WTC document preservation notice, NYC Law Department

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document FEB-10-2003 15:34 EPA 290 BROADWAY 1212 bjy 4440 r.Kkr

"Residents in our area did nnt relocate and took no debris or ash in after 9/11. A-k a rest R we've taken no action."

A.S shameful as this is, we have no information about the offices and .stores where people actuall r work because DEP's request only asked about common .space.?

11 is outrageous that the government placed the burden on building owners and tenants 11 remediate WTC debris in the first place. That the government did virtually nythtnx to ensure th: .safety of the places where people work is unconscionable.

We also have critical new information that confirms that The EPA, and noi the City, is ineftjtably respnatible for cleaning up all areas of these buildings. In sworn cesrimony given last month, the /assistant Administrator of EPA, Marianne Horinko. admitted that Pre.tidential Decision Directive (FDD) 6’2, which was signed by President Clinton in 1998 and dictaics how the federal agencies arc to respond to an act of terrorism, mandates that EPA musl clean up inside buildings. A copy of this transcript is in your pres.? packet. Ms. Horinko's testimony is [he fust time any top level official at EPA has admitted that the buck stops with them. It’S also a Stark departure from previous statements made by, for example. Administrator Whitman, who .said on PBS's Newshour back in April. "If (here is an area where there in a 'hole,' thi.s i.s where il is, in response, because it's just a little murky here as to who has the responsibility, who is rcspcn.rible for the cleanup." Now wimp are iJiai with EPA Assistant Admiiuarator Horinko'.? sworn testimony:

"Question: Who in EPA, who is the individual who has the ultimate lead for the cleanup of interiors? Is ii you? Answer: Ultimately I suppose it would be CJovemor Whitman as the administrator. Since I do report to her, I am certainly the lead on emergency respon.se " "Que-tfion: Is cleaning up the interiors an emergency response? Answer. Yes, it is." Clearly, the EPAis responsible for ensuring the safety of buildings contaminated by WTC debiis. 1 have been insisting on this for over a year, while the HPA has continually denied h. This testimony, combined with the FOIL documents that show the City has done virtually nothing, prove that the EPA can no longer pass the buck or pomi fingers at other government agencies.

If pressed on this, the EPA may say there is no problem. Thar everything is safe. You wil soon hear from downtown workers who wiJI show otherwise. But until the EPA lakes action by properly testing and remediating all downtown workspaces, using the best possible sdemific methods and in compliance with the strictest safely standards to ensure there is no contaminaiion. the agency has no basis for .saying otherwise and walking away from the victims of Ihc terrori-st attack. The EPA agreed to clean residential spaces. Although they act like it is merely a courtesy, there is no rational ur legal explanation for the EPA cleaning indoor residential spaces, but excluding workspaceji Hundreds of ihousands of lower Manhattan workers, many who spend the majority of their waking lives at work, may he at serious health risk

FEB-10-2003 16:15 1212 637 4445 p.02

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