9/11 Hero Falls As Fight Goes On

BY JORDAN LITE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Posted Tuesday, March 13th 2007, 10:01 AM

Philip Rooney spent five grim weeks at the World Trade Center after it was destroyed by terrorists, catching glimpses of body parts as he cleared the debris. It was a land of ghosts he was proud to inhabit.

Just over five years later, the city Department of Transportation carpenter is dead at age 41.

Rooney died March 1 of acute leukemia, after logging 202 hours at the site beginning on 9/11, the DOT confirmed.

"He smelled the jet fuel. He said it was like a big graveyard," said Rooney's wife, Patricia.

It's impossible to say for sure what caused the Seaford, L.I., father of three to develop a disease that affects just one or two out of every 100,000 men in their 30s, said Rooney's doctor, Mark Heaney.

Rooney was diagnosed three years ago; his wife said she has "no doubt" her husband's exposure to Ground Zero is to blame.

Coroner: Not Sure If 9/11 Toxins Killed Borja

Last Edited: Saturday, 10 Feb 2007, 9:37 PM EST
Created: Saturday, 10 Feb 2007, 9:37 PM EST

MyFoxNY.com -- New York City's chief medical examiner found that a rare lung disease killed retired cop and 9/11 first responder Cesar Borja.

However, he can't exactly what caused Borja's illness.

His family believes toxic air at Ground Zero is to blame. Borja was among the first responders who worked at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Borja's death inspired President Bush to earmark $25 million to help pay medical expenses for first responders.

Cesar Borja died Jan. 23. His son, Ceasar Jr., attended the president's State of the Union address with Sen. Hillary Clinton.

President Meets With Son Of 9/11 First Responder

January 31, 2007

While in town to deliver a speech on the economy, President Bush held a private meeting with Ceasar Borja, Jr., the son of a 9/11 first responder who died last week waiting for a lung transplant.

Bush met with Borja Jr., who has been on a crusade in his father's name to get funding for other first responders who have become ill.

Cesar Borja, Sr. was an NYPD officer who spent countless hours at the World Trade Center site in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.

During the meeting Borja, Jr. said he asked for the federal government to completely fund any medical treatment for anyone suffering for a 9/11 related illness.

"I expressed how the funding should be expanded, not just for the heroes and heroines that were present there without hesitation, who ran to save, rescue, and ensure a future for all of the lives that they found there."

Demolition Of CUNY Building Damaged On 9/11 Prompts Health Concerns

January 31, 2007

A City University building badly damaged in the September 11th attacks is finally slated to be demolished. But residents of the community are concerned that the demolition might release toxins into the air. NY1's Lindley Pless filed the following report.

“A lot of stuff is being done with the first responders. We feel the residents are the forgotten people being left in the background,” said area resident Craig Hall. “And residents are now getting sick and we are highly concerned about that.”

At Tuesday night's public information session at the Borough of Manhattan's Community College, local residents were given a chance to speak out about their concerns that bringing down Fiterman Hall will release toxins into the air they breathe every day.

9/11 Workers: Bush Health Upgrade Plan Inadequate

Created: Wednesday, 31 Jan 2007, 12:11 PM EST
By VERENA DOBNIK
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK -- Sick 9/11 workers and residents gathered near ground zero before President Bush's speech on Wednesday to criticize as inadequate his proposal to spend an additional $25 million to fund a health care program.

About a dozen people rallied near the World Trade Center site about an hour before Bush delivered the economic speech at nearby Federal Hall.

Ceasar Borja Jr., who lost his father, a ground zero worker, last week was originally scheduled to attend the rally. But instead, he was preparing for a meeting with the president.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush planned to meet privately after his speech with Borja; his mother, Eva; brother, Evan; and sister, Nhia.

"First responders who need treatment will get the treatment they need," Snow said earlier Wednesday. "Many are already covered by insurance programs, many through their union; but if there are gaps in that, we're going to do it."

Bush's budget proposes adding 9/11 health funds
Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON: The Bush administration plans to keep funding health programs for sick ground zero workers, enough to keep the effort alive at least through 2007, New York lawmakers said Tuesday.

New York Rep. Vito Fossella, a Republican, said the administration next week will propose spending at least $25 million more to fund a Sept. 11-related health care program at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan and a related effort for New York firefighters.

"It's a breakthrough," said Fossella. "For the first time in the federal budget there will be a down payment to provide for funding for continued treatment and monitoring for 9/11 responders who need our help."

Word of the new money comes a day before Bush is due to speak in New York City about the economy, and sick Sept. 11 workers plan a rally timed to the visit. It is also a week before Bush offers his budget proposal to the U.S. Congress.

A Push to Include 9/11 Health in Upcoming Presidential Budget Proposal
Reps. Maloney and Fossella are joined by 25 colleagues in bipartisan call for funding, federal plan

WASHINGTON, DC – As the White House prepares an FY2008 budget proposal to be released early next year, 27 bipartisan Members of Congress are asking President Bush to include robust funding for comprehensive medical monitoring and treatment of those made sick by the toxic air around Ground Zero (letter to Bush). The group, led by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Vito Fossella (R-NY), also urged the president to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan for the federal response to the 9/11 Health Crisis.

“Just because the fifth anniversary of 9/11 has passed and the attention is elsewhere doesn’t mean that the 9/11 Health Crisis is going away,” said Maloney. “The men and women who breathed in the toxic air around Ground Zero will be feeling the serious effects for many years, and the federal response needs to reflect that. The federal government needs to view this as a long-term issue, as the doctors have testified, and it needs a plan that includes regular and serious funding in the federal budget to provide help to these heroes.”

The article only hints at how the "information collected could be misinterpreted," suggesting "pending lawsuits" are the reason the government doesn't want to "create standard autopsy guidelines." I wonder if there are other reasons?

9/11 Autopsy Guidelines Plan Abandoned

November 19, 2006

New York - An effort to create standard autopsy guidelines that could document a link between toxic air at ground zero and deaths of 9/11 rescue workers has been abandoned by the federal government amid concerns the information collected could be misinterpreted.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, in a note posted Friday on its Web site, said the agency "instead will pursue other avenues for documenting long-term health effects from exposure to air contaminants from the World Trade Center disaster."

Outside medical experts who reviewed the plan suggested focusing on monitoring epidemiological patterns of disease in those exposed.

In a Sept. 15 draft, the institute proposed examining specific sections of the lungs and creating a "tissue bank" to preserve certain organs and bodily fluids for later testing.

I've not seen this story elsewhere, and I'm not sure about how reliable the source usually is (Wayne Madsen Report) -- but the content is worth to be researched more and possibly verified (or not). See:

http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Sept. 12, 2006 -- According to sources who worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at Ground Zero on and after 911, residents of southern Manhattan and rescue and clean-up workers involved in the recovery operations at the site of the former World Trade Center are experiencing an unusually high rate of non-Hodgkin lymphoma -- a cancer that is common among individuals who have been exposed to extremely high levels of ionizing radiation, such as that from nuclear blasts and major nuclear reactor leaks. In addition to the respiratory problems among rescue workers at Ground Zero who breathed toxic "pulverized" concrete and other debris into their lungs, the radiation cancer is of extreme interest to researchers who suspect that the World Trade Center towers and Building 7 were brought down with the help of high energy releases. WMR spoke to a number of individuals who were at Ground Zero on 911 who are now experiencing symptoms resulting from severe damage to their immune systems -- a condition that is common among those exposed to high levels of radiation.

Sources close to FEMA in New York confirmed to WMR that the lymphoma cases are believed to be the result of a release of extremely high levels of radiation from a series of nuclear events on the morning of 911. They believe that explains the reason for the "pulverization" of concrete, molten metals, pyroclastic surges and fallout, and other anomalies resulting from the catastrophe. It was also pointed out that some vehicles parked on the west side of the World Trade Center were "fused" on the sides facing the towers -- the doors being melted into the body frames. Other cars parked nearby were not similarly affected. There is also evidence of explosions and fires on top of the Woolworth Building, three blocks away from the World Trade Center, during the attack on the towers.

FEMA officials from Washington, DC were quick to ban any unofficial photography in southern Manhattan in the weeks following 911. Any photographers who had not received prior permission from FEMA to be in southern Manhattan found their photographic and filming equipment confiscated by the government.