Environmental Protection Agency

Clean-up workers at Ground Zero of the World Trade Center have allegedly been affected by high levels of lethal toxins following events of 9/11, causing afflictions known as "WTC toxic diseases". At the time, the Environmental Protection Agency assured New Yorkers the air was safe to breathe, causing many workers to use little or no protective gear.

Several emergency workers who breathed the hot black gravelly air have died. Timothy Keller, an emergency medical technician, died in June of heart disease complicated by bronchitis and emphysema. Another emergency worker, Felix Hernandez, died in October of respiratory ailments. In January a police detective, James Zadroga, died of "black lung disease", with high levels of mercury in his blood and powdered glass in his body. Bill Dahl, a former paramedic, used to jog 12 km a day. In January 2002 he had his first full-blown asthma attack and has since developed an extremely rare form of cancer, synovial sarcoma, in his throat.

Many workers are suffering from the after effects of helping clean up the World Trade Center debris, but are being denied workers compensation. Often workers cannot prove they were at Ground Zero or that their ailments are a direct result of exposure to contaminants.