EPA memo re: asbestos assessment and Superfund advantages, Jan 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Air testing under passive conditions will not detect "real world" asbestos levels

EPA is conducting the AHERA TEM clearance test under passive conditions when the dusts are not being disturbed. As discussed in the Ground Zero Task Force study'^ and my December 19 memo,’’ any activities which stir up dusts will result in vastly higher airborne asbestos concentrations.

I suggest that when a government agency comes out to test air for asbestos, be prepared to have the air drawn from a “human activity simulator.” Have a large box with the open end sitting on carpeting or on a couch that was contaminated. Have a plunger like a broom stick mounted to a flat board about 1 foot square. (Use a broom if you have to.) Put the plunger through a hole in the top of the box. You will be making something the equivalent to a butter chum. Have 3-inch holes on both sides of the box so that air can enter and exit. Then, the EPA or NYC health inspector can draw air through the hole in one side of the box while you are beating the carpet or the couch with the paddle. If EPA tells you that this violates the testing protocols, reply that even using the AHERA TEM test in lieu of certified professional abatement violates the protocols.

EPA’s air testing violates the AHERA protocols

By even performing the AHERA TEM clearance test in lieu of professional asbestos abatement, EPA is violating the AHERA regulations. This is because the AHERA TEM clearance test is only allowed in conjunction with a whole range of asbestos abatement procedures that go on prior to even taking the test.''* It was designed to catch only gross contamination problems caused by some worker on the asbestos abatement project, such as emptying one bag of asbestos contaminated material into another inside a room that had previously been carefully abated.

E PAu s e of 1 % asbestos level for cleanups will result in ineffective cleanups

There is another reason why the cleanup will be ineffective. Both EPA’’ and the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) are claiming that only dusts over 1% asbestos or more are hazardous. The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) advised building owners'^ to test dusts inside buildings to see if they were over 1%. They said that if the dusts were over 1%, a professional asbestos abatement contractor should be used for an inspection and cleaning:

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