New Survey Shows 9/11-Affected Residents and Workers Are Sicker Than Ever and Not Being Counted

FOLLOWING THE RECENT DEATHS OF 3 WTC RESPONDERS IN ONE WEEK,
GROUPS URGE CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA TO PASS COMPREHENSIVE 9/11 HEALTH LEGISLATION FOR ALL AFFECTED

WHAT: Press Conference

WHEN: Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 12 NOON

WHERE: Zuccotti Park, at the corner of Liberty Street and Trinity Place in downtown Manhattan

WHY: The Beyond Ground Zero Network (BGZ) and 9/11 Environmental Action (9/11 EA) will release findings based on a 2009 “We Count” survey of World Trade Center clean-up workers, downtown workers and residents who were exposed to the toxic air, fumes and dust that lingered for many months after 9/11. The recent deaths of 3 more WTC responders in one week add new urgency to the call for federal 9/11 health legislation.

The mounting death toll among responders and the growing sense in the affected communities that new health impacts are emerging raise key concerns about the adequacy of the current House and Senate 9/11 health care and compensation bills (HR847/S1334). Specifically, when Congress decides who should have an entitlement to 9/11 health care, will all those who are sick be counted? And when Congress decides what illnesses will be covered, will all health impacts resulting from 9/11 exposures be included? Right now, the answer to both these questions is no.

Because the federal government is basing its solution to the 9/11 health crisis on an underestimation of current and future impacts, we embarked on the We Count survey, a community effort to investigate workers’ and residents’ post-9/11 symptoms and illnesses and where they seek care. Today, as BGZ and 9/11EA issue our report, sick cleanup workers, downtown workers and residents will gather to demand a just and comprehensive long-term response to this unprecedented public health disaster, providing treatment for all those whose health has been harmed by 9/11.

WHO: Lower East Side, Chinatown, and West Side residents and workers, parents of 9/11-affected children, and 9/11 clean-up workers.