Concrete -- More Dangerous than Nuclear Radiation?

On May 24, 2007, it became official. Felicia Dunn-Jones, a civil rights lawyer is the first person to die from the dust she inhaled during the collapse of the Trade Centers in New York City in 2001.

The dust from the WTC was largely comprised of the cement floors, 220 total. Well, that's not entirely true. It also contained lead, mercury, fuel, PCBs, vinyl, cleaners, bleach, fiberglass and asbestos.
As early as two days after the September 11th attacks, government officials began reassuring the millions of people in and upwind of New York City that the dust was harmless. The highest level of precaution cleanup crews were given were paper masks and hoses.

Some of the first responders and members of cleanup crews requested better respiratory protection. The response was very Bush Administration -- ridicule, assaults on patriotism or manhood, and threats of being fired.

Yet, despite the best efforts to downplay and discredit dangers from the WTC dust, people are just not buying it. Perhaps it's because so many of us saw the cloud and worried about what it contained. Or because so many had to wash it off their bodies and properties in the weeks following 9-11.

It is not because of the massive testing done by the government. The EPA didn't even begin testing sites until June of 2002. The only analyzation has been to see what elements were in the samples collected. No lab recreation, animal or tissue tests have been performed to conclusively link the dust with the health issues that are cropping up in the millions of people affected.

Yet, the public seems to accept the cause without demanding this proof.

Let us switch to another dust.

On April 29, 1999, Terry Riordon died from Gulf War Syndrome. An independent autopsy showed Riordon had high levels of Depleted Uranium (DU) in his body.

Used to harden tips in munitions so that they can pass through virtually every barrier, DU disintegrates upon impact, releasing a fine ceramic dust. These particles give off Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation. Thousands of tons of American-fired DU litter Iraq. The dust poses a serious health threat to the people. It dates back to when the first rounds were used in combat in 1991 up to it use in today's skirmish. And tomorrow's.

Like with the WTC dust, the government was quick to deny any danger posed by DU. The harmful radiation could be blocked with a single sheet of paper, they bragged. And although military protocols were put into place for how to handle DU munitions, it soon became obvious that these protocols were either ignored or untaught.

This is where the stories of the two dusts differ. WTC dust is recognized by the general public as harmful, DU is not. WTC is accepted without testing, DU is not accepted even after a decade of research. Part of this is that the dust from New York was (hopefully) a one time event. The dust from DU is ongoing and hidden from Americans. The government is extraordinarily reluctant to disclose areas that have been exposed to DU munitions, either in the US or abroad.

Another factor is the visibility. There can be no doubt the impact the falling Trade Towers had on America. A round fired from a Abrahms tank doesn't cause the same feeling.

Unlike the WTC dust, DU cannot merely be washed from porches or used to fill potholes. It is not a one time event. It can not be segregated from the environment or cleaned up. It needs to be taken out of service by our military.

~Lila Schow

Because Responsible Citizens Clean Up After Their Government

http://goodusgov.org/