US Senate letter regarding WTC environmental protection measures, August 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

, HILCAHY ROr^HAM CLINTON

" S'UNATOH Ausox:. sxs*n C5W iwteuw . fURKn ac IHnited ^tatis WASHINGTON, DC 2&B10-3204 1 J j

August 13,2002

The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman Administrator Environmenlal Protection Agency '* 1200 Peozui^rlvania Aveaue Washington, D.C. 20460

Dear Administrator Whitman: la October 2001,1 wrote to you regarding my concerns that all possible measures be taken to protect huroan health and the environment in the wake of the September 11,2001, attack on the Worid Trade Center, and to ensure that the public would be provided with sound • information in this regard. You can imagine my sujpriae and coacem when I learned from a report recently issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Ij^BctoT Genera] (OIG) that the trucks used to clean strsets and sidewalks in the financial district and Battery Park City in tite days immediately fallowing September 11,2001, did not contain High Efficiency Particulate Arresting (HEPA) filters as specified in the contractor work order, and as indicated in statements nia.de last September by you^d others in the Agency. Understandably, the days immediately following September 11,2001, were overwhelming and often times confusing, particularly for Ihose’bn Qus ground responding to the afiaimath of the attack. Fortunately, this omisgion on the part ofthe cleanup conttactox was identified by EFA and addressed. Yet this finding begs the question as to what other problems may have occurred in the weeks following September 11,2001, of which the public, and possibly even EPa itself, are still unaware. As cleanup efforts continue around Ground Zero, including the indoor cleanups that are about to commence, I believe it is vital that we leam fiom this experience and ensure that procedures are in place to protect against such mishits from occurring again in the fufure. Last month, the OlG issued an investigative report os whether you had taken official actions affecting a personal financial interest with respect to three environmental cleanup sites, including the World Trude Center (Case Number 2002-0003). The allegarioos were not substsntiated, and criminal prosecution was declined-

Howevet; in tiie course of interviews related to the World Trade Center component of the OIG’s investigation, it was discovered that “trucks used to do the cleaning did not contain HEPA filters," even though ‘’the work order specified the use ofHEPA filter vacuum trucks." These trucks without HEPA filters were used to clean dust off sheets and sidewalks is the district from Sgrtember 14 through September 16,2001, and started cleanup work in Battery Park City on either September 19 or September 20,2001. The OIG’s report indicates that

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