Original World Trade Center Construction Asbestos Exposure

Asbestos attorneys recognize that no other commercial real estate has impacted New York City’s history and identity like the site of the original World Trade Center complex in Manhattan’s bustling Financial District. But what sometimes gets lost in the headlines about the 9/11 attacks or the subsequent World Trade Center rebuilding efforts, has been the issue of asbestos-related disease and how it affects workers who helped construct the original World Trade Center complex between 1966 and the ribbon-cutting of architect Minoru Yamasaki’s regal Twin Towers in 1973.

If you or a loved one helped build the original World Trade Center complex and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease please contact the attorneys at The Williams Law Firm, P.C. online or call (855) 575-6376 to schedule an appointment as you may be entitled to substantial compensation.

Iconic Architecture, Construction Feat

The era in which the original World Trade Center buildings were constructed hints at the high levels of asbestos used to forge this 2.5-acre office park, which grew to include additional peripheral buildings beside the seminal North Tower and South Tower.

Other noteworthy facts about the original Twin Towers, which were once the tallest building in the world:

• THE ORIGINAL 1 WORLD TRADE CENTER BUILDING, OR THE NORTH TOWER, MEASURED 1,368 FEET TALL AND MORE THAN 1,700 FEET TALL WITH ITS ANTENNA SPIRE.
• THE SOUTH TOWER, OR 2 WORLD TRADE CENTER, WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY SHORTER AT 1,362 FEET TALL BUT MORE THAN 1,770 FEET TALL WITH ITS ANTENNA SPIRE.
• PRIOR TO THEIR DESTRUCTION IN 2001, THE TWIN TOWERS EACH HAD 110 FLOORS.
• CONSTRUCTION OF THE TWIN TOWERS IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE COST $1.5 BILLION, ACCORDING TO THE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM.

The Twin Towers were long regarded as architecturally-iconic and stood as a symbol of American ingenuity and entrepreneurship.

Asbestos Exposure and Construction in the World Trade Center

The scale and timing of the Twin Towers’ construction dictate that myriad asbestos products went into the original World Trade Center site.

Asbestos, or a mineral fiber with countless industrial applications, piqued in construction and manufacturing use during the mid-twentieth century, toward the end of which government agencies began to ban asbestos due to environmental concerns. However some asbestos products are still allowed, and asbestos manufacturing continues worldwide.

Many American buildings still include asbestos, which poses the most noxious danger when those products deteriorate or disintegrate.

Asbestos Exposure After 9/11

Asbestos fibers are the sole cause of mesothelioma, or a cancer of the chest and abdomen, as well as asbestosis, a disease in which asbestos fibers attack the lungs.

When the world looks back at the destruction of the original World Trade Center in 2001, among the innumerable heart-breaking images is that of chemical-laden ash blanketing the people, buildings, cars, streets and sidewalks of Lower Manhattan.

The National Cancer Institute cites research indicating that 70 percent of 9/11 first-responders suffer some form of respiratory illness as a result of their exposure to environmental toxins. That same research concluded that:

• ROUGHLY 40,000 RESCUE WORKERS REPORTED BEING EXPOSED TO TOXIC DUST AND POLLUTANTS.
• SIXTY-ONE PERCENT DEVELOPED IMMEDIATE RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS WHILE PERFORMING CLEAN-UP WORK.
• SEPTEMBER 11TH RESCUE WORKERS CONTINUED TO REPORT EXPOSURE-RELATED RESPIRATORY AND PULMONARY PROBLEMS FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER THE CLEAN-UP.

In the case of mesothelioma, symptoms can take decades to surface.

If you or a loved one helped build the original World Trade Center buildings and have since been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, please contact The Williams Law Firm, P.C. online or call (855) 575-6376 today. Our firm welcomes clients from Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and across the United States.