Chain of custody form for DEP environmental samples, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Executive Summary

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) in conjunction with the President's declaration of a national disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the federal government office coordinating disaster response, issued mission assignments to EPA related to:

cleaning dust and debris from the streets of lower Manhattan assessing the ambient environment through analysis of air and dust samples providing washing stations for decontamination of personnel and equipment involved in dust and debris removal operations, and disposing of hazardous materials found at the WTC response and recovery site.

Residents of lower Manhattan expressed concerns about the safety and reliability of cleaning methods utilized to remove dust and debris fi-om residential unit interiors and building exteriors. Traditional FEMA support programs were available; however, residents requested additional assurance. To address concerns about the extent of indoor impact of dust and debris, as well as concerns regarding fire-related particle deposition, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman formed an Interagency Indoor Air Task Force. The task force included representatives fi-om the following agencies: EPA, FEMA, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH), the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), the New York City OflSce of Emergency Management, the New York City Mayor’s OflBce of Environmental Coordination, the New York State Health Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The multidisciplinary, interagency group focused on issues of concern to residents and developed coordinated strategies to address the concerns.

In May 2002, EPA, FEMA and New York City (NYC) announced a voluntary cleanup program for residential units in lower Manhattan. This program would run parallel to and simultaneously with several other efforts, in order to reassure residents regarding the potential risks from exposure to residual WTC dust and debris, and to provide residents with the opportunity to have WTC residual material removed from their units as expeditiously as possible. Funded by FEMA through interagency agreements with EPA and NYC, these efforts include:

identification of Contaminants of Potential Concern (COPC) a background study of the COPC in upper Manhattan (Background Study) inspection and cleaning of building exteriors in lower Manhattan Indoor Air Residential Assistance-WTC Dust Cleanup Program (WTC Dust Cleanup Program) cleaning of unoccupied, uncleaned residential buildings, and study of cleaning techniques in an unoccupied building adjacent to the WTC site that was directly impacted by the WTC collapse (WTC Residential Confirmation Cleaning Study).

This report presents the results of the WTC Residential Confirmation Cleaning Study (study) conducted by EPA.

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