World Trade Center document custody notice, Law Department

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

agency did find elevated levels of hazardous materials in early results, but the full results of the tests will not be available until April, 2002.’ However, even with respect to outdoor air, Ms. Whitman’s statement has been countered directly by a published report by University of Califomia at Davis scientist, Thomas Cahill.^ Dr. Cahill’s team, working in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Energy, found that the amount of pulverized “ultra-fine particulate matter” emitted from the World Trade Center (WTC) destruction, was “unprecedented” and according to the Los Angeles Times, “.. .outdid even the worst pollution from the Kuwait oil fields fires.”® According to CahiU, the EPA did not test for this level of very fine particulate matter (.25 to .09 microns), only for larger particles with less sensitive equipment. “The EPA could have identified these particles within a couple of days if they looked for them, but they didn’t.”*® Dr. Cahill ^o noted in die article that EPA scientists diemselves have acknowledged that the ultra-fine particles are the “most hazardous” because diey can evade the body’s protection and lodge deep inside the lungs. * * An extended commentary by Dr. Cahill on diese topics was made at the February 23,2002 EPA National Ombudsman Hearing in New York City. *^ Of course it stands to reason that if there were problems related to outdoor air, problems related to indoor air would necessarily arise. An EPA Region n Spokesperson acknowledged that very point when she said recently, “We [the EPA] have fi'om the start been clear that what we found on the outside was likely to have gotten inside people’s apartments.’’*^

The EPA Misleads Further The EPA also misled the public about air quality by nuschaiacterizing its own data and ignoring or withholding other critical data that contradicted Ms. Whitman’s assurances. Ms. Whitman’s statement, which has been echoed repeatedly by agency officials at every level of government to this day, was made even as EPA officials possessed evidence that contradicted her statement.

’ NYC DOH Press Release, “NYC Department of Health Presents Findings from Indoor Air Sampling in Lower Manhattan,” February 8,2002. * UC Davis News and Information Press Release, “Trade Center Air Held Unpreeedented Amounts of Very Fine Partieles, Silicon, Sulfates, Metals, Say UC David Scientists.” February 11,2002. See also Lau, Edie and Bowman, Chris, “N.Y. Air Hazards Found: EPA Assurances Contradicted by UCD Scientists,” The Sacramento Bee, February 12,2002. ’ Polakovic, Gary, “Danger Found in Trade Center Air” Los Angeles Times, February 12, 2002. See also Lau, Edie and Bowman, Chris, “N.Y. Air Harzards Found: EPA Assurances Contradicted by UCD Scientists,” The Sacramento Bee, February 12,2002. '“Ibid. "ibid. “Official Transcript,” EPA National Ombudsman First Investigative Hearing on World Trade Center Hazardous Waste Contamination,” February 23, 2002, testimony of Dr. Thomas Cahill, Professor, University of Califomia at Davis, p. 15-72. Jones, Charisse, “Anxieties Over Toxins Rise at Ground Zero,” USA Today, February 7,2002.

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