EPA interim final report on WTC background study, April 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to the September 11,2001 attack upon the World Trade Center in conjunction with the President's declaration of a national disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as the federal coordinating office in the disaster, issued mission assignments to EPA in the areas of cleaning dust/debris from the streets of lower Manhattan, sampling the ambient environment (air and dust samples), providing washing stations for personnel working at the WTC response and recovery site as well as equipment and dust/debris being removed from the site, and disposal of hazardous materials found at the WTC site.

Residents of lower Manhattan began to raise their concerns about the safety and reliability of cleaning methods to remove dust and debris from their residential units and building facades. Traditional FEMA support programs were available. Yet due to the unprecedented nature of the disaster and on-going concerns, residents continued to request additional assistance. After evaluating the concerns related to indoor impacts of dust and debris and fire related particle deposition, EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman formed an Interagency Indoor Air Task Force. This group included representatives from the following agencies: the regional and national office of the 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 State Department of Environmental Conservation(NYSDEC), the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The group recommended various issues that could be addressed. Thus, in May 2001, EPA, FEMA and NYC announced a voluntary cleanup program for residential units, that would run in parallel to several other efforts to address the concerns of lower Manhattan residents regarding the potential risks from exposure to residual WTC dust and debris. These efforts were funded by FEMA through interagency agreements with EPA and NYC and include:

identification of the Contaminants of Potential Concern (COPCs)

a backgroimd study of the COPCs in upper Manhattan (Background Study)

inspection and cleaning of building exteriors in lower Manhattan

Indoor Air Residential Assistance - WTC Dust Cleanup Program

cleaning of unoccupied, uncleaned buildings, and

a study of cleaning techniques in an unoccupied building adjacent to the WTC site that was directly impacted by the WTC collapse (WTC

WORLD TRADE CENTER BACKGROUND STUDY 1

NYC-WTC_000145876