Long-Sought, Post-September 11 Memo Points to Divergence Between Public Optimism and Private Concerns
An October 2001 memorandum confirming that the administration of then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani understood the potential health dangers posed by toxic debris from the destruction of the World Trade Center, even as spokesmen urged the public to return to Lower Manhattan, has been found.
911 Health Watch, a nonprofit that seeks to ensure the federal government’s long-term commitment to the well-being of September 11 responders, survivors, and their families, announced on February 5 that the so-called “Harding Memo” was located after a multi-year search. This memo has been referenced in numerous publications in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but its original text has never before been made public…