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1. There is ample physical evidence refuting NIST’s claim that no steel was recovered from WTC 7:
   1. Early evidence of WTC 7 steel recovery was reported in a 2001 letter to JOM [7] written by three professors from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, entitled “An Initial Microstructural Analysis of A36 Steel WTC Building 7.” [8]
   2. In 2002, FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) published a report by the same professors describing the strange thinning and corrosion of World Trade Center steel. Sample 1 was a beam which “appeared to be from WTC7,” although “the exact location of this beam in the building was not known.” [9] When asked about this, a Senior Communications Officer for NIST said: “It was not possible to conclusively link” that steel sample to WTC 7. [10] But a statement like this from a communications officer cannot cast doubt on the evaluation of three scientists.
   3. That the steel appeared to have come from WTC 7 was confirmed by Professor Jonathan Barnett, lead author of the FEMA study, in a 2008 BBC documentary. [11]
   4. Appendix D of the same FEMA Report notes that “pieces that were searched for and inspected include … burnt pieces from WTC 7,” and includes a photo of a “WTC 7 W14 column tree with beams attached to two floors.” Another photo showed a “Seat connection in fire-damaged W14 column from WTC 7.” [12]
   5. It is clear from a 2005 damage study that NIST knew about the FEMA report, for it referred to “the steel from WTC7 (Sample 1 of Appendix C, FEMA/BPAT study).” [13]
   6. In 2012, a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by researcher David Cole produced several photographs of John Gross examining the WTC 7 steel in a scrap yard. Gross was the Co-Project leader on NIST’s Structural Fire Response and Collapse Analysis. [14] He had responsibility to “determine and analyze the mechanical and metallurgical properties and quality of steel, weldments, and connections from steel recovered from WTC 1, 2, and 7.” [15]These photos were obtained by NIST FOIA #12-057, February 7, 2012, and are available in an online dataset. [16]Notice the curled up Swiss-cheese steel similar to that pictured in the 2002 FEMA Report above. [17]
2. The examination of steel from WTC 7 was also covered in various news stories, including two from the New York Times and one from Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
   1. A New York Times article of November 2001 cited Dr. Jonathan Barnett of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as speaking about “steel members in the [WTC7] debris pile that appear to have been partly evaporated in extraordinarily high temperatures.” [18] (The presence of inexplicably intense heat is corroborated by Consensus Point TT-6: “The Claim That There Was No Molten Steel Or Iron in the WTC Buildings.” [19])
   2. A 2002 New York Times story noted: “Perhaps the deepest mystery uncovered in the investigation involves extremely thin bits of steel collected from the trade towers and from 7 World Trade Center, a 47-story high rise that also collapsed for unknown reasons. The steel apparently melted away, but no fire in any of the buildings was believed to be hot enough to melt steel outright.” [20]
   3. A story in the official publication of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute stated: “A one inch [steel] column has been reduced to half-inch thickness. Its edges – which are curled like a paper scroll – have been thinned to almost razor sharpness. Gaping holes – some larger than a silver dollar – let light shine through a formerly solid steel flange. This Swiss cheese appearance shocked all of the fire-wise professors, who expected to see distortion and bending – but not holes.” [21]

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