Product Description

This is the eBook version of the printed book.

In City of Dust, Anthony DePalma offers the first full accounting of one of the gravest environmental catastrophes in United States history. The destruction on 9/11 of two of the world's largest buildings unleashed a vortex of dust and ash that blotted out the sun and has distorted science, medicine and public policy ever since. The likely dangers of 9/11's massive dust cloud were evident from the beginning, yet thousands chose not to see. Why? As the sickening results of exposure became evident, many still refused to recognize them. Why? The consequences are still being tallied in the wasted bodies and disrupted lives of thousands who gave their all when the need was greatest, but whose demands for justice have been consumed by years of politics and courtroom maneuvers. Why?, separating reality from myth - and doing so with exceptional literary style and grace. DePalma covered Ground Zero for The New York Times for four years. DePalma introduces heroic firefighters, dedicated doctors and scientists, obsessive city officials, partisan politicians, aggressive lawyers, and compassionate judges and reveals the individual decisions that destroyed public trust, and the desperate attempts made to rebuild it. The dust that was the World Trade Center has changed everything it touched. This is the story of that dust, the 9/11 disaster after the disaster, and what it tells us about ourselves and our future.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100424 in eBooks
• Published on: 2010-07-21
• Released on: 2010-07-06
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

From Publishers Weekly
Nearly a decade after the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in the Sept. 11 attacks, the toxic legacy of the dust cloud that covered the neighborhood endures. DePalma (Here), a former New York Times reporter who covered the attacks and their aftermath, dissects the policy mistakes and bitter medical and legal clashes over the health problems suffered by rescue workers, cleanup crew, and survivors. The political and economic necessity of getting New York up and running again left "no time for the great city to dwell on what the long-term impact of the dust might be." DePalma methodically if occasionally awkwardly traces the efforts of scientists and doctors to assess the effects of the contaminated dust on the tens of thousands exposed, and the methods used to determine compensation. The scope of the aftereffects remains so vast that DePalma's account doesn't always retain a sense of narrative urgency, but he does convey how outrageously bureaucracy has stalled appropriate care for survivors and rescue workers. "Trust collapsed with the towers, and dust buried the truth," he writes, and the path to retribution remains obscured.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Kirkus Reviews calls Anthony DePalma's City of Dust  "An important story with broad ramifications."

 

Natural Resources Defense Council calls City of Dust  "Part chronicle of tragedy and heroism, part detective story and part legal thriller."

 

From the Back Cover

"Part chronicle of tragedy and heroism, part detective story, and part legal thriller, this book offers a comprehensive and fearless account of the environmental aftermath of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center and the public health consequences of the worst environmental disaster in New York City’s history.”

Eric A. Goldstein, New York City Environment Director for the Natural Resources Defense Council

 

"City of Dust delivers what is so often missing from 9/11 coverage--deep, careful, clear, fair reporting that separates fact from fiction. But DePalma also rouses the reader to indignation over the shortcomings of a system that, nearly a decade after the collapse of the World Trade Center, still hasn’t done right by responders and residents whose health was destroyed by the poisons they breathed.”

Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One

 

"For anyone concerned about the long-term health effects of 9/11--or for that matter about the bungled handling of disasters in general--this book is essential. Thoroughly researched, well-written, passionate, it’s the final word on what should be done and should not be done.”

John Darnton, author of Black and White and Dead All Over and Neanderthal

 

"After 9/11, when the truth was shockingly hard to come by, Anthony DePalma never settled. With careful reporting and masterful storytelling, City of Dust is the essential guide across the heavily contested terrain of environmental safety and medical care for those who served at Ground Zero. Lies are toxic. This book is the antidote.”

Jim Dwyer, author, with Kevin Flynn, of 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers

 

"The most complete account of 9/11 and its aftermath yet written, City of Dust is a must-read for anyone involved in emergency preparedness and response or in environmental safety and health, for students of government and politics, or for the general reader who wants to understand more about the tragic aftermath of 9/11. Although DePalma’s subject is a difficult one, City of Dust weaves stories about responders’ heroic actions on 9/11, the persisting human health effects caused by their response work, government decision-making then and now, medical detective work, and court cases into a very compelling and readable book.”

John Howard, M.D., Coordinator, World Trade Center Health Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

 

The Only Book That Tells the Whole Story of the Health Disaster That Followed 9/11

 

On 9/11, the destruction of the World Trade Center unleashed a vortex of dust and ash that blotted out the sun--and has distorted science, medicine, and public policy ever since.

 

The likely dangers of 9/11’s massive dust cloud were evident from the beginning, yet thousands chose not to see, even as the sickening results of exposure became increasingly difficult to ignore. Why? And why have years of politics and courtroom maneuvers delayed justice for those who gave their all when the need was greatest?

 

Anthony DePalma goes beyond his front-page coverage of ground zero in The New York Times, offering the first full accounting of one of the gravest environmental catastrophes in U.S. history. He separates myth from reality…reveals the decisions that destroyed public trust…shares powerful, never-before-told stories of the victims and those who’ve tried to help them…and helps us make sure this never happens again.

 

•  They said the air was safe

   The health myths and realities of 9/11--and the decade of suspicion and fear that followed

 

•  “This smells different. It tastes different.”

   The firefighters who couldn’t breathe, and the doctors who treated them

 

•  Sound bites, arrogance, scorn, and invective

   New Yorkers versus the political and legal system

 

•  A comprehensive look at what lies ahead

   The ongoing impact for the thousands who were directly affected, and lessons for the future