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A steam pipe blast ripped through Midtown Manhattan yesterday. One woman died of a heart attack and forty people were taken to area hospitals. Terrorism was completely ruled out soon after the blast and the blame was placed on an 83-year old ruptured pipeline.

According to a articles released today by the Associated Press and New York Times, Office of Emergency Management officials tested the air in the vicinity of the blast earlier today and have deemed it safe to breathe.

This claim by health officials is startling because, according to the AP article, "asbestos contamination was the main lingering health concern, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Some of the pipes that pump steam beneath the city to heat and cool thousands of buildings are wrapped in asbestos, which can cause fatal lung disease with prolonged exposure."

New York City officials, along with the EPA, have come under heavy scrutiny since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Since that fateful day, hundreds of Ground Zero rescue workers have suffered numerous ailments due to Asbestos and other deadly chemical exposures. In fact, according to a September 8th, 2006 article released by Steve Watson of the website InfoWars.net, " the Government ordered the EPA to give the public misleading information, telling New Yorkers on September 12 it was safe to breathe when reliable information on air quality was not available and Asbestos levels were known to be three times higher than national standards."

Although the EPA has yet to release an official report regarding yesterday's incident and the disaster site's air quality, the city official's report is no doubt alarming.

Numerous Ground Zero rescue workers, such as John Feal and Vito Valente of the website "The Feal Good Foundation", set up for ailing first responders, have stated publicly that the EPA lied to the citizens of New York by stating that the air quality was safe to breathe. In fact, according to the InfoWars.com article, " studies by the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, has revealed that nearly 70 percent of the rescue workers who toiled in the dust and fumes at Ground Zero after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks suffer breathing problems....documents, obtained by CBS news, reveal that Lower Manhattan was reopened a few weeks following the attack even though the air was not safe."

Is this another attempt at a cover-up regarding another toxic air at yet another disaster site in New York City? If so, what is the reason for it? T

The massive pipeline that exploded was known to contain Asbestos. The pipeline exploded, sending toxic dirt and sludge hundreds of feet into the air. Still, health officials state that the air is safe to breathe.

We'll update this story if more information becomes available.