Fax re EP hearing attendees and questions, Feb 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

, Tuesday 12 of Feb 2002, Mayor Office ->718 595 4544 Page 3 of 14

NYC Council Committee on Environmental Protection Hearing on the Environmental Impacts on Lower Manhattan due to the Terrorists Attacks on the World Trade Center

Committee Questions February 13,2002

Testing

1. What is the current coordination between the agencies? How frequently do you coordinate acti^'ities/ exchange data?

2. What is the coordination with testing done by property owners? Who has oversight over making sure the buildings were properly cleaned? What were the clean-up standards that the landlord had to comply with in order for a building to reopen?

3. According to the Washington Post, the EPA did not release more troubling data until after the nonprofit New York Environmental Law and Justice Project filed a Freedom * of Information Request. These tests reportedly found elevated levels of dioxin, PCBs, lead and chromium in the air, soil, and water around the site. Do these “troubling” results reveal dangerous health risks to the public?

4. How often are you conducting the tests for each pollutant? At what times during the day and how many tests are being conducted? If not daily, why not? a. In our November hearing, EPA said it would find out whether testing is conducted at night. Is night testing currently being dope? How often? Were the contaminants above acceptable levels at night? b. Are more locations being added? In Brooklyn? c. Have testing locations been changed? If so, why? d. What size particles are you testing for? What sizes should you be testing for?

5. EPA’s Acting Deputy Commissioner Kathleen Callahan testified that the changing weather patterns from summer to winter will more likely “invert” air substances closer to the ground where the air is more static, thereby increasing the public’s exposure at street level. Have contaminants exceeded acceptable standards during fall and winter weather?

6. Testifying before the City Council in November 2001, Dr. Robert Jaffe recommended the use of the Tetramitus Assay for toxicity analysis of air samples. He said the process is more complete and measures the toxicity of whole, untreated particles. The Tetramitus Assay allows for conducting a large number of samples on a daily basis, expanding the ability to monitor more frequently at a greater number of sites. Has more of this type of testing been done? What has it shown?

NYC-WTC_o6o147‘412