Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief and ex-governor Christine Todd Whitman apologized for the first time in 15 years for declaring that the air around the Ground Zero was safe to breathe a week after 9/11 attack.
The World Trade Center collapse in 2001 claimed the lives of thousands of people in minutes, but the after effects haven't subsided yet. People who were exposed to the toxins released during the collapse are still suffering from a variety of ailments and the death toll is increasing consistently.
Whitman, who attended the ceremony following the 15th anniversary of the attacks on Sunday, Sept. 11, apologized for giving a wrong statement about the air quality in Lower Manhattan during the disaster. The former governor of New Jersey also noted that she didn't lie to people about the issue but rather passed the information as received from government scientists at that point of time.
"Whatever we got wrong, we should acknowledge and people should be helped," she said. "I'm very sorry that people are dying and if the EPA and I in any way contributed to that, I'm sorry. We did the very best we could at the time with the knowledge we had."
Whitman added that during every anniversary she is worried that she would be remembered by people for wrong reasons. She would be blamed for people's deaths and people would think it is because of her false statement a number of people lost their lives.
About 37,000 people registered with World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP), a program set up to oversee the 9/11-related illness, are sick and about 1,100 people lost their lives. The deceased include the first responders and individuals who lived in and around the area.
According to Uniformed Fire Officers' Association report released on Friday, Sept. 9, through July 2016, about 10,000 firefighters involved in rescue operations suffer at least one illness linked to the collapse while many have more than one, noted Daily News.
A total of 1,396 firefighters are afflicted with cancer, 5,723 workers suffer from gastroesophageal problem, 5,557 and 5,456 are suffering from upper respiratory and lower respiratory illness, respectively.
Whitman, who held the office from 2001 to 2003, assured people of New York that the air around Manhattan is safe to breathe and the water is safe to drink. The air samples taken from the locality were tested and were found to cause no concern to people.
Photo: 9/11 Photos | Flickr
