WTC document preservation notice, NYC Law Department

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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TESTIMONY OF U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JERROLD NADLER (D-NY)

Submitted to The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Wetlands, and Climate Change February 11,2002 1

Impact of the September 11*** Attack on Air and Public Health in Lower Manhattan

Thank you. Chairman Lieberman. I would like to thank you and Senator Clinton for holding this field hearing today, and for inviting me to testify, regarding the continuing impact of the September 11* attacks on the air quality in Lower Manhattan.

As the Congressman representing “Ground Zero” and the surrounding area, I am deeply concerned about the environmental and health effects posed by the collapse of the World Trade Center for ray constituents, and for those who go to school or work in the area. It has now been exactly five months since the terrorist attacks and, unfortunately, the people in Lower Manhattan still do not know whether or not it is safe to live and work in the area. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed in its mission to “.. .protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment..by not ratercising its fiill authority to test and dean all indoor spaces where people live and work. As such, the EPA has created a full-scale crisis of public confidence.

Yet, all is not lost. The EPA can and must act now to remedy this situation and make Lower Manhattan safe and to restore public trust. Despite statements to the contrary, the agency dsss currently have the authority and resources to do so, and it must do so quickly. However, if the EPA continues to feil New Yorkers, I will introduce legislation to mandate action.

I am going to begin by being very blunt. We now know enough to be alarmed am! outraged at the federal government’s response to the environmental impact of 9/11. First, we know that EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman misled the public on September 18^, 2001 when she said she was “glad to reassure fixe people ofNew York that.. .their air is safe to breathe, and their water is safe to drink.” She made that statement without the indoor data necessary to make such a pronouncement. Second, we know that the EPA has made a series of conflicting comments about the presence and quality of hazardous materials, and has even knowingly withheld critical data regarding the causticity of the dust. Third, we know that the EPA delegated authority to New York City to handle indoor environments, but did nothing to ensure that the City’s response was appropriate. This left New Yorkers to their own, uninformed devices, often without the means to take care of themselves and thrar families. This is true even as the EPA had its own building at 290 Broadway professionally tested and cleaned. And finally, we know that the EPA has treated New York differently than it has treated other locales contaminated by hazardous materials. New York was at the centra* of one of the most calamitous events in American history, and the EPA has essentially walked away.

Ms. Whitman’s statement, reassuring the public about the safety of air and water, which has been echoed by many at all levels of government, was based only on the EPA’s outdoor tests !

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