World Trade Center asbestos situation memorandum, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Background levels of asbestos in dusts and soils are much, much lower than 1%.

Even better would be for Region 2 to use the comprehensive authority of the National Contingency Plan (NCP) statutory authority. Then it would have flexible regulations that would apply to the situation, namely a major release of hazardous substances requiring the expertise and resources of the federal government for cleanup. Then Region 2 would have been obligated to look at the true hazards posed by any asbestos, and require cleanup to these levels, not to the unsafe level of 1%.

EPA has established that 1% asbestos is not a safe level

In the NESHAP regulation guidance documents, EPA has made definitive statements that the 1% level for asbestos containing materials is not in anyway a safety standard or a health benchmark.'*’

In April 1973, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for asbestos (38 FR 8820). The NESHAP regulation governs the removal, demolition and disposal of asbestos containing bulk waste. An asbestos-containing product, as stated by the regulation was defined for the first time to be a product with greater than 1% asbestos, by weight. The intent of the 1% limit was:

... to ban the use of materials which contain significant quantities of asbestos, but to altow the use of materials which would (1) contain trace amounts of asbestos which occur in numerous natural substances, and (2) include very small quantities of asbestos (less than 1 percent) added to enhance the material’s effectiveness. (38 FR 8821).

It most be cleariy understood that the EPA NESHAP definition of 1% by weight was not established to be a health-based standard, [emphasis added]

Even the legal counsel for EPA Region 2 has stated in writing several months after the WTC collapse (but only after exposing large numbers of people) that the 1% level is not in any way related to safety or health.'*®

Note that the 1% standard is not necessarily health- or risk-based, but rather keyed to the detection limits of the specified analytical method.

EPA has also made it clear in Superfund guidance that 1% asbestos in soils is not a safe level, if the soils are stirred up and asbestos gets in the air.'*’

Questions and Answers about Asbestos and EPA's Libby Investigation

Q : I recently read that EPA found less than 1% (or trace levels) asbestos at Fireman's Park and other locations that were sampled. Is that a safe level?

A : This is a very difficult question, and at this time we are not sure. Levels at 1 % or less may be

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