By Tom deignan

THIS past Saturday, friends and family of firefighter Michael Francis Lynch gathered at the intersection of 41st Avenue and Union Street in Flushing, Queens.

That section of the road will now and forever be known as “Michael F. Lynch Way” Lynch was in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center when it fell on September 11, 2001.

On the day of the dedication, Lynch’s sister Bernadette Lynch-Rafferty said, “To the community, I think it was a way of not forgetting all the people that did what they had to do that day and all the brave civilians, fire workers and police department, and how everybody did their job that day, did what they had to do, on a local level.”

It is nothing short of astonishing that almost five years after that dreadful September morning we are still going through the rituals of grieving and remembering.

It is, of course, a noble thing that we continue to do this. It is shocking and sad that so many families suffered so many losses that the process of establishing local memorials continues to this day.

One thing that must be added is that we can no longer ignore the fact that 9/11 is going to continue to claim victims. Firefighter Lynch was among the scores of first responders of Irish descent to die that day. But as reports of health problems from contaminated air at Ground Zero continue to spread, the Irish community in New York probably should begin bracing itself for another wave of adversity.

Already we have numerous reports of Ground Zero workers who were in excellent health the day they responded to New York City’s worst disaster. They survived and decided they were going

to spend the next days, weeks and even months sifting through the rubble looking for the remains of those who were not so fortunate.

As has been noted in many news reports since, federal officials said the air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe. In a September 13, 2001 report, the federal Environmental Protection Agency commented that the air around Ground Zero should be considered safe.

Short-term, low-level exposure of the kind produced at the World Trade Center site “is unlikely to cause significant health effects,” the EPA said.

Now we have reports of a former aide to Mayor Rudy Giuliani who was at Ground Zero and is suffering from respiratory problems. Then there’s the case of 34 year-old James Zadroga, whose wife had already died much too early, leaving him to raise their children alone. Described as a health fanatic, Zadroga put in months at Ground Zero, and then died from what some say is exposure to dirty air at Ground Zero.

How many Irish American cops, firefighters, medical workers and others must now worry that they will become mysteriously ill someday soon?

Lawsuits have been filed and, so far, judges have been understandably sympathetic.

“No reasonable person would have thought that telling thousands of people that it was safe to return to lower Manhattan, while knowing that such return could pose long-term health risks and other dire consequences, was conduct sanctioned by our laws,”

U.S. District Judge Deborah A. Batts wrote in a decision bashing former EPA leader Christine Todd Whitman.

My opinion is that Ground Zero workers deserve every benefit they ask for, and that includes the benefit of the doubt. If their service made them sick then they should be compensated for it.

But one hard question remains. Imagine it is the evening of September 11, 2001. The Trade Center site is still smoldering. Thousands of loved ones are merely missing. Can you imagine if the EPA stepped in and said, “Sorry, the air down here may not be safe, all people stay away.”

Too many people needed to see if there were survivors, or, if not, to find their loved ones and bury them with dignity. If federal health officials erred they should be punished and the same mistake should never be made again. But the fact is that brave people would have been at Ground Zero on September 12 and 13 and 14, 2001, no matter what EPA officials said.

As we emerge from another Memorial Day during which we remembered the sacrifices of America’s veterans, I hope we recall that it was terrorists who caused the horror of Ground Zero, not federal bureaucrats. We must take care of the rescue workers. I hope we also don’t lapse into blaming each other for a tragedy that was not our fault.

(Contact Sidewalks at tomdeignan@earthlink.net.)