Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Environmental Health. We have also retained reference to the memorandum provided by the EPA Region 2 Administrator. The questioned paragraph was revised as follows:

The indoor residential cleanup program was administered by EPA and New York City. FEMA officials told us that they normally do not fund indoor cleanups of private spaces related to a disaster unless an immediate hazard is declared. FEMA officials told us that New York City officials indicated a formal cleanup program was not needed. Therefore, in May 2002, the EPA Region 2 Administrator provided FEMA with a memorandum that furnished the necessary justification to authorize funding.

21. With regard to federal agency responsibilities, we agree that worker safety and personal protective measures are within the jurisdiction of OSHA. However, protecting human health and safety in an emergency is a shared goal, and one in which EPA actively supported OSHA. Additionally, EPA was criticized for its efforts in this area and may again face similar challenges in the future. Therefore, this is a legitimate topic for us to address in our report.

22. The cited report is a public document, issued by a Federal Agency, therefore it is sufficient evidence for us to cite. In addition, the report’s findings related to safety measures at the site were corroborated by press accounts, our interviews, and reports from various officials present at the site. Further, we do not agree with New York City’s interpretation of RCRA regulations. Asbestos, is a hazardous substance under CERCLA and, therefore, the OSHA definition of a hazardous waste operation as involving hazardous substances is appropriate. Therefore, we have retained this section in our report.

23. This section was revised to better reflect the cited report’s information and to eliminate any misperception that the author’s conclusions are those of our report. The section was revised as follows:

In contrast to the recovery operation at the WTC site, the January 2002 report noted that workers conducting WTC debris sorting and inspection at the Fresh Kills landfill were wearing half-face respirators, hard hats, eye protection, and Tyvek suits. The author noted that respiratory protection compliance by workers at Fresh Kills was reported to be approximately 90 percent as opposed to 30-50 percent compliance at the WTC site. The author observed that:

“... debris is pulled by workers from the smoking, twisted wreckage of the World Trade Centers and then wetted and hauled to a site where the debris is carefully sorted by workers wearing more protective clothing, much more consistently.”

Moreover, the author noted that workers at the landfill were officially informed that not wearing respirators would result in disciplinary action. OIG investigators from our New York office who participated in the recovery operations confirmed

152 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145507