A New York judge has ruled that officials acted unlawfully in denying requests for records related to environmental hazards following the 11th September attacks on the World Trade Centre.
The decision could finally open access to a long-secret archive spanning roughly 340,000 pages.
The New York Supreme Court ruled in favour of advocacy group 911 Health Watch in its lawsuit against the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The court found that the DEP acted ‘arbitrarily and capriciously’ when it denied Freedom of Information Law requests, concluding that the agency’s reasons for withholding records were vague and lacked proper justification.
The case centres on documents relating to the city’s assessment of toxic dust and air quality in lower Manhattan after the attacks. While officials publicly maintained that air quality was safe, the DEP later acknowledged holding 68 boxes of records after first claiming no responsive documents existed.
Following the court ruling, New York City Council leaders announced they are seeking $4.5 million to find out when officials first became aware of the health risks posed by air quality around Ground Zero following the attacks.
The funding request, led by Council Speaker Julie Menin and supported by 9/11 advocate John Feal, would allow the city’s Department of Investigation to conduct a comprehensive review of records and decision-making surrounding environmental conditions in lower Manhattan after the collapse of the World Trade Center.
Menin, whose family lived in lower Manhattan and whose mother later died from a 9/11-related cancer, said the investigation is needed to establish what city officials knew about air quality conditions and when they learned it. Feal, who worked at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the attacks, has long campaigned on behalf of first responders and survivors affected by 9/11-related illnesses.
The proposed inquiry would examine records concerning air quality monitoring and public health assessments made in the weeks following the attacks, when residents, workers and emergency personnel were repeatedly assured that conditions were safe.
The funding request will now be considered as part of negotiations between the City Council and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration over New York City’s next budget, which must be agreed before the end of the month.
Photo: Robert Harkness
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