World Trade Center asbestos situation memorandum, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

49. US EPA, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 761.61 — PCB remediation waste. Posted at: http://www.eDa.gov/epahome/cfr40.htm

For non-poFOUs surfaces in high occupancy areas, the level of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins must be less than or equal to 10 micrograms per 100 centimeters squared (s 10 yg/100 cm 2).

US EPA, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 745.227 — Lead dust. Posted at: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/cfr40.htm

A lead-dust hazard on interior surfaces is an average level of lead in dust that equals or exceed 50 pg/ft2 [micrograms per square foot] on uncarpeted floors and 250 pg/ft2 on interior window sills

50. Gonzales, J. (March 21,2002) A Red Flag on Air Tests at WTC, NY Daily News. 51. Mugdan, Walter E. (January 25,2002), op. cit.

52. EPA website on September 11 Response. See page posted at http: //www. epa, gov/epahome/wtc/activities.htm and every individual data page linked to the map of bulk dust sampling at http://www.epa.gov/enviro/nvc/bulkdust/

53. Jenkins, C. (April 30,2002, with May 7 update) TEM vs. PLM METHODS FOR ASBESTOS DUSTS: TEM found over 1% asbestos, but PLM tests showed NONE; EPA PLM tests of WTC fallout dust may have underestimated area of asbestos contamination; EPA Region 2 knew TEM was required and needed, had it after the WTC collapse for their own building, used it in past, but refused to use it for the rest of NYC. Memorandum addressed to Affected Parties and Responsible Officials from Cate Jenkins, Hazardous Waste Identification Division, OSW, EPA. Posted at www.NYenviroLAW.org.

The New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, as well as the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the US EPA Region 2 tested dust from the roof and in an open elevator shaft of an apartment at 150 Franklin St. in April, 2002. Testing by PLM showed no asbestos. But when the exact same samples were retested using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the dust had asbestos over 1%, and in one case at a level of 5%. Franklin St. is about 2 blocks north of the Hudson St. apartment building.

54. Carlton, J. (May 9,2002) Bureaucratic Buck-Passing Delayed Asbestos Cleanup After 9/11 Attacks. Wall Street Journal, www.wallstreetioumal.com Also posted at www.NYenviroLAW.org

But Ms. Jenkins and other critics of her agency's performance have said that one of the EPA's failings was its unwillingness to urge New York to use the most-up-to-date method of asbestos testing - a method employing electron microscopes that the EPA has used elsewhere. The city instead advised building owners to use only an older technique, in which testers search for contaminants using polarizedlight microscopes that work much like ones used in high-school chemistry labs. Electron microscopes, used with computers, can detect asbestos fibers that light

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