The Twin Towers and 9/11 Asbestos Exposure

You May Need the Services of an Asbestos Lawyer

New York mesothelioma lawyers and advocates working in New York City recognize the original World Trade Center site as one of the city’s preeminent examples of an asbestos-contaminated worksite.

If you or a loved developed mesothelioma or lung cancer as the result of asbestos exposure during the construction of the original World Trade Center, or during the tragic aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, you should contact New York Asbestos Attorney Joseph P. Williams about your options for legal recourse.

Call (855) 575-6376 to schedule your free mesothelioma case consultation.

ASBESTOS AND WORLD TRADE CENTER CONSTRUCTION

When World Trade Center construction commenced in 1968, asbestos remained a common building material. Asbestos products were used often in construction during this era, and the international medical community was only beginning to understand the dangers of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos served as a common insulator and flame-retardant. Asbestos products also lined the walls and ceilings and covered pipes and wiring throughout the original World Trade Center buildings.

Here are three other noteworthy facts about the original World Trade Center site:

• ARCHITECT MINORU YAMASAKI DESIGNED THE TWIN TOWERS.
• AT GROUNDBREAKING, THE WORLD TRADE CENTER WAS THE WORLD’S LARGEST CONSTRUCTION WORK ZONE.
• WHEN THEY WERE COMPLETED IN 1973, 1 WORLD TRADE CENTER AND 2 WORLD TRADE CENTER WERE THE TALLEST BUILDINGS IN THE WORLD.

Asbestos abatement efforts gathered steam in the years following World Trade Center completion. Although subsequent regulations have curtailed asbestos exposure in the workplace, that danger remained hidden inside the World Trade Center and so many other mid-century buildings.

ASBESTOS EXPOSURE AFTER 9/11

The original World Trade Center complex actually consisted of seven buildings. All seven structures are thought to have released asbestos into the air when the site was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Close to 3,000 people of various nationalities died that day, or as a result of that day. In the weeks and months that followed, people who contributed to the massive rescue and clean-up effort at Ground Zero, as the destroyed World Trade Center site became known, began to develop extreme respiratory problems and deadly cancers.

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 above 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 11^TH RESCUE WORKERS CONTINUED TO REPORT EXPOSURE-RELATED RESPIRATORY AND PULMONARY PROBLEMS FOR MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER THE CLEAN-UP.

We know that asbestos was used to construct the original World Trade Center site. It follows that the complex’s desolated debris also contained dangerous asbestos particles. Experts disagree about exactly how much asbestos was present in the toxic dust.

The New York City Medical Examiner has ruled several deaths in the years since 9/11, including one victim who died from lymphoma and lung disease, as caused by toxic exposure at Ground Zero.

Here are four more things you should know about clean-up at the original World Trade Center site after the 9/11 attacks:

• AFTERMATH FACT NO. 1: OF ALL THE DEATH CERTIFICATES ISSUED IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE ATTACKS, ONLY ABOUT 58 PERCENT WERE IDENTIFIED BY PHYSICAL REMAINS. (THE REMAINING VICTIMS PRESUMABLY PERISHED ON SITE.)
• AFTERMATH FACT NO. 2: THE ESTIMATED ECONOMIC LOSS IN JUST ONE MONTH AFTER THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK WAS $123 BILLION.
• AFTERMATH FACT NO. 3: GROUND ZERO CLEANUP LASTED MORE THAN 20 MONTHS AND TOOK MORE THAN 3 MILLION WORK HOURS.
• AFTERMATH FACT NO. 4: CLEANUP WORKERS COLLECTED ABOUT 1.8 MILLION TONS OF DEBRIS AT A COST OF ROUGHLY $750 MILLION.

YOUR CASE CONSULTATION

If you or a loved developed mesothelioma or lung cancer as the result of asbestos exposure during the construction of the original World Trade Center site or in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, please contact our highly experienced mesothelioma and asbestos lawyer in New York to learn about your legal rights regarding compensation.

ATTORNEY JOSEPH P. WILLIAMS AND HIS TEAM WELCOME CLIENTS FROM MANHATTAN, BROOKLYN, THE BRONX, QUEENS, STATEN ISLAND AND NATIONWIDE. CALL (855) 575-6376 AND SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION.