US Senate letter regarding WTC environmental protection measures, August 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document ■cu

-• •' • HILi2«Y.SOOHA^ CLINTON

SENATOll *s.;c., iviusuc .. sum ^aiAt5+-UAr Wted States Renate V.'ASI-INGTDN, DC 20St0-32W

August 13,2002

Tee Honorable Chrisiine Todd VyTiiliaan Admirji strntor EnvironmcQla] Proxection Agency ' 1200 reEoyi'-an.d AveaUC Washington, D-C. 20460

Dear Adintnim. Whifiman:

In OcTober 2001,1 ■wrote tc you regarding nay concerns that all possible measures be taken to protect human health 2nd the eovironineat in the wake of ths September 11,2001. atV-ck on th'3 U odd Trade Coater, and to ems'urq that the public would be provided with sound • ’ufeer., hen ir. this regard. Yo'j can imagine my surprise arid concern when I Jsaxaed horn a repo^. recently issued by the United States Eavixcanxeatal Protection Agency’s OfSce of the lD.^srto: General (CIG) that th.? trucks used to clean stroet5 and sidewalks in the fnanrid district and Banery Park City in the days intnediaiely Allowing September 11, 2001, did co: contain High EfSciaacy Parhculare Arrsstinf (HEPA) filters as specified in the cont:ir:''r ’K-orh ord?- and as indicated in statements made last September by youjmd others in the Agency'

Ucdcrst&ndably, ths cays imntsciatcly following Scytrmbe- 11, 2001. w'ctc ove.-wnsntxf a: 3 often times eenfuting, pardcubrly fcr ±cse‘on the ^lird respondici, to afiermath efiw attack. Fortunately, thi” mis don on ths p-vi ci ths cleanup conttactor "um. ‘dentifisd by EPA end addresssd. Vet this fr.ding begs the ques'daa as to what o±er problem.* may have occvrrec in ths weeks foKo^ing September 11, 2001, of ■which the public, and pc isihly even EPA itself, are still vaawcO-e, As cleanup efforts continue around Ground Zt; including ths ■indoor cleanups that are about to coTnmsr.ee, I beTev? ft jg ■vital that we learn f this experience and snaure that procedures sre in place to prcte-ct against such mishaps Sum occ-uining again in the future.

I.2s: month, the OIG iss'ued an investigative report on whether you had ts.ker. ofSciai actionr. affectieg a personal financial intancst with respect ic three et, 'irouaeatal cleaa-up sites, Including the World Trade Center (Case Number: 2002-0003). I? i^idoas weic not suhstnnriated, and criminal prosocurfoa was declined-

However, in the course of interviews related to the World T. . Center componect of the OIG’s investissric^n, it was discovered that "trucks used to do the clearing did no*. coDtain HEPA hlter’s,” even though "th® wort order ■specified the lase of I^TEr A Sher vaou-um trucks." These trucks without HEPA filters ■^■ere used to clean dust off streets a:' Hiewalkp is fittancieJ district fiem September 14 through September 16,2001, and sta.rted cleanup ■work in Ba'nery’ Park City on eith* Scptcm.bcr 19 or September 20,2001. The OIG’s report indicates that

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