Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Draft Report Oflice of ftelnanectorGeoerat

CEWEKAL OBSERVATIONS

Respotise to tee World Trade Center collapse was unprecedented in tee challenges it presented co fcdwal; state and locd emergency responders. EP A undertook immediate efforts to ascertain the presence of eontaminants freon tee collapse and tees, and to ojss st FEMA and New York City io all phases of tee subseonect recovery and clestaqi. EPA’s activities included sampling and analysis of ambient an and water; wash down and ttecontajntnatiQn of vehicles; gee Appendix R removal and disposal of hazardous materials; vacimnung of dust and debris from streets; Note 10 supplying personal protective equipment^ assisting Financial District in retries'^ of electrooic fites.’papers; and provision of data and health information tn the public. Tn illustrate Ae Tnagnitudc of ttw activities conducted at Ac site, over 25,000 samples were taken repmsentu^ 227.000 measurements of 692 potential contsaninants. The initial respon.se continaad until May 2002 and at times, involved as many as 290 EPA and US Coast Chmrd personnel, and 200 Agenej'cootractors

While the report acknowledges tee ueqxecedsnted nature oftee response to the terrorist attack upon tee WTC, many of its findings and Tee<Mnmenda.tioaa haply teat the response wold. have been txmducted tn a maimer consistent wiA a standard regulatory approach, €.g. See Apqaenidix R UQpfemeutation ofNlKIHAPa asbestos regulations. Further, the report docs notrecogoize Aat Notell the WTC response sod clean up efforts ware conducted in the rdjsence of adequate baekgttnted concentrations for the contaminants of potential concern., e g ., typical levels of aahesSos or dtoxin in an uriran apartment Having such informatloa available would have greatly ^>p1tfied die effort to delineate mew that wwtre impacttd and datennine when indoor re^ential environments were cleaned to pre-eveat condition. Additionally. Ae report does not acknowlcftec the Agency’s massive campaign to provide quality information to die poWic - thraogh hundreds of media interviews, tens of thousands of Act sheets and handouts and ionnvative use of Ae internet, including information in three teRguages. Lastly, and most importantly dm eeportfails to recognize the nature ofdecision making in a catastrophic emergency. We mast accept that a fOore incident may involve a scenario «r contanunant Aat we simply cannot foresee. This means that While work can and should be done to develop protocols, slandaids and benebmafis - when an event of flic raagnitude of tee World Trade Center attack occurs, many decisions will based on the best profesaonal jik^cmcat ofcmargcncy responders from fafanches end levels of govenuncaL, through the leaditoslnp ranks of the Department of Homeland Securt^

1

120 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145475