I have no trouble with your argument, wanting real solutions. I do want to point out there are genuine health effects on those who breathed the air at and around Ground Zero. Pulmonary fibrosis isn’t “nebulous” and neither are some of the other pulmonary effects. I have seen too many people with asthma, COPD and pulmonary fibrosis to dismiss those diseases as trivial.
What solution do you suggest?
There is no solution to the illness, of course. Many of these diseases are chronic with no cure.
The site should have been better controlled to ensure that everybody had proper respiratory protection and used it. There is no excuse, in this modern age, for workers to go into an unknown environment with probable hazards without proper respirators.
For the sick emergency personnel, such as Fire, EMT and Police, I would support additional funds to ensure that their medical and disability payments be met without any additional expense to the city.
For the construction, demolition and other workers, I would support working with their employers and provide grants to ensure that they receive quality medical care and have generous lifetime disability insurance if they become disabled as a result of a disease related to the exposures they suffered.
And in all cases, there should be a life insurance component to deal with the likelihood of early death.