Union memo regarding school reopening, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

cleanup activities at the school prior to re-occupying the building. We also reviewed specific activities to be conducted after the school opens.

On October 5, a team from the Union Health & Safety Committee along with the UFT District Representative met with the UFT Chapter Leader, Dorothy Suecoff to discuss the cleanup and air monitoring activities and tour the school. Representatives from BOE D5F and the SCA also participated for part of that session.

Initial Air, Bulk and Wipe Monitoring Before BOE DSF EHS and the SCA conducted any cleanup activities at the school, air, bulk, and dust wipe samples were taken in a number of locations by a third- party environmental firm, ATC Associates, on the 9 , 10th and 11th floors on September 21 and analyzed for asbestos. The air samples were analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM, the most sensitive analytical method) for asbestos. There were no detectable asbestos structures in any of the 15 air samples. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the regulatory requirement for asbestos is based on continuous exposure to more than 70 asbestos structures (per square millimeter) for an extended period. Three bulk samples of debris were collected from the southeast roof of which 1 sample tested positive for asbestos (i. e., contained greater than 1% asbestos material). Forty dust wipe samples were taken inside. tF~' building prior to the cleaning of the school. Thirty-seven indicated no asbestos was detected and three samples tested positive for asbestos. Two of these positive wipe samples were taken in the outside air chambers of the two air-handling units (AHUs) - one in AHU unit # 1 and the other in AHU unit #2. The wipe sample tests are qualitative tests and indicate the presence or absence of asbestos but do not quantify the amounts. Therefore, prior to any cleanup activity in the school the air monitoring results indicated the school met local, state and federal asbestos regulatory criteria for re-occupancy.

On September 29, 2001, dust wipe samples were collected by a third-party environmental firm, ATC Associates, in 61 accessible lockers (out of 3000 lockers) located throughout the building. All 61 wipe samples indicated no asbestos was detected. Based on these results the locked lockers were left as is.

Cleaning of the School Between September 23 and October 4th, the SCA cleaned all the rooms, corridors and floors in the school to remove all visible dust and particulates. Hard surfaces were wet-cleaned and then vacuumed with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) vacuum. Floor carpets were HEPA-vacuumed three times. HEPA vacuums have filters designed to remove microscopic particles including dust and debris from the area. In addition, the auditorium carpet was steam-cleaned to remove

2

NYC-WTC 000106412