After denying several times that it had any records about air quality after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Environmental Protection has admitted it has found some boxes of documents it believes have relevant information.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n The admission comes in court records in a lawsuit filed against the city agency for rejecting a Freedom of Information Law request for an extensive list of documents related to the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in 1993 and 2001 at the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what to make of it. It\u2019s extraordinary and it\u2019s unexpected,\u201d said Andy Carboy, the attorney who filed the lawsuit against the city on behalf of the nonprofit 9\/11 Health Watch.<\/p>\n In 2023, seven different agencies, including Department of Environmental Protection, were sent a request for 28 separate items.<\/p>\n The inquiry asked for documents related to testing done in the early days after the attack, decision-making into reopening evacuated areas of Lower Manhattan, the correspondences and testing to reopen schools near the World Trade Center, materials for then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s daily press briefings, and conversations about liability risk for the city.<\/p>\n In January 2024, Carboy received an email from the Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, that his request for documents was denied.<\/p>\n \u201cThis agency does not have the records requested. You should direct your request to a different agency,\u201d reads part of the denial email.<\/p>\n It noted Carboy had the opportunity to appeal the ruling, which he did.<\/p>\n Less than a month later, Carboy received a letter from the DEP FOIL appeals officer, Russell Pecunies.<\/p>\n \u201cI hearby certify that a diligent search was performed in DEP\u2019s records in response to your FOIL requested, and no responsive records were found,\u201d wrote Pecunies.<\/p>\n This denied appeal stated that Carboy could again take action, this time by filing a lawsuit against the city. Which Carboy did, yet again. The city tried to get the lawsuit thrown out.<\/p>\n \u201cCompelling an additional search in this case, where DEP has repeatedly certified that it has no responsive records, will have no practical effect on the parties,\u201d said Saarah Dhinsa, the assistant corporation counsel for the City of New York in November of last year in her filing to have the lawsuit dismissed. \u00a0<\/p>\n She called the request \u201ca fishing expedition\u201d that should be \u201cdismissed as moot.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet less than a year later, Dhinsa sent another letter, revealing that there were, in fact, potentially relevant documents discovered.<\/p>\n \u201cRespondent has located multiple boxes that are believed to contain at least some responsive records,\u201d she wrote on Sept. 16.<\/p>\n It marks a complete reversal within one year\u2019s time of when Carboy\u2019s initial FOIL and appeal were denied.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to find out what the explanation is. And there\u2019s a variety of explanations here,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think any of them are good.\u201d<\/p>\n This summer, the City Council passed a resolution compelling the New York City Department of Investigation \u2013 the city\u2019s inspector general \u2013 to launch an investigation into the city\u2019s response to the air quality and environmental concerns in lower Manhattan after the September 11 terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n The report is due within two years, as NY1 first reported on the legislation last September.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a coincidence,\u201d Carboy said about the boxes being located now. \u201cWe\u2019re within 2 months of the passage of the resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he believes the Department of Investigation should look into what he has called in the past, \u201cgrinding obstruction\u201d to obtain documents from DEP.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand. I don\u2019t understand,\u201d he said in a zoom with NY1. \u201cBut the public is owed an explanation. My clients are owed an explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he intends to do what he can to get to the bottom of what happened.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are completely serious about having a hearing with multiple witnesses in a live forum before the judge assigned to our case,\u201d said Carboy. \u201cAnd we intend to get that.\u201d<\/p>\n NY1 reached out to DEP for comment, specifically asking where the boxes were located, why they couldn\u2019t be found in what the agency described as a \u201cdiligent search,\u201d and how it can be convinced more documents are not going to be discovered. A DEP spokesperson referred NY1 to City Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cAs one of the many first responders at Ground Zero on 9\/11 and in the weeks that followed, Mayor Adams has been unwavering in his commitment to ensuring victims, their families, first responders, and survivors receive the care and services they deserve,\u201d a city hall spokesperson said in a statement to NY1 this weekend. \u201cWhile we cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain dedicated to getting 9\/11 victims and their families the answers they need.”<\/p>\n\n
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