What we know about NYC’s newly released 9/11 records revealing officials misled public about air safety

New York City released over 170,000 pages of documents revealing officials repeatedly misled residents about the toxic air quality levels after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, just days before the city marks its 25th anniversary.

The disclosure reveals the scale of lives lost and harms for those whose health was affected in the years since the tragedy. It’s also expected to give the public a better understanding of how the city responded following the collapse of the towers as they raced to restabilize and reopen Lower Manhattan.

Those living near Ground Zero were repeatedly reassured by officials that the air was safe, despite internal data and residents’ experiences that contradicted their claims, according to the documents.

The documents might only contain a fraction of the air quality reports taken at Ground Zero, but they also include crucial internal memos.

In some of them, officials raised alarms regarding environmental testing between October and November 2001, which regularly detected elevated levels of toxins, including asbestos and hard-to-detect, dangerous chemicals.

Beth A. Keiser/AFP/Getty Images

NYC Mayor Mamdani releases 9/11 records showing officials misled New Yorkers about air quality around Ground Zero

It details failures to protect the health of first responders, concealing asbestos data and other testing, along with officials’ contradicting statements to the public regarding health risks.

“As the years pass and the human toll grows, we reckon with the cost of September 11th whenever another New Yorker is stolen from us too soon,” said Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday at a news conference announcing the documents’ release.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11, but thousands more – including first responders who spent months working at the site – have since died from 9/11-related cancers and other illnesses, according to the 9/11 Memorial.

A searchable portal will provide access to the documents, and the city is expected to add more material on a rolling basis in the coming months, officials said Tuesday. Every document published in the portal will be available for view and download at no cost.

The documents were among 68 boxes stored in a city government office that were discovered last year and are being released ahead of Friday’s 25th anniversary of the attacks, according to city officials.

For years, 9/11 advocates, survivors and first responders including many who were sickened from exposure to toxins in the air following the attacks, have called for more transparency and demanded the release of the documents.

Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Families of 9/11 victims are still looking for answers in court

Their release this week resolves a lawsuit brought by the advocacy group 9/11 Health Watch, which had sued the city for their release to bring more federal assistance and help kick-start additional research on health outcomes, according to executive director Ben Chevat.

“Mr. Mayor, I want to thank you for being the mayor who, after 25 years, begins to answer the question: What did the city know about the dangers from the toxic cloud at Ground Zero, and when did it know it?” Chevat said at Tuesday’s news conference, addressing Mamdani.

When asked whether the yearslong delay in releasing the documents was a “cover-up,” Mamdani said, “This was multiple mayoral administrations refusing to release documents that New Yorkers were owed.”

The documents cite evidence that then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and other city officials repeatedly reassured residents and first responders that the air was safe, despite contradictions from their own internal data.

News reports from February 2002 show former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who succeeded Giuliani, said “every test that has been done says the air quality was in acceptable limits. I think some people are just never going to believe that.”

A spokesperson for Bloomberg declined to comment Tuesday.

The documents similarly cite public statements from Giuliani saying the air was safe and encouraging people to return to normal life.

In one example, an internal memo written by Associate Health Commissioner Kelly McKinney on October 6, 2001, warning that “air quality [for asbestos] at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy,” came the same day that Giuliani publicly declared the air to be safe, the documents say.

Both independent scientists and environmental groups later discounted Giuliani’s claims.

The documents also say government officials misled the public by withholding information about dangerous levels of asbestos in the air, covering up major lead contamination at the Department of Transportation headquarters building and discouraging the use of respirators among first responders.

There was a detrimental impact on residents who “returned to their ash-filled apartments because they were ‘lulled by reassuring statements’” from Giuliani and EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, according to the records.

Many of those residents and workers, the documents say, developed “severe, persistent health problems,” including chronic nosebleeds, skin rashes, headaches, newly onset asthma and cough due to inhaling “the highly alkaline, caustic dust.”

Some government leaders shared concerns about the air quality after the tragedy, including US Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York.

Outlined in a white paper, Nadler’s memo sent to Bloomberg’s office in February 2002 detailed his concerns and belief that the Environmental Protection Agency had “neglected its responsibility for monitoring indoor air quality around Ground Zero.”

Nadler told the mayor’s office that shortly after the attacks, Whitman misled the public by declaring that the air was “safe to breathe,” but that the statement was made before any government test of indoor air quality had been conducted, the documents show.

He also wrote to the mayor’s office about findings by University of California, Davis, scientists which showed the air contained “startling concentrations” of lung-penetrating, ultra-fine particulate matter that could “lodge deep in the lungs.”

Whitman said in a statement Tuesday that her comments about the Ground Zero site’s air quality “were based entirely on the analysis done by EPA scientists.”

“Within days, the EPA had put up a website with all the data available, which they frequently updated so that it was all public — the goal was as much transparency as possible. Everyone at the EPA did the best they could with the information, tools, and knowledge available at the time,” she said in the statement.

Whitman said EPA officials repeatedly distinguished between conditions at the site and the air elsewhere in the city and warned of the risks to workers at Ground Zero. She added that the EPA did not control the worksite — which she said New York City oversaw — and had no authority to regulate indoor air quality.

Some of the most pointed memos at the time came from EPA Chemist Cate Jenkins, who later became a whistleblower claiming the agency lied about air safety and downplayed the dangers of the dust. She was fired by the EPA after publicly speaking out, but later rehired by the agency.

In one of her memos to officials of the city’s waste identification branch, dated December 3, 2001, Jenkins pointed out unsafe cleanup guidelines by the city, testing methods that were called “irrelevant,” and public claims from public officials about air quality that contradicted scientific evidence.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Ground Zero Memorial and Rebuilding Fast Facts

The physical and mental health toll of the tragedy continues to “deeply impact tens of thousands of individuals” across the country, which has manifested for many as illnesses from exposure to the toxic dust that covered the city, according to the 9/11 Memorial .

At least 140,000 people from all 50 states have enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Program, and 49,000 have been diagnosed with certified WTC-related cancers, according to the 9/11 Memorial.

More people are eligible for assistance than are currently enrolled, including residents who lived near the site, but have not received outreach, and those who live outside of New York, Mamdani said Tuesday.

Faith Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

First responder deaths from post-9/11 illnesses nearly equals number of firefighters who died that day

Cancer wasn’t covered when Congress created the health program in 2011. Coverage was added in 2012 — only after advocates fought for its inclusion, and a study showed elevated cancer rates among New York firefighters who offered relief at Ground Zero.

Residents of Chinatown, located in the Ground Zero perimeter, faced the most challenges coping with the tragedy, the documents said. They reported that their apartments were filled with dust that later led to illnesses and respiratory problems.

The documents also cited EPA failures to hire outreach workers who spoke Asian languages, leaving many people in Chinatown with respiratory issues from the dust without any knowledge of the agency or its indoor cleanup program.

Chinese American children who were receiving care in Chinatown showed a “substantial increase in the severity of asthma symptoms,” according to one study cited in the documents.

The community received disproportionate federal grants to rebuild, as many were excluded from city and state grant programs due to Chinatown being located outside of the scope to receive that funding, the report said.

“People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” Mamdani said.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

At the news conference, Corporation Council Steve Banks – who represents the city – was asked whether city leaders are concerned the released documents could open the door to more legal action against them.

“If you’re in City Hall and afraid of taking action because somebody is going to bring a lawsuit, you’re probably not going to take the action that needs to be taken,” Banks responded.

In the coming months, the city will provide updates to the court as part of their commitments detailed in the settlement, said Banks.

One of the crucial documents included in Tuesday’s release was what became known as the “Harding Memo,” which was sent to then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding.

The memo cited a Law Department estimate of about 35,000 potential plaintiffs — roughly 10,000 of whom were expected to file claims — as a result of the September 11 attacks and outlined legislative options to limit the city’s legal liability.

“A major concern is that if these cases make it to court, the judges and juries will be biased in favor of plaintiffs (even though the City seems to have a strong defense) and therefore, award substantial damages to compensate individuals for their loss,” the memo states.

Meanwhile, the two lawsuits filed by 9/11 Health Watch were settled with the release of the new portal, Mamdani said, ending “what has been a multi-year legal battle and restrictions on New Yorkers’ ability to access information that can shed valuable insight on air quality and health concerns.”

The first release of documents into the portal is “only the beginning,” said Banks. There will be more documents released over the course of the next year, he added.

Doug Kanter/AFP/Getty Images

As more documents roll out, the city will continue to provide public updates, he said.

Releasing the documents was “doing the right thing,” Mamdani said.

“I also think beyond making it easier for New Yorkers to make clear their eligibility for this fund, it is also important that those who faced such sustained pushback for years finally be told by the City of New York: ‘You were right. You were right to push. You were right to demand,’ and that the city is finally catching up,” he said.

CNN’s Katherine Koretski contributed to this report.

纽约市公布了超过 17 万页的文件，揭露了在 2001 年 9 月 11 日世界贸易中心遭受袭击后，官员们多次就有毒空气质量水平误导居民，而就在几天后，纽约市就迎来了 25 周年纪念日。

此次披露揭示了这场悲剧造成的生命损失规模，以及多年来健康受到影响者的痛苦。预计这也将使公众更好地了解纽约市在世贸双塔倒塌后如何迅速应对，努力重建并重新开放曼哈顿下城。

文件显示，尽管内部数据和居民的亲身经历与官方的说法相矛盾，但居住在世贸中心遗址附近的居民却屡次被官方保证空气安全。

这些文件可能只包含世贸中心遗址采集的空气质量报告的一小部分，但其中也包括重要的内部备忘录。

其中一些地区，官员们对 2001 年 10 月至 11 月期间的环境检测结果发出警报，这些检测经常检测到毒素含量升高，包括石棉和难以检测的危险化学品。

Beth A. Keiser/法新社/盖蒂图片社

纽约市长马姆达尼公布了9/11事件相关记录，显示官员们就世贸中心遗址附近的空气质量问题误导了纽约市民。

它详细揭露了在保护急救人员健康方面存在的种种不足，包括隐瞒石棉数据和其他检测结果，以及官员们就健康风险向公众发表的自相矛盾的声明。

“随着岁月的流逝和人员伤亡的增加，每当又有一位纽约人过早地离我们而去，我们都会意识到9·11事件的代价，”市长佐兰·马姆达尼周二在宣布公布这些文件的新闻发布会上说道。

据 9/11 纪念馆称，9/11 事件造成近 3000 人死亡，但此后又有数千人（包括在现场工作数月的救援人员）死于与 9/11 事件相关的癌症和其他疾病。

官员周二表示，市民可通过可搜索的门户网站访问这些文件，预计未来几个月内，市政府将持续添加更多资料。门户网站上发布的每份文件均可免费查看和下载。

据市政府官员称，这些文件是去年在市政府办公室发现的 68 个箱子中的一部分，将在周五袭击事件 25 周年纪念日之前公布。

多年来，包括许多在袭击后因接触空气中的毒素而生病的9/11事件倡导者、幸存者和急救人员在内的许多人一直呼吁提高透明度，并要求公布相关文件。

Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

9/11事件遇难者家属仍在法庭上寻求答案。

据执行主任本·切瓦特称，他们本周的获释解决了倡导组织“9/11 健康观察”提起的诉讼，该组织起诉市政府要求释放他们，以获得更多联邦援助并帮助启动更多关于健康结果的研究。

“市长先生，我要感谢您，因为在25年后，您终于开始回答这个问题：这座城市对世贸中心遗址有毒云的危险了解多少，又是何时知道的？”切瓦特在周二的新闻发布会上对马姆达尼说道。

当被问及多年来迟迟不公布这些文件是否是一种“掩盖”行为时，马姆达尼表示：“这是多届市长政府拒绝公布纽约市民应得的文件。”

文件援引证据表明，时任市长鲁迪·朱利安尼和其他市政府官员反复向居民和应急人员保证空气是安全的，尽管这与他们自己的内部数据相矛盾。

2002年2月的新闻报道显示，接替朱利安尼的前市长迈克尔·布隆伯格表示，“所有测试都表明空气质量在可接受的范围内。我认为有些人永远不会相信这一点。”

彭博社发言人周二拒绝置评。

文件同样引用了朱利安尼的公开声明，称空气安全，并鼓励人们恢复正常生活。

文件显示，举例来说，2001 年 10 月 6 日，副卫生专员凯利·麦金尼 (Kelly McKinney) 写了一份内部备忘录，警告说“这些地方的空气质量（石棉含量）还不适合重新入住”，而就在同一天，朱利安尼公开宣布空气安全。

独立科学家和环保组织后来都驳斥了朱利安尼的说法。

文件还指出，政府官员隐瞒空气中石棉含量过高的信息，掩盖交通部总部大楼严重的铅污染事件，并阻止急救人员使用呼吸器，从而误导了公众。

记录显示，居民们“被朱利安尼和环保署署长克里斯蒂·惠特曼的‘令人安心的言论’所迷惑，回到了满是灰烬的公寓”，这对他们造成了不利影响。

文件显示，许多居民和工人由于吸入“高碱性腐蚀性粉尘”，出现了“严重的、持续的健康问题”，包括慢性鼻出血、皮疹、头痛、新发哮喘和咳嗽。

悲剧发生后，一些政府领导人对空气质量表示担忧，其中包括纽约州的美国众议员杰里·纳德勒。

纳德勒在 2002 年 2 月发给彭博办公室的一份白皮书备忘录中详细阐述了他对环境保护署“疏忽了其监测世贸中心遗址周围室内空气质量的责任”的担忧和看法。

文件显示，纳德勒告诉市长办公室，袭击发生后不久，惠特曼就误导公众，宣称空气“可以安全呼吸”，但这一声明是在政府进行任何室内空气质量测试之前发表的。

他还致信市长办公室，提及加州大学戴维斯分校科学家的研究结果，该研究表明空气中含有“惊人浓度”的可穿透肺部的超细颗粒物，这些颗粒物可能会“滞留在肺部深处”。

惠特曼周二在一份声明中表示，她对世贸中心遗址空气质量的评论“完全基于美国环保署科学家所做的分析”。

她在声明中说：“几天之内，环保署就建立了一个网站，上面列出了所有可用的数据，并且他们经常更新网站，确保所有信息都公开透明——目标是尽可能地提高透明度。环保署的每个人都尽其所能，利用当时可用的信息、工具和知识做到了最好。”

惠特曼表示，环保署官员曾多次强调世贸中心遗址的空气质量与纽约市其他地区的空气质量存在差异，并警告世贸中心遗址的工人面临风险。她补充说，环保署并不负责管理该施工现场（纽约市政府负责监管），也没有权力监管室内空气质量。

当时一些最尖锐的备忘录出自美国环保署化学家凯特·詹金斯之手。她后来成为一名举报人，声称该机构在空气安全问题上撒谎，并淡化了粉尘的危害。她因公开批评而被环保署解雇，但后来又被该机构重新聘用。

在 2001 年 12 月 3 日写给市废物鉴定部门官员的一份备忘录中，詹金斯指出，市政府的清理指南不安全，测试方法被认为是“无关紧要的”，而且公职人员关于空气质量的公开声明与科学证据相矛盾。

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

世贸中心遗址纪念馆和重建简报

据 9/11 纪念馆称，这场悲剧对身心健康造成的损害仍在“深刻影响着全国成千上万的人”，许多人因接触覆盖城市的有毒粉尘而患病。

据 9/11 纪念馆称，来自美国 50 个州的至少 14 万人参加了世界贸易中心健康计划，其中 4.9 万人被诊断出患有经认证的与世贸中心相关的癌症。

马姆达尼周二表示，符合援助条件的人数比目前登记的人数要多，其中包括住在该地点附近但尚未收到援助通知的居民，以及住在纽约以外地区的居民。

Faith Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

因9/11事件后疾病死亡的急救人员人数几乎与当天殉职的消防员人数相当。

2011 年国会创建该医疗保健计划时，癌症不在承保范围内。2012 年，在倡导者们争取将其纳入承保范围，以及一项研究表明在世贸中心遗址提供救援的纽约消防员中癌症发病率较高之后，癌症才被纳入承保范围。

文件显示，位于世贸中心遗址附近的唐人街居民在应对这场悲剧时面临着最大的挑战。他们反映，公寓里到处都是灰尘，后来导致他们患病并出现呼吸系统问题。

文件还指出，美国环保署未能雇用会说亚洲语言的外联人员，导致唐人街许多居民因灰尘而出现呼吸系统疾病，却对该机构或其室内清洁计划一无所知。

文件引用的一项研究表明，在唐人街接受治疗的华裔美国儿童的哮喘症状“明显加重”。

报告称，由于唐人街位于市、州政府拨款计划的覆盖范围之外，许多唐人街社区被排除在这些计划之外，因此该社区获得了不成比例的联邦重建拨款。

“人们生病是因为他们信任的领导人撒谎，告诉他们呼吸有毒的空气是安全的，”马姆达尼说。

Mario Tama/Getty Images

在新闻发布会上，代表该市的市政委员史蒂夫·班克斯被问及，市领导是否担心公布的文件可能会为他们打开更多法律诉讼的大门。

“如果你身处市政厅，却因为害怕有人提起诉讼而不敢采取行动，那你可能就不会采取必要的行动，”班克斯回应道。

班克斯表示，在接下来的几个月里，市政府将根据和解协议中详述的承诺，向法院提供最新进展情况。

周二公布的文件中包含的关键文件之一是后来被称为“哈丁备忘录”的文件，该文件被发送给了当时的副市长罗伯特·哈丁。

该备忘录援引法律部门的估计，由于 9·11 袭击事件，可能有约 35,000 名潜在原告——其中约 10,000 人预计会提出索赔——并概述了限制该市法律责任的立法选项。

备忘录指出：“一个主要担忧是，如果这些案件诉诸法庭，法官和陪审团将偏袒原告（即使市政府似乎有强有力的辩护），因此会判处巨额赔偿金以补偿个人的损失。”

与此同时，马姆达尼表示，9/11 健康观察组织提起的两起诉讼已随着新门户网站的发布而达成和解，结束了“长达数年的法律斗争以及对纽约市民获取可提供有关空气质量和健康问题的宝贵信息的限制”。

班克斯表示，首批文件上传至门户网站“仅仅是个开始”。他还补充说，未来一年还将发布更多文件。

道格·坎特/法新社/盖蒂图片社

他表示，随着更多文件的公布，市政府将继续向公众提供最新信息。

马姆达尼表示，公布这些文件是“正确之举”。

“我认为，除了让纽约市民更容易了解自己是否符合这项基金的申请资格之外，同样重要的是，那些多年来一直面临持续阻力的人们最终能够听到纽约市政府的回应：‘你们是对的。你们坚持是正确的。你们提出要求是正确的。’，而且这座城市终于迎头赶上了，”他说。

CNN的凯瑟琳·科雷茨基对本报道亦有贡献。