Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

the dust and debris emanating from the collapse and the ensuing fires created environmental concerns for the public that have persisted more than a year after the disaster.

Airborne dust from the collapse of the towers blanketed Lower Manhattan and was blown or dispersed into many of the surrounding office buildings, schools, and residences. One person described the aftermath in Lower Manhattan as “looking like a blizzard” had hit. However, this blizzard did not deposit snow, but instead a complex mixture of building debris and combustion by-products. This mixture included, among other substances, asbestos, lead, glass fibers, and concrete dust.

In addition to the initial dispersion of dust and debris, fires at the site created various emissions of potentially harmful pollutants. These fires were not officially declared extinguished until December 19, 2001, and debris continued to smolder and fires flared up for weeks after that. Emissions resulting from these fires included particulate matter, various metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dioxin. Dost clond from the WTC collapse. Source: NYPD On September 11, 2001, the President signed a major disaster declaration for the five counties of New York City to provide assistance to New York State, thus activating the Federal Response Plan (FRP). The FRP establishes the process and structure for the Federal Government to provide assistance to local agencies when responding to the consequences of any major disaster or emergency declared under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 5121, et seq.). The FRP employs an operational Street level conditions in Lower Manhattan after collapse. Source: wtcphotos by flagsoncars.com

2 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145357