Manhattan -- only to sleep and shower and return to Ground Zero.

"He was proud to be a part of the rescue," Mrs. Stuck said. "He was a very proud American. He wanted to be there to help everybody."

Stuck developed asthma shortly after Sept. 11, his wife said, and had to use an inhaler. He developed an ache in his chest, then swallowing became difficult. When he was diagnosed with fourth-stage cancer in April, there was little that could be done.

A report issued this September by Mount Sinai Medical Center found that nearly 70 percent of Ground Zero workers suffered lung problems as a result of their exposure to toxins in the dust-cloud. Manhattan trial lawyers David Worby and Paul Napoli have filed about 8,000 lawsuits claiming the city failed to protect workers from these dangers.

But the city has maintained it is nearly impossible to determine a causal link between the recovery work at Ground Zero and illnesses that arise on an individual basis, and Stuck is a case in point. Whether his selfless acts were fatal has not been medically determined; his doctors pointed to his smoking as a young man (a habit he kicked almost 20 years ago) as a potential cause, Mrs. Stuck said.

What his family knows for sure is that Stuck was, until recently, relatively healthy. The Army veteran and retired deputy sheriff, an outdoorsman who idolized John Wayne, had been, according to his wife, exceptionally "youthful."

HIS BIRTHDAY
Today would have been his 50th birthday.

The native of Garfield, N.J., moved to Port Richmond in 1991, following his marriage to the former Lou Ann Ferone in 1988.

He moved to the Island to work for the New York City Sheriff's Office, which he did for 19 years, in all five boroughs. Stuck, who liked to share stories about his job, was injured while making an arrest in 2003. He retired last year.

"There are many Fred Stuck stories," a co-worker said yesterday. "Those of us who had the opportunity to work side by side with Fred knew that they could not ask for a better partner to depend on in any situation."

The Vietnam War-era veteran who served in the U.S. Army from 1974 to 1977 was a member of the Cichon Post, American Legion, in Port Richmond. He enjoyed hunting and fishing in the Catskills -- a passion he shared with his children and many friends. Stuck would pull out his guitar at barbecues and family gatherings and sing Irish and folk songs. He had a large collection of tools and was known in the neighborhood for his handiness, as well as his small talk and his smile, family said. He also collected John Wayne movies, action figures and memorabilia.

HIS KEEPSAKES
Stuck also maintained a solemn collection he kept private -- an album of photographs and keepsakes from the recovery effort. He had swapped badges with fellow officers from around the country, with whom he had forged a bond, and he kept these, along with the American flag bandanna he wore every day at the site.

"He was a true officer and a gentleman, a proud and devoted American," Mrs. Stuck said. She also described her husband, a parishioner of St. Roch's R.C. Church, Port Richmond, as a faithful man who prayed daily, and a devoted father of four.

Friends had encouraged the Stuck family to look into benefits available to ailing recovery workers, but Stuck had said he was receiving health care and just wanted to focus on getting better. He never pursued litigation, though he did alert his co-workers, encouraging them to seek medical tests in hopes they might detect Sept. 11-related health problems early.

"He apologized to me for being sick," Mrs. Stuck said. "He said he was going to fight this. He said, 'Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.' ... But first you pray to God to keep him, then you pray to God to take him. He was suffering."

HIS SPIRIT
But the young widow also said she had been inspired by her husband, who remained positive throughout his illness.

"I know he's in heaven now, that he's looking down on me and he'll give me the strength to get through this," she said.

According to Advance records, Stuck is the second Staten Islander to die from an illness potentially tied to the recovery effort.

"It's going to continue to be a problem," said Dennis McKeon, executive director of the Bloomfield-based Where-To-Turn, a non-profit group that advocates for families who suffered after Sept. 11.

The American Red Cross operates a Sept. 11 Recovery Program with services for those experiencing health problems. Those seeking information may call 212-812-4348.

Tevah Platt is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at platt@siadvance.com.

[Gold9472]

Katie Couric Interviews Christie Todd Whitman
Thanks to FrankV

Click Here

[Gold9472]

Lying sack of shit.

[Eckolaker]

Is this the longest thread on this board?

Yet another 9/11 toxic dust story swept under the rug.

[Gold9472]

It may be. There are a few scattered environmental disaster related threads on the board, but once I created this one after James Zadroga died, it's become the environmental disaster thread.

[Gold9472]

This is the one thread I've constantly maintained.

[Gold9472]

The Moussaoui trial thread is probably a close second as far as related info being posted in one thread.

[Gold9472]

Press EPA to expand 9/11 tests

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/...p-410867c.html

BY FRANK LOMBARDI
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
1/11/2007

Federal officials were prodded yesterday to follow the plume of the 9/11 attacks beyond lower Manhattan when they launch a final testing phase for contaminants.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct a $7 million testing and cleanup program this spring in a limited area of lower Manhattan for any lingering contaminants from the 9/11 attacks more than five years ago.

The program will focus on the same Manhattan area included in a $30 million testing and cleanup effort in 2002 and 2003, south of Canal St. and west of Allen and Pike Sts.

But numerous elected officials, community representatives, civic and environmental activists, and others are pushing the EPA to expand the program into downtown Brooklyn and areas north of Canal St.

That prodding intensified yesterday at a City Council hearing held by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee, which drew testimony from Alan Steinberg, the regional EPA administrator.

Steinberg took heat for the limited geographic scope of the new testing from City Council members, particularly Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan), who heads the committee, and David Yassky (D-Brooklyn), whose district includes downtown Brooklyn.

In his questioning, Gerson repeatedly faulted the inadequacy of the testing procedures and limited budget. Only property owners requesting to have their apartments or commercial premises tested - and cleaned up, if necessary - will be eligible for the voluntary program,

Steinberg repeatedly defended the decision to limit the program to the area that sustained the greatest impact from the 9/11 fallout. Previous testing in that area found that national safety levels for environmental contaminants were "less than 1%" above the norm.

He cited a statement in August by city Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden that the potential health risks from any remaining 9/11 dust in that area were "extremely low or nonexistent."

Steinberg contended the risks would be even lower in Brooklyn and areas farther from Ground Zero.

Gerson asked if the testing was "a political program," prompting Steinberg to fire back, "When you're being responsive to concerns of the community, I don't consider that political. I consider that good government."

Yassky scolded Steinberg's agency for never testing Brooklyn buildings that had "inch-thick" layers of dust and debris from 9/11.

"That's Al Qaeda's fault, but it is our fault and it is your fault, the federal government's fault, that nothing was done to get rid of it," Yassky said.