Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Sufficiently detailed health dak inforenation is effectively cOTwmunicated to the public, inciudir^ actions that (he public should lake to reduce their pateRtia) exposure to hacmfel polkiJimfis.

EPA RcspWBSt:

Wife respect to worker safety on or near the debris pile al Ground Zero, alfeou^ OSHA bld direct responsibility. EPA supported them in many ways. SPA immediately jxrovided a large supply of respirators for the wdceis, followed by a long-term and concmed effort to educate workera shout fee need to wear fee masks. Further, ERA’s wenker-eafety message was pressed repeatedly io news releases, media interviews, public meetings and appaoances, on fee Agency's WTC Web rite. In flyers and posters at fee worker wash R station that EPA provided. Itotel?

With reqjecT tothcpuWic's reported need for better infonnahoo. EPA and other federat, State and local agenejee provided die most coroprebcjuave and op to date jpfdnaatiBn available. As mentioned eadier to response to Ch^jter 1, extensive air txKnutaring data was available on an mterattive Web site and air sampling resalG were reported out as soon as Aey were reviewed fat discussions with media representatives, federal, stade asid local o^cials, elected officials ted interested ciftzms. While government agencies. See Appendix R including EPA, shonld examine otic communication tools and skills in emergency Motels sittmtimis aod make iiRprovemsnts. the public sometimes wants infonnation that is simply not scientifically available, or is not available quickly. EPA feels that die efforts made in cengunctioa wife New York City and State, FEMA and OSHA provided leaaonable assurance that Wolter’s mid fee general public’a exposure to contaminants was mimtnized. As die report acicnowiedges, EPA has initiated acthms to improve ride cotnmunicstittos to the ptjblic, and with regard to worker safety, is partieipaiiag in a FKM.4-tsd fnlcragency effort tn provide unifonn occupatioTHd safetj- and hcahh ptdicy under the Federal Response Plan.

FARTHER ACTIONS NEEDED TO ADDRESS CURRENT WTC RESPONSE

Coadssiaa: “Extensive ambient nxnutzHW dote collected after S^Jterober 11 demoastmted that outdoor air quality levels around Lower Manhattan eventually teturaed to t^e-Septeniber 11 levels. As sneh, EPA does not need to take additional actions to address outdoor ambient air quality concerns apecifieaffy related to the collapse of fee

7

126 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145481