One thing about this situation that amazes me is the Emergency Service Workers (ESW's) were no longer in a Rescue mode but rather in a Recovery mode. Where was OSHA when this was being accomplished without benefit of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus? There is federal OSHA law that dictates in hazardous atmospheres the use of an SCBA is mandated. If this operation was still a federal supervised operation the fed's should stand up for their oversights without requiring any further legislation. If it was the state of New York then it should be their responsibilty to care for these ESW's who were exposed.
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