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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (5776)	3/14/2006 5:49:54 PM
From: paret	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

9/11 Responders Face Uncertain Future Millennium Radio ^ \| By: Martin Di Caro For most of the past four years, they have been silent. But now some gravely ill New Jerseyans who toiled at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 are sharing their stories with Millennium Radio. They are the men and women who could benefit from legislation inspired by reports on Millennium Radio and being crafted by State Senator Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge). Vitale is working on a bill that would provide a presumption to 9/11 responders that their illnesses were caused by their exposure to the toxic air they breathed both at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill. Then they would be eligible for ongoing, line-of-duty, work-related benefits. Gary Acker of Columbus, a former AT&T worker who spent many a 12-hour shift near the pile, now has multiple myeloma. He survived the stem cell transplant that he says usually kills 75% of multiple myeloma patients, but says he may only have a few years left to live. Of those who get past the stem cell phase, 75% die within the first 5 years. "I used to win gold medals in the Empire State Games in the [upper age] categories in the hammer, javelin and shot put," says Acker. "And I didn't smoke." "I know why I got sick," he says. "We had no masks, no respirators, the company provided nothing. I spend an awful lot of time in front of the television right now or sleeping. I have no energy. My energy level is down... but I am alive." Acker is among more than 5,000 Ground Zero workers who have signed up for a class action lawsuit pending in Manhattan Federal Court that accuses government officials and construction contractors of exposing workers to dangerous levels of toxins at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills landfill. Acker's attorney is David Worby. "Gary's problems, for the medical community in New Jersey to learn, is a blood cell cancer. They are related to the leukemias. They all arise from cells that are working their way into the bone marrow, in lay person's terms to become normal white blood cells, they are 'malignacizing'. That's what leukemia is, that's what the multiple myelomas are, the non-Hodgkins lymphomas diseases. We now have dozens of people with these types of problems. And the single most important culprit was the benzene from the 91,000 liters of jet fuel lying on the ground burning for four months. And then the jet fuel benzene accelerates in its latency periods for blood cells cancers, myelomas, non-Hodgkins lymphomas, and leukemias when its in the prescence of dioxin and [other toxins]," says Worby. Studies show that the air around Ground Zero contained a poisonous mix of pulverized concrete, powdered glass, asbestos, lead, mercury and cancer-causing compounds from burning jet and diesel fuel. Mount Sinai Medical Center doctors, who are monitoring the health of 15,000 responders, have identified patterns of symptoms that go far beyond the well-documented ailment known as World Trade Center cough. About 40% to 50% have persistent lower respiratory disease, and half have nasal and sinus problems. Many suffer from acid reflux. An estimated 40,000 people responded to the collapse and worked on the recovery for months afterward. Twenty-three of them have died, according to attorneys and relatives of WTC recovery personnel. Some 9/11 related advocacy groups place the death toll even higher. New York City officials and doctors who have treated Ground Zero workers warn that a medical connection has yet to be establshed. Affected workers face the likelihood of expensive medical treatments for years to come, but the federal government has put little aside to pay their health care tab. Vincent Guastamacchi of Bedford, New Jersey, a heavy construction worker who volunteered on the pile the night after the attacks, tells me what he wants as he looks ahead to an uncertain future. He has bladder and prostate cancers and sever breathing problems. "Just take care of us like they took care of every body else," he says as tears well up in his eyes. "We did the dirty work. We gave them back that site seven-months ahead of schedule. Just the money they saved on that alone would more than take care of us."