In his column in the Daily News, Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez has revealed that a top federal scientist issued a memo on Sept. 12 2001 warning against the quick reoccupation of buildings in lower Manhattan. Despite this warning the EPA issued a press release the next day stating that testing had been “very reassuring.” Then on Sept. 17, six days after the Twin Towers collapsed, federal and city officials allowed people to return to their homes and workplaces.

In related news, at House of Representatives subcommittee meeting yesterday in New York doctors reported that one third of the nearly 7,000 Ground Zero workers who have taken part in a screening still report health problems related to their work at the site.