WASHINGTON - August 18 - On the steps of City Hall, the Sierra Club today released a new, hard-hitting report titled, "Air Pollution and Deception at Ground Zero: How the Bush Administration's Reckless Disregard of 9/11 Toxic Hazards Poses Long-Term Threats for New York City and the Nation."

Picking up where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Inspector General's report left off, this report takes the most comprehensive look at well-known, and little-known, health impacts of the attacks of 9/11 and, most importantly, how the Bush administration's mistakes in the aftermath are in danger of being institutionalized as policy for the handling of any future attacks on Americans.

"The Bush administration has learned nothing from the illnesses and hardships suffered by the Ground Zero community. Rather, it plans to perpetuate them in any future national disaster anywhere else in the United States," said Suzanne Mattei, author of the report, and Sierra Club New York City Executive. "The Bush administration must restore trust in federal agencies charged with protecting health and safety, and take action to mitigate the consequences of its own failure to provide proper warning about the health hazards from Ground Zero."

The report finds that, most disturbingly, the Bush administration apparently plans to turn its missteps at Ground Zero into standard policy for any future national emergency with new emergency planning documents and weaker cleanup standards. Among those missteps:

-- The Bush administration knew the health risks and ignored its own long-standing body of knowledge about the harmful products of incineration and demolition. It should have issued a health warning immediately on that basis.

-- EPA failed to find toxic hazards because it did not look for them, or did not look for them properly. And EPA failed at least a dozen times to change its safety assurances as new information arose -- even after it became clear that people were getting sick.

-- Many workers at and near Ground Zero did not have proper health and safety protections. And the Bush administration refused to enforce worker safety requirements at Ground Zero.

-- Both EPA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assured families they could clean up contaminated dust themselves with wet rags and discouraged them from wearing safety masks.

The people affected by Ground Zero pollution include not only those who worked directly on "the pile", but also workers who restored cable and electricity, fixed windows in area buildings, cleaned up debris in the streets and buildings, as well as residents, employees, schoolchildren and business owners.

The Sierra Club report calls on President Bush to:

-- Take action now to prevent more harm by properly cleaning up WTC dust in residences, businesses, firehouses and emergency vehicles and equipment.

-- Fund long-term medical monitoring, treatment and assistance.

-- Issue a retraction of false safety assurances and hold those responsible accountable.

-- Work with Ground Zero-affected communities, labor unions, and environmental health advocacy groups to develop effective national policies and practices that promote truthfulness in the communication of health hazards and effective response actions.

" Abandon plans to eliminate enforcement of federal safety standards for response workers, and institutionalize political control of communications without providing strong policies to prevent issuance of false assurances of safety.

"President Bush is on his way to New York. Now would be the perfect time for him to correct the mistakes made after 9/11 and make sure that if the once unthinkable were to happen again, we do not make those same, far-reaching errors," said Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope.

The full report, as well as executive summary, is available online at www.sierraclub.org/groundzero

STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT

From Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-8):

"The Sierra Club's report is an incisive appraisal of the harmful actions committed by the EPA and other federal agencies that have resulted in serious damage to the lives of first responders, residents and workers of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of the World Trade Center Attack. The report details how both by design and by neglect, the EPA responded in a contemptible and irresponsible manner to the unfolding environmental crisis, and how it continues to do so to this day. "

From Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14):

"The heroes who gave of themselves so willingly in the aftermath of 9/11 have been given so little in return from the federal government. Many are suffering from severe health problems, but this report shows the lack of a coordinated federal response. They deserve more than limited health monitoring and no medical treatment - they deserve more than just token concern. The 'Remember 9/11 Health Act' I introduced will help remedy the shortcomings outlined in this report."

From Philip McArdle, Health and Safety Officer, Uniformed Firefighters Association:

"It's important that people realize the seriousness of the report in terms of the hazards that occurred and the health care that is now necessary, not only for firefighters but for the public at large. Government has to be more responsible in honest reporting to the public and in taking actions to protect Americans both during and after an event such as this."

From Frank Goldsmith, Dr. P.H., Director, Occupational Health, Local 100, Transport Workers Union:

"We hoped that the mistakes that EPA, OSHA and our federal officials made during the first days and months following the WTC disaster would have been corrected by better policy since. Sad to say, this has not been the case. Our union, along with other unions and community residents are still struggling with federal officials to do the right thing,"

From Jo Polett, spokesperson, 9/11 Environmental Action:

In 1967, when Hannah Arendt wrote: "The chances of factual truth surviving the onslaught of power are very slim indeed," she could well have been referring to the Bush administration's coverup of 9/11pollution. Because the government refused to conduct comprehensive testing inside area buildings following the collapse of the World Trade Center, we will never know the extent and nature of the contaminants to which people were exposed as they heeded false safety assurances and returned to their homes and offices. But the fact that significant health effects resulted from many of those exposures is irrefutable.

From Susan O'Brien, M.A. Assoc Director, NY Committee for Occupational Safety and Health:

OSHA made the decision not to enforce federal safety and health regulations and thousands of Ground Zero workers are suffering from respiratory illnesses. Is there a connection? We believe so. And we don't want to see this situation repeated, should another disaster occur."

From Alan Jay Gerson (D-WFP, NY City Council, 1st District, Lower Manhattan)

"As the 3rd Anniversary of the September 11 attack approaches, there are still thousands of residents and workers whose health may be at risk due to the lack of a proper clean up. The EPA technical advisory panel is step in the right direction, but much work remains to be done and more environmental and health studies are desperately needed. I salute the Sierra Club for this outstanding document and hope that it helps us further discussion and debate, as well as awareness around these important issues."

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