New York authorities have released archival documents revealing the truth about air quality in the World Trade Center area following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. According to materials published by The New York Times (NYT), the air contained various hazardous substances, despite repeated official assurances that it was safe to be outdoors.
In July 2002—ten months after the attacks—specialists detected asbestos less than 1.5 kilometers from the destroyed Twin Towers. Traces of the mineral were found on the facade and roof of a building on John Street, as well as in other locations across Lower Manhattan. In some samples, asbestos concentrations exceeded regulatory limits.
The documents also revealed elevated levels of benzene—a substance known to cause cancer—in the immediate vicinity of the collapse zone. Yet, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and his successor, Michael Bloomberg, had declared the air safe and reported normal test results.
The documents published by the NYT indicate that people were permitted to return to the World Trade Center area while health risks still persisted. The data was released following a lawsuit filed by 9/11 Health Watch. The organization’s head, Ben Chevat, maintained that authorities were aware of the toxic substances but continued to deny the danger.
This new information could help those who have fallen ill secure federal compensation and serve as the basis for further lawsuits. According to The New York Times, the number of people who have died from illnesses linked to the tragedy’s aftermath has surpassed the death toll of the attacks themselves, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives. On September 11, 2001, a series of four terrorist attacks took place in New York, carried out by members of the Al-Qaeda organization (designated as a terrorist group and banned in Russia). Terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and flew two of them into the World Trade Center towers in Manhattan. A third plane was directed toward the Pentagon, but the passengers and crew attempted to wrest control of the aircraft; ultimately, the airliner crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon’s west wing.
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