EPA and City Plan for Indoor Air Quality, May 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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Commissioner. “While earlier air testing in Downtown Manhattan reassured New Yorkers, this comprehensive, collaborative program will allow residents to have their apartments cleaned and tested free of charge if there is any concern with indoor air quality. New Yorkers deserve to know that their environment is safe from health risks.”

Under the plan outlined today, FEMA will provide a grant to New York City that will pay for the professional cleaning and testing.

“FEMA strongly supports the EPA and New York City's efforts to take immediate action aimed at alleviating concerns over environmental conditions in Lower M;.inhattan," said Joseph F. Picciano, Acting Regional Director of the FEMA Region, "We are pleased to be able to fully fimd this initiative.”

Under the plan outlined today, FEMA will provide funds to hire certified cleanup contractors for residents who wish to have their homes professionally cleaned. EPA will conduct followup testing for asbestos in the indoor air after the cleanups are completed. Upon request, the Agency will provide the option of testing-only for residents who do lot want their apartments cleaned. New York State will continue to provide HEPA vacuums through FEMA to residents who wish to do their own cleaning on an ongoing basis. Requests for testing or cleaning will be taken through an EPA hotline that will be set up within several weeks.

EPA will collect samples of some pollutants associated with the collapse of the World Trade Center in apartments that have not been impacted. The Agency will use the data to determine pre-existing or "background" levels in interior spaces in New York City. The Agency is also preparing to test various cleanup techniques in a still-unoccupied building near the World Trade Center site to confirm their effectiveness. EPA will provide health and cleanup information to all residents through the hotline and on the Agency Web site (www.epa.gov/wtc).

Also under today's plan, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will supervise the cleaning of a small group of heavily impacted buildings that have remained unoccupied since September 11. Some of these buildings have not been cleaned thoroughly; most have not been cleaned at all. Worker safety during this cleanup will be coordinated with OSHA. In addition, DEP has begun contacting building owners to initiate the cleanup of residual debris on rooftops and building facades in Lower Manhattan. Finally, the city is developing a database of the results of samples taken indoors and outdoors by federal, state and local agencies as well as building owners and contractors.

"As the recovery process continues at Ground Zero, New Yorkers are still feeling the effects of the September 11th terrorist attacks,” said Senator Charles Schumer. “We feel it when we look at an altered sky line; we feel it when we realize our neighbors aren't returning home and we feel it in the air everyday, literally. The September 11th attacks produced genuine concerns about air quality in lower Manhattan and that's why the EPA's ask force to ensure that our homes are safe is so necessary."

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