“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.” — Mother Jones
Aftermath of Sept. 11 still smolders

By DEBORAH A. MILES
On the anniversary of Sept. 11, people around the world thought about the terrorist attacks that took place in this country five years ago. Memorial services were held and thousands mourned for those lost on that day and in the subsequent recovery effort.

But the people living and working in lower Manhattan think about the smoldering pile of twisted metal every day, and how that horrific day changed everything, including the air they breathe.

And perhaps, the ones who are reminded most are those who worked in some capacity in the gruesome clean-up effort, and developed respiratory problems as a result of inhaling the highly contaminated air.

Joan Bobier, a PEF Division 205 member and principal sanitarian for the state Department of Health (DOH), is one of those people. Now, she uses an inhaler every day.

Wrong place, wrong time
Bobier works out of the Troy office and was in Manhattan for her job. She spent Sept. 11 in Brooklyn, discussing a healthy neighborhood program at a district meeting, after catching one of the last trains out before the two towers collapsed.

“I came back around 5:20 p.m.” she said. “The area was already a war zone with fire fighters and rescue teams directing people where to go.”

Bobier crossed a police line in the mayhem to return to her lower Manhattan hotel room. That’s when Building 7, a part of the World Trade Center complex which housed Con Edison, fell and caused a blackout. Then, an enormous dust cloud engulfed Bobier and others.

She believes inhaling the contaminated air and debris caused the onset of her respiratory problem.

Bobier and other DOH staff returned to the Ground Zero area and worked there during the last two weeks of September 2001, checking areas for proper garbage removal.

“They gave us respirators to wear. The air was still full of smoke,” she said.

Soon after, she developed a hoarse voice. Then, after an employee health physical in 2002, she was diagnosed with a lung obstruction and asthma. She applied for workers’ compensation and was denied.

“PEF really helped me a lot,” she said. “I was told my condition preceded Sept. 11. PEF guided me to challenge the decision at a hearing. Now, the state Insurance Fund pays for my daily inhaler.”

Bobier also enrolled in the Mt. Sinai Hospital study that found nearly 70 percent of the rescue and recovery workers have lung problems.

“I just feel lucky to be a PEF member. The union helped me get through this,” she said.

Paying for his good deeds
Ron Elumn, a recently retired state regulator for the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), was diagnosed with chemical asthma, bronchitis and laryngitis after Sept. 11. He still sees a lung specialist.

Elumn volunteered his time on weekends at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in lower Manhattan after the attacks, and said, “dust was everywhere.”

He was instructed to return to his OCFS office at 80 Maiden Lane (a few blocks away from Ground Zero) a week later, and said the floor, desks, chairs and cloth dividers were saturated with up to six inches of dust. Elumn described the odor as “unbelievable.”

“The dummies made us go back to work,” he said.

It took six months before the work area was thoroughly cleaned, and Elumn said he kept thinking, “I’m probably going to die sitting at my desk.”

That’s when his symptoms — nose bleeds, hoarse voice, soreness in his chest — began.

Feds dropped the ball
Disgusted with the way the federal government dealt with the aftermath, Elumn took an active role by participating in a 2005 documentary called “Dust to Dust’ that aired on the Sundance Channel in NYC in September 2006.

He also worked with PEF to deliver to the U.S. Congress in July 2005 his message about the federal government’s inadequate aid for responders.

After his testimony, U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, wrote him a letter saying, “I was deeply moved by your brave testimony and your dedication to help all 9/11 responders receive the aid they deserve. You helped raise awareness about the lasting injuries and illnesses inflicted upon our heroes and I am hopeful that it will inspire Congress to do the right thing.”

So does Elumn, and the thousands of others who got sick from the “toxic soup” of Sept. 11.