DEP form document, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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Pros: Safe to breathe near WTC By FRAfa LOMBARD! OMur NEWS SWF wnnai - A battery eS mvernment experts tratified yesterday that environmental condt- tions around the destroyed •Warid Trade Center pose no long-term health risks. Tne still-smoldering fires at the site continue to emit /plumes of smoke and dust /that can irritate, file eyes, *‘ nose and throatL But mqr won’t cause long-term ?• health effects, they said. n^ The officials, appearing ’t : at a City Council hearing cm *•* ithe environmental impact of file Sqrt 11 iattadr, said ^fiie air quality is safe based '".On federal standards for as* •bestos, fine particulates, lead, benzene, PCBs and . L /other dangerous chemicals and substances. *The vast minority of our tests find levels of these con* taminants pose no s^nifi* cant long-term health risks to residents, business em­ ployees and visitors beyond Ground Zero,* testified Kathleen Callahan, deputy regional director of the UJS. Environmental Protection some readings at file WTC site sometimes ex­ ceeded federal regulations, they were “snapshots of the levds of certain chemicals associated with burning," and changed wifii me weather and ofiier condi­ tions, Callahan said. F" { She added that the stan­ > dards of the EPA and theOc- - eupational Safety and ? Hodth Administration “are set many tim«s' below the level at whidi yc*j would ex­ pect health impacts.” Callahan abo said that workers at the site are ade­ quately protected if tiiey wear respirators. ' Assurances also came from Di: Jessica Leighton, assistant city health com­ missioner for environmen- » tal risk assessmentPressed by Council Speaker Peter wlkine (D-Queens), who asked if "people are safe at file present lev^” Leighton said; "As far as the sdence has shown us ri^ now, that is absolutely correct” The assurances failed to satisfy several environmen­ tal advocates, including Joel Kupferman, executive director of fiw NewYork En­ vironmental Law & Justice Project He was dismissive of city and state environ­ mental agencies and ac­ cused fiiem of wifiiholding some test results. ■•s -

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