New Yorkers were 'lied' to about toxic air after 9/11 attacks, says Mamdani

Fonte da imagem: Corey Sipkin/Arquivo NY Daily News via Getty Images. Por Madeline Halpert. Atualizado há 2 horas. A qualidade do ar tóxico estava sendo registrada em Manhattan logo após os ataques de 9/11, mesmo enquanto os oficiais minimizavam os riscos à saúde para o público, segundo um acervo de arquivos recém‑liberados.

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O prefeito de Nova York, Zohran Mamdani, disse que os 170. 000 documentos mostram que o amianto foi encontrado “quase em todo lugar” que testaram perto do Ground Zero, o local onde as torres do World Trade Center desabaram em 2001.

People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air," Mamdani said at a news conference with survivors.

Illnesses related to the dust and smoke from the collapse of the Twin Towers have claimed more lives than the attacks themselves, US health officials say.

O lançamento dos documentos resolve uma ação movida pelo grupo de defesa 9/11 Health Watch, que processou a cidade pelos documentos.

City officials found 68 boxes of the documents last year. Officials had previously said they did not have them.

Administração após administração ignorou aqueles que pedem respostas e clareza," disse Mamadani, enquanto estava ao lado do apresentador de televisão e defensor de sobreviventes do 11 de setembro, Jon Stewart.

Thousands of people have experienced health effects like cancer from the terrorist attacks, including many who have died, after breathing in hazardous contaminants from the building collapses.

The pages of air quality reports and other documents were released through an online portal, timed with the 25th anniversary of the attacks.

More documents are to be shared over the course of the next year.

O comunicado chega após anos de sobreviventes exigindo mais transparência por parte dos funcionários da cidade.

Speaking at the news conference on Tuesday, Stewart said the documents show the city didn't recognise that the air that everyone was breathing in downtown Manhattan was toxic until October of 2001.

Então, para ser justo com eles, eles só enterraram essa informação por 25 anos," ele disse sarcasticamente.

The documents include an October 2001 file known as the "Harding Memo", in which an aide warned former Deputy Mayor Robert Harding - serving under Mayor Rudy Giuliani - that the city could face as many as 35,000 legal claims for its response to the attacks.

The document states that the city could be sued because health advisories caused individuals "to return to the area too soon (causing toxic exposure or emotional harm).

Fonte da imagem, Anthony Correia / Getty Images. Dias após o ataque, autoridades municipais e federais — incluindo a Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos EUA (EPA) — declararam que o ar próximo às Torres Gêmeas era seguro, embora pesquisas indiquem que as pessoas estavam respirando produtos químicos tóxicos.

Christine Todd Whitman, the head of the EPA at the time, later apologised for this declaration, saying the agency "did the very best we could at the time with the knowledge we had.

Elizabeth Cascio, a former New York Fire Department (FDNY) emergency medical technician, previously told the BBC that she suffered sinus issues and headaches after responding to the attacks.

We all knew the air quality was not safe – it was very toxic in terms of how it felt," she said. "Initially, when I came off the bus and arrived at the Trade Center, you felt like you had to hold your breath.

Mas só há um tempo limitado para segurar a respiração. Eu podia sentir as partículas entrando em meu nariz e boca e pensei: 'Isso não pode ser bom.