Article on WTC cleanup dust hazards, Sept 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document J I II li I" f'Wl iMMH !l ill Id II III ill. I

Cleaning Dust Improperly Can Create l^ew Hazards NEW YORK-The air quality has im­ ants, who say a company representatire tors to cover their cargo with tarps and wet it proved, but some residents and employees said there had been miscommunication and down twice: after loading it and before un­ near ground zero have another worry: that additional cleaning might be warranted. Of­ loading it , efiorts to clean up from the World Trade ficials with J&D didn’t return telephone But some downtown residents complain Center disaster may be reintroducing con- messages see Ing comment the precautions aren’t always followed. At taminated dust into the air. The cleanup industry employs highly least one test lends circumstantial support The fine powder that blanketed buildings specific techniques to avoid exacerbating that this kind of failure may occur. Last near the disaster site contained unsafe con­ contamination problems. Although govern­ month, the EPA found a reading above the centrations of asbestos and less-dangerous ment agencies haven’t rnandated an across- federal safety threshold for airborne asbes- amounts of heavy metals such as lead and the-board cleanup of downtown buildings. tosatasitenearStuyvesantHighSchootfive mercury, some government and private tests the city has warned landlords to at least blocks north of the disaster site. The elevated show. Adding to residents’ concerns at the mop or sponge dusty surfaces with specially levels were brief, nowhere near the pro­ higfa-riseatl5PaikRow,withintwoblocksof treated water, use particle-trapping vacu- tracted exposure considered dangerous. The school stands close to a point vdiere trucks the disaster site, was their fear that, the urns and replace filters on air-conditioning bringgroundzerodebris cleanup recontaminated their apartments, or heating systems. tobarges in the Hud­ son River that take it to a landfill inStaten Is­ Residents there say they have seen crews ' To dean filters in heating units in apart- land. Residents such as Diane Lapsrm, cleaning exterior window led^ from within ments at 15 Park Row, workmen “would open whose apartment overlooks the barge opera- apartments, potentially allowing asbestos to theairfilter.putitonthefloorandvacuumit tion.saythey have observed workers on occa­ blow inside. with a plain old dirty Hoover vacuum,” in­ sion failing to wet down the debris during un­ Tenants say they complained in Octo- steadofbagginganddisposingofthecontam- loading. ber to their landlord, J&D Apartments inated filters, says Maria Goredd, a 30-year- Matthew Monahan, a spokesman for the LLC, but got little response. They went on ' old attorney who moved into the building on city’s Department of Design and Construc­ rent strike'a month after the disaster, Sept. 2. She says she recentlyleft for an apart­ tion, which supervises operations at ground hired their own lawyer and commissioned ment uptown, partly because of discomfort zero, says it is possible that some dust rises environmental tests. Four of five samples about the way her former building was during the transfer of debris from truck to of dust showed the presence of asbestos cleaned. J&D has sued Ms. Gorecki and some barge. But, he says, “every effort is made to Ml window ledges and balconies, accord­ other tenants in a New York municipal court wet down the debris after it is taken from the ing to. tests perfonned for. the residents by for breaking their leases and leaving. . World Trade Center site to minimize any Environmental Management Solutions of ■ The main cleanup effort—removing more dust” Paul Ashlin, a senior vice president at New York, a consulting firm. All of the than a million tons of debris from the disaster Bovis Lend Lease, one of the four main con- asbestos-'levels exceeded federal safety site itself-creates another danger that con­ tractors working on the site, says, “Iftheresi- standards for material containing asbes­ taminated material will become airborne. To dents have a real concern, m make a point of tos, the tests showed. preventdustfromrisingfromthetruckshaul- putting a further supervisor on that rite.” J&D met earlier tins month with ten- ino-Qwavthe rubble, the city has told contrac­

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