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NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Arsenic.txt From: dchapin nysnet [[email protected]) Sent: Monday, October 02, 2000 11:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Arsenic

Importance: High

From: Ketas, Joe To: Chapin, Diana Cc: Sturcken, Charles; Miele Sr., Joel Subject: Arsenic Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 2:39PM

Diana - I called Jack Linn today. He said that they have considered t he

package that we sent them a few weeks ago on the arsenic levels that and were found in the limited tested areas of Van Cortlandt, Central Ferry Point Parks. He said that they have had a number of internal debates about whether the issue shot addressed further and, if so

how. He said their final Departmer 0 41 -a that they see no ~Nr" obligation to investigate the issi .ered to do so by the Mayor's Office. Their reasoning, as best II~caan de - (j gys . revolve around t he 1 following: (1) They see no immediate problem because the area where the tests we re

taken are areas where there would likely be no exposure o children. (2) They are not aware of any data showing that anyone has become ill due to the ingestion of arsenic in city parks. (3) They believe that most park areas where ingestion or inhalation would be an issue for children have been redeveloped or reconstructed since they stopped using pesticides with arsenic. (4) They believe that, if additional tests are taken, high test.resul is

are likely to result because of past pesticide use, but they do not believe there is a reasonable health risk expert at DOH that will give them a fair and reasonable analysis of potential risks.

I understand their fears about investigating this matter further. I don't understand,• however, how they can draw the conclusion that no problem exists without further investigation of potential risks. In fact, I think we have a moral obligation to investigate further. I also believe that we know a reasonable bunch of folks at DOH who cou ld Page 1

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