I couldn't find a date for the story until I looked here:

Ground Zero Fugitive Fights Extradition-- the strange case of Kurt Sonnenfeld (Buenos Aires Herald, Tuesday, April 11, 2006)
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2006/08/344794.shtml

Sonnenfeld worked under contract for the US government's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for several years. He worked at the World Trade Center for about five weeks with full access to underground searches. There was no restriction on filming, other than not showing bodies, or firemen in tears. Sonnenfeld says no documents were signed whereby ownership of the images could have gone to the US government, and that he was requested to edit the material for a memorial (following previous disasters he had acted as a government spokesman).

After nearly a year, where's Kurt Sonnenfeld now?

Here's more:

http://911review.org/Sept11Wiki/Sonnenfeld,Kurt.shtml

Kurt Sonnenfeld and Jim Chestnutt were the only videographers allowed to film at Ground Zero.

It was Kurt Sonnenfeld's wife of about 10 years, not girlfriend, who was murdered or had committed suicide.

Kurt Sonnenfeld used heroin.

Photographers Andrea Booher and Michael Rieger shot the still photos

The four cameramen passed the Mini DV disk footage to CNN (see link below).

Huh? Still photographers do not uses Mini DV.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/fema-1.shtml

No camera crews were inside the closed-off perimeter Sept. 13 when Region 8’s head of public affairs for disasters Ed Conley arrived. He asked Chestnutt and later Sonnenfeld to capture everything possible on video for use in news programming, as a teaching tool for search and rescue operations and for future historical research. Photographers Andrea Booher and Michael Rieger shot the still photos using Olympus E20 and Nikon D1X digital cameras.

Chestnutt and Sonnenfeld were getting the meat. Another video crew was brought in later to get the fluff.

With the huge demand for their footage now apparent, the crew decided to send the footage directly to the broadcasters. FEMA brought in an uplink truck, a producer, and more photographers. Footage was stored in a computer and then uplinked to the satellites twice a day. In addition, two beta-video crews began recording sound and interviewing workers to get more of the human story.

mmm... If that's the case, then why does it seem that Booher and Rieger, as evidenced by their photos taken as still photographers, were already doing that. WHo was shooting the meat as still photographers?

FEMA is searching for advice on how to do archive their footage and on which media asset management applications they should use. Although the agency still uses a large VHS tape room, more footage is now being stored on DV tapes, though Sonnenfeld believes that everything will eventually be stored on DVD. "One great thing about digital," he notes, "is the ability to make copies and copies. We can make plenty of back-up copies without a loss in resolution."

Ah. So where are the backups? Where is the footage uploaded to the media?

My advice to FEMA as to "how to archive their footage".

Just do it.

Following up on photographer Andrea Booher finds this from OSHA:

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/WTC/dangerous_worksite.html

Identifying Risks and Hazards:

HOT STEEL

Even as the steel cooled, there was concern that the girders had become so hot that they could crumble when lifted by overhead cranes. As a result, additional safeguards were put in place to limit the dangers associated with lifting the damaged steel and to protect the workers in the vicinity.

Another danger involved the high temperature of twisted steel pulled from the rubble. Underground fires burned at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees. As the huge cranes pulled steel beams from the pile, safety experts worried about the effects of the extreme heat on the crane rigging and the hazards of contact with the hot steel. And they were concerned that applying water to cool the steel could cause a steam explosion that would propel nearby objects with deadly force. Special expertise was needed. OSHA called in structural engineers from its national office to assess the situation. They recommended a special handling procedure, including the use of specialized rigging and instruments to reduce the hazards.

--
The true threat to liberty comes not from terrorists but from our political leaders whose natural inclination is to seize upon any excuse to diminish them.
~~ Walter Williams, Nightly Business Report, September 2001