EPA OIG draft excerpt on WTC residential cleaning program, June

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

In contrast to the recovery operation at the WTC site, the January 2002 report noted that the WTC debris sorting and inspection process conducted at the Fresh Kills landfill was being handled as a hazardous waste operation with workers wearing half-face respirators, hard hats, eye protection, and Tyvek suits. Respiratory protection compliance by workers at Fresh Kills was approximately 90 percent as opposed to 30-50 percent compliance at the WTC site. The author observed that:

"... debris is pulled by workers Jrom 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."

In other words, the workers at the less hazardous site were more protected than the workers at the more hazardous site. Moreover, the 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 the report’s conclusions about the difference in respiratory use between the WTC and landfill sites.

Respirator Use

As demonstrated by a fact sheet prepared on September 11,2001, EPA’s emergency response officials immediately recognized the need for and recommended the use of air purifying respirators’ at Ground Zero (see Appendix S). EPA officials told us this fact sheet was provided to a FEMA official, but was not issued. We contacted a FEMA representative who told us that the flyer was not issued because it was decided that New York City should handle worker protection issues.

EPA also provided respirators for workers at the site. According to a May 1, 2002, letter fi-om EPA’s Region 2 Administrator to Senator Joseph Lieberman (D- CT) and Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), EPA had distributed 22,100 air purifying respirators and 30,500 sets of PlOO particulate cartridges to New York City by September 22,2001. Additionally, 600 respirators (MSA and 3m brand) and 2,000 cartridges (GME-PlOO) were provided to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Department of Health. The bulk of EPA-procured equipment was transported fi-om EPA’s

7 NIOSH recommended the use of half-face negative pressure respirators with P-100, organic vapor/acid gas (P-IOO/OV/AG) cartridges. Respirators must be properly fitted in order to provide adequate protection against airborne hazards.

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