According to the Department of Investigation, they are facing a challenge in their ability to look into the knowledge that past mayoral administrations had regarding the 9/11 air contaminants. This statement has raised concerns among individuals who believe that the department is simply delaying the investigation process.

DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber testified Wednesday that her agency is not equipped to do the “deep dive” she believes is required to investigate the potential decades-old mystery surrounding Ground Zero.

“That’s not personnel that we currently have, we would certainly not want to do something like this and not do it right,” Strauber said to the council’s Committee on Oversight and Investigation.

“I can’t believe that it’s that difficult to come up with the type of data,” committee on oversight and investigation chair and councilwoman Gale Brewer snapped back at the commissioner.

The shocking revelation came in response to a binding resolution introduced by Brewer which would force the DOI to uncover what is known about the toxins in the wake of the attack and what city officials kept secret.

If passed by the full council, the DOI would have a 2-year deadline to complete its report and will be obligated to provide updates twice annually.

The claim quickly drew criticism, as Andrew Ansbro, the union president of the Uniformed Firefighter’s Association, said his union wasn’t interested in “another government agency giving us an opinion.”

“We just need to know who knew what and when and we’ll determine who the liars are,” he said.

Strauber did not provide a dollar figure on what funding or how many extra staff an investigation like this would need. 

Neither DOI nor City Hall immediately returned a request for comment. 

Jim Brosi, the president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, shot back at DOI, saying their response was not “reasonable.”

“I’ll say, as first responders, that we knew there was risk. I’ll say that we measured that risk, and we measured against what our duty was and what you asked us to do,” he said.

“But how dare they not release the records? How dare this become a staffing issue?”

It comes after a years-long battle to get the city to release the documents as the number of 9/11 FDNY first responders killed from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero rose to 370 as of September – surpassing the amount of department members who died on the day of the terror attacks.

Despite Freedom of Information requests, letters to the mayor and even a lawsuit from survivors filed in June, the information has yet to see the light of day.

UFA attorney Thomas McManus, pointed the finger back at the city.

“The City should immediately release all relevant documents so that the truth is known,” McManus said.

“I’m disappointed that Mayor Adams is following in the same steps as Mayor Bill de Blasio, Mayor Bloomberg and Giuliani continuing this lie,” Ansbro added.

An estimated 400,000 people were exposed to toxic contaminants, risk of physical injury, and physically and emotionally stressful conditions in the days, weeks, and months following the attacks.

More than 125,000 people are currently enrolled in the CDC-run World Trade Center Health Program and close to 6,900 of those have died in the years since, CDC March data reveals.