The Sierra Club Chronicles is a new half-hour documentary series produced by Brave New Films (Outfoxed; Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices) in association with Sierra Club Productions, airing on the Link satellite television network. The monthly series will feature stories of ordinary people fighting to protect their community from pollution, big government and corporations.
The first episode of the series, "9/11 Forgotten Heroes," tells the story of four men, all first responders following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, struggling to come to terms with the long-term physical and mental health consequences of that disaster. Mike McCormack, John Feal, Jonathan Sferazo and Marvin Bathea all were at ground zero, saving lives in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 that brought down the World Trade Center towers. Concerns about potential environmental hazards were dismissed by the then head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Christine Todd Whitman.
First responders did not have proper respiratory equipment (and didn't receive
adequate respirators until several days after 9/11), and as a result, many became sick. Hugh B. Kaufman, an EPA senior policy analyst, flatly contradicts the Bush administration's assertion of ground zero being free of environmental hazards, and suggests that orders came down from the White House to downplay those hazards.
Dr. Stephen Levin of the Mount Sinai Medical Center reveals how some patients still had persistent respiratory illnesses two years after being exposed on or around 9/11. He also notes an increase of new onset asthma, persistent sinusitis and persistent laryngitis in those patients.
Government, we would assume, would take care of those first responders who developed physical and mental illnesses (such as asthma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result of their exposure to toxins at ground zero; Mike McCormack, John Feal, Jonathan Sferazo and Marvin Bathea, all exposed at ground zero, have found in some cases they are unable to work due to their health problems. Because of government bureaucracy, the men were not eligible for assistance via the 9/11 relief fund.
The last part of the episode chronicles the efforts of the four men in lobbying Washington, DC, to restore $125 million in funds to New York City. In December of 2005 those funds were restored via a defense appropriations bill.
"9/11 Forgotten Heroes" is a powerful and thought-provoking program. How safe was ground zero following the attacks of 9/11? We might not ever learn the truth, but New York Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton and Rep. Jerrold Nadler have called for an investigation into the EPA's failure to carry out proper environmental testing of 9/11 pollution. It's a start, and maybe we'll finally get some answers.
In addition to airing on Link TV, episodes of the Sierra Club Chronicles will be available for viewing at the Chronicles' web site.
Highly recommended.
Article comments