The Battle for Ground Zero, Part 208

Planning for Towers 2, 3, and 4 continue with the architects working in a collaborative effort to get the projects moving. At the same time, more details are emerging about the "survivor's staircase" and what the Port Authority, the architects, and Silverstein are looking to do.

As some Ground Zero workers are holding a vigil outside a New York hospital in support of one of their comrades in arms, Cesar Borja, who is suffering from pulmonary fibrosis, other grim work continues - the search for additional remains in areas that have not been searched along the access road and underground utility vaults in the area surrounding Ground Zero.

Calls continue for the military's disaster mortuary team to lead the search for remains, and others call the ongoing cleanup plan a sham. I think both views are entitled to their positions, though I disagree with both.

Meanwhile, the EPA is going to be retesting the air around Ground Zero.

Federal authorities began collecting names Tuesday from lower Manhattan residents who want their offices and apartments tested or retested for toxic 9/11 dust.

The Environmental Protection Agency will register commercial and residential spaces in lower Manhattan until March 30. After the registration period closes, the actual testing will begin.

The $7 million effort, billed as the final air testing program from the 2001 attacks, has been criticized by some New York lawmakers for not going far enough to ensure public health.

The EPA will specifically test the air and dust in buildings near the World Trade Center site for four contaminants linked to the towers’ debris: asbestos, lead, man-made fibers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, chemicals formed during fires.