Memo draft for DEP Commissioner, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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Date; October 8,2001

To; Residents of Battery Park City;

From; Mr. Joel A. Miele, Sr. New York City Department of Environmental Protection 56-17 Junction Boulevard Corona, New York 11368

Since September 11, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Health (DOH), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have been taking samples of the air, dust, water, river sediments and drinking water and analyzing them for the presence of pollutants that might pose a health risk to residents of Battery Park City and the public. The samples are evaluated against a variety of benchmarks, standards and guidelines established to protect public health under various conditions. These agencies consider the amount of time a person is exposed to a particular pollutant and where - a school, workplace or home - in creating these criteria.

The following is a description of some of the benchmarks, standards and guidelines these agencies are using to evaluate environmental conditions in the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster.

Asbestos in the Air

EPA is using the strictest protective standard under AHERA, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act, to evaluate the risk from asbestos in the outdoor and indoor air. This standard is used to determine whether children may re-enter a school building after asbestos has been removed or abated. To determine asbestos levels, air filters are collected from monitoring equipment through which air in the school building has passed and then been viewed through a microscope. The number of structures - material that has asbestos fibers on or in it - is then counted. The measurements must be 70 or fewer structiu’es per square millimeter before children are allowed to re-enter a school. To be as protective as possible, EPA is^j^sing the^sc^cjol re-entry standard in tests around the World Trade Center site. All areas cf Battery Park City have passed this strict protective standard before being open again to the public.

There is also a federal standard for asbestos exposure under OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which is used to protect workers on-the-job. The standard is .1 fiber per cubic centimeter. Again, all open areas of Battery Park City have been tested and have received acceptable test results utilizing this OSHA standard.

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