Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

At the time we completed our report, no studies of the health effects of the WTC collapse on the general public had been completed, although we noted studies® were underway to determine the effects of the WTC collapse on pregnant women and their children. Further, in January 2003, New York City and Federal health officials announced a plan to study residents and employees in Lower Manhattan to identify whether there will be long-term pulmonary effects associated with exposure to WTC dust and air.

Recent Developments EPA has initiated actions to strengthen its risk communication procedures for emergency situations. For example, EPA’s Office of Public Affairs has prepared a draft “Plan for Incident Communication” that establishes basic incident procedures and assigns responsibilities and authorities. Further, the Agency intends to use this plan as the basis for more inclusive best-practices emergency communications guidance.

Conclusions

EPA’s early statement that the air was safe to breathe was incomplete in that it lacked necessary qualifications and thus was not supported by the data available at the time. CEQ influenced the final message in EPA’s air quality statements. Competing considerations, such as national security concerns and the desire to reopen Wall Street, also played a role in EPA’s air quality statements. The “safety” of the air in Lower Manhattan after the collapse of the WTC towers is still being debated and studied. However, given the current lack of health-based benchmarks, the lack of research data on synergistic effects, and the lack of reliable information on the extent of the public’s exposure to these pollutants, the answer to whether the outdoor air around WTC was “safe” to breathe may not be settled for years to come.

6 “Prospective Study of Pregnant Women and Infants Exposed in Utero to WTC Air Pollution,” Columbia University; and “Study of Pregnant Women and Children Near WTC,” Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

19 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145374