WTC site cleanup

Items of Evidence

While reviewing clippings, certain excerpts seemed worthy of special note and preservation. An article by Anthony DePalma (New York Times, 5/14/07, "Ground Zero Illnesses Clouding Giuliani's Legacy") says: "From the beginning there was no doubt that Mr. Giuliani and his team ruled the hellish disaster site. Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the army Corps of Engineers and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, all with extensive disaster response experience, arrived almost immediately, only to be placed on the sideline. One Army Corps official said Mr. Giuliani acted like a 'benevolent dictator.' Despite the presence of these federal experts, Mr. Giuliani assigned the ground zero cleanup to a largely unknown city agency, the Department of Design and Construction. Kenneth Holden, the department's commissioner until January, 2004 said in a deposition in the federal lawsuit against the city that he initially expected FEMA or the Army Corps to try to take over the cleanup operation. Mr. Giuliani never let them."

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