Too Little - Too Late Cleanup Offered to Residents Near World Trade Center

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http://ens-news.com/ens/may2002/2002L-05-09-06.html

Cleanup Offered to Residents Near World Trade Center

By Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, May 9, 2002 (ENS) - Nearly eight months after the September

11 terrorist attacks that toppled the World Trade Center towers, the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency has decided to launch a comprehensive

inspection and cleanup to ensure that apartments near the fallen towers are

not contaminated by toxins.

On Wednesday, the EPA announced it will collaborate with other federal,

state and city agencies to ensure that apartments impacted by the collapse

of the World Trade Center have been " properly cleaned. " The project will

include professional cleaning, by certified contractors, of affected

apartments at the request of the residents or property owners.

Regional EPA administrator Jane Kenny announces the residential cleanup plan

on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy EPA)

The plan, which covers all Manhattan residential units south of Canal Street

and the Manhattan Bridge approach, river to river, was developed by the

multi-agency Task Force on Indoor Air in Lower Manhattan. It represents a

marked change in the attitudes of the federal agencies involved.

Since the September 11 attacks, the EPA and the Federal Emergency Management

Agency (FEMA) have argued that indoor spaces are the responsibility of their

owners and residents. Cleaning those spaces, even after a disaster like a

terrorist attack, is not the job of the government, the agencies have said.

EPA regional administrator Jane Kenny said the cleanup plan is an effort to

assure local residents and visitors that they are not being exposed to

pollutants from the World Trade Center collapse at levels that might pose

long term health risks.

" We understand the concerns of Lower Manhattan residents and we know that

they are looking to us for reassurance, " said Kenny. " While we cannot undo

the events of September 11, we can provide the assurance that people's homes

have been cleaned properly. "

Kenny pointed out that tests conducted since September 11th have indicated

that there is no evidence of " significant " long term health risks to

residents and office workers from the air quality in Lower Manhattan.

The area targeted for EPA cleanup includes every residence below Canal

Street, marked in red on this map of lower Manhattan. The site of the

collapsed World Trade Center buildings is outlined in blue. (Map courtesy

EPA)

" While the scientific data about any immediate health risks from indoor air

is reassuring, people should not have to live with uncertainty about their

futures, " Kenny added.

The shift in official policy comes after months of criticism by local

residents, non-governmental organizations and even some EPA officials.

Former EPA national ombudsman resigned from his post on Earth

Day last month, shortly after raising questions about EPA Administrator

Christie Whitman's potential conflict of interest in downplaying the public

health risks of the World Trade Center collapse. For many years, Whitman's

husband worked for Citigroup, the banking, insurance and financial services

giant that owns Traveler's Insurance Co.

Traveler's Insurance could face millions of dollars in health claims from

lower Manhattan residents if their ailments can be linked to the terrorist

attacks. Whitman's husband now works for a Citigroup spinoff that manages

about $800 million of Citigroup's investments.

Former EPA Ombudsman at an evidentiary hearing in Colorado in

2000. (Photo courtesy EPA)

Some citizens from lower Manhattan contacted after September 11,

complaining that they were experiencing breathing problems and other

symptoms, despite statements released by Whitman assuring the public that

the air in the region was safe to breathe.

The Department of Justice has begun an inquiry into whether Whitman erred in

offering such reassurances, and whether her husband's employment created a

conflict of interest.

At a public hearing in New York City in February, Hugh Kaufman, then chief

investigator for the EPA's Ombudsman Office, told a group of scientists,

residents, and small business owners that he believed the EPA was

deliberately not testing the air quality in the World Trade Center area

properly and covering up the reasons why.

" I believe EPA did not do that because they knew it would come up not safe

and so they are involved in providing knowingly false information to the

public about safety, " Kaufman said at the hearing.

This week, the EPA changed course. Under the Task Force initiative announced

Wednesday, FEMA will provide a grant to New York City that will pay for

professional cleaning and testing of affected lower Manhattan homes.

The FEMA grant will fund certified cleanup contractors for residents who

wish to have their homes professionally cleaned, and pay for follow up

testing for asbestos in the indoor air.

Dust and smoke rising from the World Trade Center site September 27, 2001

(Two photos by Bri , courtesy Federal Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA))

" Today's announcement is a welcome step forward, and if properly carried

out, it can help residents of lower Manhattan breath easier at home, in

school or at work, " said Senator Hillary Clinton, a New York Democrat.

" People deserve to know that the air they breathe is safe - indoors and out.

That's why I held a hearing on the subject in February. I am pleased that

the task force for indoor air quality which I called for at that hearing has

become a reality. "

Households that do not wish to undergo a cleanup may request to have the

asbestos testing alone. If those residences are found to contain asbestos,

the occupant can then request professional cleaning. If no asbestos is

found, the occupants will have forfeited their right to a cleanup funded by

the government.

The Task Force will make available high efficiency particulate air (HEPA)

filter vacuum cleaners to residents who wish to do their own cleaning, and

to those whose apartments were professionally cleaned who wish to do their o

wn cleaning on an ongoing basis.

A new hotline, to be made available by June 1, will provide information and

take cleanup and testing requests, and residents will also be able to

request these services via the EPA's website at: http://www.epa.gov/wtc/.

The website is also the primary distribution site for all health and cleanup

information related to the World Trade Center collapse.

All remaining unoccupied, uncleaned buildings will undergo a thorough

professional cleanup, the Task Force said. The EPA is preparing to test

various cleanup techniques in a still unoccupied building near the World

Trade Center site to confirm their effectiveness.

Many workers from FEMA, New York fire fighters and Urban Search and Rescue

teams wore no protective masks during the aftermath of the World Trade

Center collapse.

Worker safety during the cleanups will be coordinated with the Occupational

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The EPA also plans to collect samples of some pollutants associated with the

collapse of the World Trade Center in New York apartments that were not

affected by the terrorist attacks. The agency will use the data to determine

the pre-existing or background levels of these pollutants in New York City's

interior spaces.

" As New Yorkers rebound from 9/11, Mayor Bloomberg is committed to ensuring

that the health and safety of residents and workers is of the highest

priority, " said Ward, commissioner of the New York Department of

Environmental Protection (DEP). " New Yorkers deserve to know that their

environment is safe from health risks. "

The DEP will supervise the cleaning of a small group of heavily impacted

buildings that have remained unoccupied since September 11. Some of these

buildings have not been cleaned thoroughly, and most have not been cleaned

at all.

The DEP has already begun contacting building owners to start cleaning up

any residual debris on rooftops and building facades in lower Manhattan. The

city is developing a database of the results of samples taken indoors and

outdoors by federal, state and local agencies as well as building owners and

contractors.

" This is a huge task, " added the EPA's Kenny. " But I can assure you that we

will not consider our job complete until residents and the business

community of Lower Manhattan have regained a sense of comfort in the place

that they call home. "