Dealing with toxic substances--and EPA lying about Trade Center

Wonder what kind of dangerous substance(s) these men are dealing with....asbestos removal? New Yorkers are more cautious now about exposure to air contaminants following all the illness and death of the people who worked on the World Trade Center site without adequate protection ( well why not, the EPA director said it was safe! Pity she cannot be held liable somehow later for that line).

From internet  posting ( from some time back):

Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Christie Whitman says it's the Giuliani administration's fault World Trade Center rescue workers are suffering from September 11th-related illnesses, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg is defending his predecessor’s actions.

In a “60 Minutes” interview airing this Sunday on CBS, the former EPA head says former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ignored her warning that workers at the World Trade Center site should wear respirators and other protective gear to ward off contaminants in the air.

At a roundtable on 9/11 health issues Friday, politicians said Whitman should be reprimanded for lying to the public.

"She started lying and misleading the public almost immediately," said Rep. Jerrold Nadler. "As a result of that, thousands and thousands of people are sick, some are prematurely dead and there should be a criminal investigation of her."

Whitman defended herself Friday saying: "We agreed then, and I reiterate now, that the air on the site was not clean. We were emphatic that workers needed to wear respirators, but I did not have the jurisdiction to force workers to wear them -- that was up to their superiors."