Sunday’s memorial events commemorating the tragic events of 9/11 made me reflect on a fascinating conversation I had in 2003 with one of my patients, who had served as a senior engineer during the construction of the World Trade Center. He told me the real reason why the Towers fell on 9/11. The facts he related to me have been borne out by reporting in the New York Times and Washington Post, as well as disclosures from the 9/11 mesothelioma victims’ lawsuits.
When construction commenced in 1968, asbestos, which was still in common use, was applied in a series of coatings to fireproof the steel beams in the lower floors of the North Tower. This was before the medical dangers of asbestos exposure had become widely known. Then, in April 1970, the New York City Department of Air Resources adopted strict asbestos spray regulations, and soon after issued a stop-work order for all further asbestos use on the project. It was determined that the upper levels of the North Tower and the entire South Tower would forgo asbestos spray, and a less effective alternative would be used in its place.
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