Guide to identifying suspicious packages and letters

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

BATTERY PARK CITY K E.P.A. Says Air Is Safe, 1 But Public Is Doubtful By SUSAN SAULNY crying, vented their fears to a group ...and ANDREW C. REVKIN of local officials who had come to calm them and answer questions. .:---- The Environmental Protection Agency has tested the air in Lower Many said their distrust comes rC• cG2 Manhattan more than 1,000 times directly from what they experienced and witnessed on Sept. 11. “The real ■ ec / □« and has concluded that it d as not show dangerous levels of contamina­ issue is: how can two buildings disin­ tegrate into thin air — given all the tion. things in those buildings that were Of -■ »*-G • V.-' Sampler from the Occupational never meant to disappear into the air GOC ' G O• x, iJ • Safety anu Health Administration in­ — and that air be perfectly safe to dicate no airborne asbestos or other breathe?” asked Mary White, who contaminants beyond the disaster cor' Y eo :. site. And Joel A. Miele Sr., the city’s lives in Battery Park City. Government officials understand C- O OO o commissioner of environmental pro­ the fury as part of “human nature,” tection, insists that while the air Mr. Miele said, and point out that the quality can cause nagging discom­ real respiratory concern should be fort, “it’s r.ot a health concern.” about something much more mun­ But despite those assurances, dane: exhaust. New tests show that ma"y people who have moved back unfiitered diesel smoke coming from intt downtown homes and offices are the rescue and construction vehicles convinced that the air is unsafe, and now .cramming the red zone is the they say they can produce their own potential new problem. data about the health risks: sore Nonetheless, residents want inde­ throats, tongue lesions, burning eyes pendent air testing and are pushing and ears and skin rashes. They say for the creation of a new city posi­ they are afraid of what could be long­ tion, a nonpartisan “environmental term health effects. advocate” who would explain how The intense fear of contaminated studies are being done and what the air has spread throughout downtown results mean. and taken on a life of its own, despite “There’s tremendous distrust of repeated assurances by the authori­ the information we’re being given,” ties, becoming one of the more unex­ continued Ms. White, who runs an pected and unmanageable side ef­ online business from her home. “We fects of the trade center disaster. feel physically sick when we stay Over the past three weeks, the there, sore throats, burning eyes, voices of disbelief have grown louder rashes.” and angrier. On Wednesday night, at The persistent doubts and fears of least 1,500 downtown residents residents may actually be deeply packed a Wall Street hotel lobby, and rooted in human nature and evolu­ with much shouting and even some tion, and are apt to continue to out-

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P I »J3 f. Martlynn K. Yce/The New York Times Like many near the World Trade Center site, Nancy Graham, left, and Janet Heussner, wear surgical masks because they say the air smells.

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