WTC contamination inquiry forwarded, March 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

iVialdonado, Jane From: Jonathan bennett [email protected]] Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 12:18 PM To: undisclosed-recipients Subject: Puzzles about toxic hazard reporting

A couple of journalistic puzzles to ponder this weekend:

Below is a story from the 3/16 Times, reporting that St. Paul's Chapel, which is right across the street from the World Trade Center, will be closing after Easter "for cleanup of debris."

The article include some hints about the nature of those debris, reporting that "the cleanup project is mandated by the city's Department of Environmental Protection" and "preservationists have said they fear the fine dust covering the church may contain toxic -substances and could eventually damage it."

The report includes nothing more about the nature of those toxic substances or the specifics of the DEP's decision to mandate the cleanup. I don't have any more information about the specifics, either, but I do know that one of the laws under which the DEP can order a clean up is the City's asbestos control law, and I also know that three-quarters of the samples of dust from the trade center collapse contain asbestos, so I wonder whether the clean-up was triggered by asbestos contamination. I don't know, but it does not appear that the Times even asked, being more concerned, evidently, about potential damage to the church structure.

The second puzzle is this: Yesterday the City announced that it was postponing the planned 3/18 of the asbestos-contaminated WTC cars. The decision was reported by Nina Peneda on Channnel 7 and by Julie Scelfo on Newsweek Online (http://www.msnbc.com/news/724974.asp ), and I understand that WNYC Radio will air a report on the morning of 3/18. I'm completely flabbergasted by the absence of any coverage of the postponement by the Daily News, because the News could take legitimate credit for having set in motion the postponement by publishing, on 3/8, an exclusive report of the City's plan to go ahead with the release, a report that played up how controversial the release was (http://WWW.nydailynews.com/2002-03-08/News_and_Views/City_Beat/a-143745 .asp). The News' report was even cited in a 3/14 from Rep. Jerrold Nadler to Christine Whitman, in which Nadler demanded that the release be postponed, which is exactly what happened. The New could have had an exclusive about Nadler's letter to Whitman, because the News had a copy of Nadler's letter to Whitman on the day the letter was written. Does anyone know why the News has had a sudden attack of modesty?

St. Paul's Chapel Is Closing for Cleanup of Debris

By TINA KELLEY New York Times March 16, 2002

http://WWW.nytimes.com/2 0 02/03/16/nyregion/16CHAP.html

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