NYC Law Department letter regarding EPA draft report excerpts, July

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

New Yprk Construction News Page 2 of2 Continuing, Henshaw said OSHA has taken over 2,2000 environmental samples since Sept. 13 and found that exposure levels are well below recognized levels. However, •respirators are used because things change daily."

Patricia Clark, OSHA's regional administrator, said that the ever-changing environment at the WTC site •ts the biggest hazard on the site. She described the changing environment as a changing rubble pile with fires burning below it, movement of the rubble pile and void spaces below it. As a result, this ever-changing environment creates unique hazards that have and will continue to be addressed."

AMEC Vice Chairman John cavanagh estimated on Nov. 20 that approximately six months more of debris removal work remains and that half of It has already been removed.

He noted that ~e fires continue. It Is the longest commercial fire that has ever occurred at a site. A volume of plastic, carpet and furniture below the rubble is what is continuing to bum. The New York Fire Department Is there constantly wetting down crttlcal areas. And with all that has gone on, It has been an extremely safe site."

"The unprecedented challenges and hazards at the WTC site call for unprecedented cooperation between labor, management and government," noted BCTC President Edward J. Malloy.

"This partnership," Malloy added, •1s needed to protect the safety and health of dedicated and courageous workers who are laboring under such difficult circumstances."

He added that shared Information through the agreement "will allow us to address long- term Issues:

The signed accord calls for the following:

• Prevention of occupational related fatalities and serious injuries and illnesses for all workers Involved In the WTC Emergency Project. • Compliance with and implementation of the WTC Emergency Project • Environmental, Safety and Health Plan. • Immediate abatement of all serious hazards. • The sharing of all exposure monitoring data to include sampling for air contaminants, noise, heat and cold, radiation and biological agents. • The sharing of all safety hazards.

"This unprecedented partnership between government, labor and management Is helping to make the most dangerous construction site In America into the safest one," said BTEA Chairman Louis J. Coletti.

Ground Zero contractors who participated In the signing of the agreement Included Bovis Lend Lease LMB, Turner Construction, Tully Construction, AMEC Construction Management Inc. and Plaza Construction.

The following parties have also agreed to continue to work In cooperation with organizations assisting in the WTC Emergency Project to achieve the goals of this partnership: the New York City Office of Emergency Management, the New York Police Department, the New York City Department of Health, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of Labor, the Port Authority of NY&NJ, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

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http://newyork.construction.com/news/WTC/0111 _groundZero.asp 07/18/2003

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