Giuliani Reps: Claim City At Fault For 9/11 Health Hazard "Ridiculous"

ANGELA MONTEFINISE
NY Post
Monday June 25, 2007

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Accusations by former Environmental Protection Agency head Christie Todd Whitman that the city is at fault for health hazards at Ground Zero are "ridiculous," according to representatives for former mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"This is revisionist history," said Giuliani's former deputy mayor Joe Lhota. "She's making this stuff up."

In an interview with Channel 4's News Forum set to air today, Whitman said the city - which was in charge of safety at Ground Zero - did not monitor workers properly, allowing them to work on "the pile" without respirators.

"We had some disagreements with some of the things that were occurring on 'the pile' . . . like not having people wear respirators. We wanted more emphasis on that," Whitman said in the interview.

Lhota said the city did everything it could to protect workers, and dismissed Whitman's claims the city ignored her warnings.

Whitman - who will be on the hot seat during a congressional hearing tomorrow - also claimed the city refused to allow EPA workers to wear hazmat suits when responding to an anthrax attack.

Lhota called the claims "completely untrue" and "baseless."

"Every effort was made by Mayor Giuliani and his staff to ensure the safety of all workers at Ground Zero in the aftermath of this unprecedented act of terror," Lhota said.

"No one from the city ever tried to block the Environmental Protection Agency."

But lawyers representing 10,000 sick 9/11 first responders in a class-action suit said Giuliani and the city are absolutely to blame.

"Whitman is no saint," said attorney Paul Napoli. "But when it came to responsibility for the workers, it was Giuliani . . . The responsibility falls squarely on his shoulders."

David Worby - another attorney for the 9/11 workers - agreed that Giuliani was "more at fault" than Whitman for a lack of respirators and monitoring.

"Really, they're both at fault," Worby said, adding the city "did not enforce anything."