Law Department notice on WTC document preservation, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

the EPA Superfund Ombudsman, Congress, New York City Council, and New York State Assembly. Concerned citizens and local elected officials testified at these hearings that trucks hauling debris from Ground Zero were not marked as carrying hazardous material, nor were they covered in such a manner to prevent dust from escaping. In addition, people testified that the wetting of debris at the barge operation at Pier 25, which was located north of Ground Zero and near Stuyvesant High School and residences, was inconsistent and resulted in the release of dust into the air. Parents of children at Stuyvesant High School and other members of the public raised concerns that these barge operations were re-contaminating Stuyvesant High School and other buildings in that area.

EPA officials told us they asked New York City to consider alternatives for the placement of the barge, and while New York City officials were understanding of the concerns of the residential and school communities located nearby, viable alternatives were not available. Thus, emphasis was placed on ensuring use of appropriate work practices during unloading of debris-carrying trucks and transfer to barges. Further, the EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator advised us that EPA sampled for the potential air quality impact of these barge operations from September 22, 2001, through May 31, 2002, and found that “99.83% of samples were below the screening level.” She further noted that the New York City Department of Education collected daily air samples at Stuyvesant and other nearby schools from October 4,2001, to the end of June 2002, and found that “the overwhelming majority of daily sampling has resulted in no structures detected.”

We contacted the president of a consulting firm hired by the Stuyvesant High School Parents’ Association to review environmental test results for Stuyvesant High School. He told us that ambient asbestos testing at the school was conducted in accordance with AHERA standards and elevated levels of airborne asbestos were not found. However, he said that elevated levels of particulate matter were recorded that could have come from the debris off-loading operation or diesel fuel emissions from the trucks transporting the debris.

Asbestos Still in Many U.S. Buildings Asbestos is present in many buildings across the country and is still used in some building materials. For example, a 1984 building study by EPA found that, on average, 20 percent of all buildings in the United Stated contained asbestos. These averages were higher for some cities. A 1988 building survey found that, overall, 68 percent of the buildings in New York City contained asbestos. Further, although the use of asbestos-containing material has been banned from some products, it is still used in others. For example, asbestos-containing material is still allowed in pipeline wrap, asbestos-cement corrugated sheet, asbestos­ cement flat sheet, roofing felt, millboard, vinyl-asbestos floor tile, asbestos­ cement shingle, and roof coatings.

38 Report No. 2003-P-00012

NYC-WTC_000145393