New York, NY – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a new testing and clean up program in New York to make sure that apartments, businesses and schools are not contaminated with dangerous toxic materials from the World Trade Center. Recent reports of illnesses affecting Stuyvesant High School students have added to concerns about the debris and toxins that were spread across parts of the city following the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

Senator Clinton, who has been pushing the EPA to test and clean apartments, workplaces and other buildings following the attacks, and has fought to secure vital funding for workers, residents and first responders who are now sick and dying, has written to the EPA, asking them again to commit to a comprehensive testing and clean up program that can identify and eliminate any remaining contamination and can assure New Yorkers that their schools, offices and homes are safe.

In a letter to EPA Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg, Senator Clinton noted that “Recent graduates of Stuyvesant High School, which is located near the World Trade Center, have come forward to talk about their health and the conditions in their school after September 11. One student noted that the building smelled of smoke for months; another complained of increased asthma attacks; and one student has tragically contracted Hodgkins disease.”

“This is an issue that should have been addressed long ago. The collapse of the World Trade Center propelled debris and toxins across lower Manhattan and as far away as Brooklyn. In many nearby buildings, windows were blown out, and layers of dust accumulated in interior spaces. In other buildings, dust entered through open windows or through ventilation systems,” the Senator's letter continued.

“The recent reports about Stuyvesant High School underscore the fact that the threat of indoor contamination is still a pressing problem. The EPA should reverse course and commit to a comprehensive testing and cleanup program that can identify and eliminate any remaining contamination, and can assure New Yorkers that their schools, offices and homes are safe,” the Senator's letter concluded.

Shortly after September 11, Senator Clinton and her colleague Congressman Jerrold Nadler pushed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to begin an indoor cleanup program in New York. In August of 2003, the EPA Inspector General (IG) issued a report identifying major flaws in the EPA indoor cleanup program, including its failure to include areas north of Canal Street or in Brooklyn. Senator Clinton and Congressman Nadler pressed the Administration to respond to the IG’s report, resulting in the formation of the EPA World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel (WTC Panel). The WTC panel considered input from its own experts, as well as community and labor representatives, and advised EPA about how a new cleanup program should be designed. On November 29th last year, the EPA - ignoring input from its own panel members, residents, workers and the community - announced their plan to retest and clean indoor air spaces following the collapse of the World Trade Center. Fundamentally, the plan failed to correct the major problems identified by EPA's Inspector General in 2003.

In December last year, Senator Clinton and Congressman Nadler responded by calling for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to undertake an investigation into the EPA's failure to establish an effective, science-based testing and clean-up plan for testing and cleaning indoor air contamination following the September 11th attacks. In addition to the GAO report, Clinton and Nadler also called on the EPA to put forward a revised plan that would include residential, commercial, and work places in expanded geographic areas that were not included in the EPA's final plan.

“The illnesses of former Stuyvesant High School students raise new questions about the toxic legacy of September 11. The federal government must take care of those residents, workers, students and first responders who are ill. It is long past time for EPA to implement a comprehensive testing and clean up program to assure New Yorkers that their schools, offices and homes are safe,” Senator Clinton said, following the release of the letter.

Senator Clinton has fought hard over the past five years to secure funding and support for those brave men and women who selflessly responded in the days, weeks and months after 9/11 and for the residents and office workers who were affected. She lead efforts to secure $12 million in December of 2001 to establish the World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mt. Sinai, the first program designed to track and monitor the health of 9/11 responders. When it was clear this money was not nearly enough to meet the need, she worked with her colleagues to get an additional $90 million to expand the number of workers and volunteers eligible. When the Administration then took back an additional $125 million in aid, she fought successfully to restore it and redirect funds for treatment - marking the first time any federal aid has been allocated for treatment services for our heroes.

Senator Clinton has authored the 9/11 Heroes Health Improvement Act of 2006, which would authorize $1.9 billion in medical and mental health monitoring and treatment grants to firefighters, first responders, police officers, workers, volunteers, residents, and others whose health was directly impacted at Ground Zero and Fresh Kills that will be available from 2007-2011. She also is the lead sponsor in the Senate of bills introduced by both Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Congressman Jerrold Nadler to address these issues.

Senator Clinton also joined with Senator George V. Voinovich (R-OH) to sponsor a successful amendment to the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act which will facilitate health monitoring of individuals exposed to harmful substances as a result of future terrorist attacks or natural disasters.

As part of her efforts, Senator Clinton also recently joined with Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) to introduce The James Zadroga Act of 2006 to amend the eligibility rules of the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund, extending the filing deadline beyond the original December 2003 limit so that victims and first responders who became ill – in addition to their respective family members – can still be compensated. The bill will also allow for adjustment of previous awards and allow eligibility to responders and families of responders who arrived to Ground Zero after the first 96 hours.

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