New York Times article on EPA criticism regarding WTC

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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) Airways Disease Syndrome, or RADS.

; EPA Tests When the EPA scientists calculated what those. ’ mouse doses would mean to humans, they deter-' mined that a range of 42 to 425 micrograms per cubic met^r of aif would be sufficient, in a single-, , exposure, to cause RADS in humans. ’This EPA '- mouse study has not been published in a medical w -

Came scientific journal. According to the EPA’s monitoring data, posted on its Web site, several air and dust sampling stations in Manhattan gave readings in that range when tests were nm. A sampling on Park Row came up at 42.4 micrograms per cubic meter on Sept. 26; on

> Later AIR from A4 I Sept. 21, a sample gathered at Albany and West streets measured 40.6; a week later, that site record­ ed a 137.7 level. The EPA scientists who conducted the mouse study wrote in their report that even one day of expo­ sure to such levels “could have contributed to develop­ 1 ment of pulmonary inflammation, airway hyper­ been very reassuring about potential e^MiBure of res­ responsiveness, and manifestations of sensory irrita­ cue crews and the public to environmental contami­ tion such as cough.” nants ... the general public should be veiy reas­ I Treatment for RADS involves the same types of sured by initial sampling.” i anti-inflammatory inhalants and drugs used for asth­ ma. The EPA database shows it either collected or i Last week’s internal EPA report revealed that the ceived from other federal, state and city agencies agency’s optimistic language on gir quality was or­ 66,000 dust and air samples between Sept. 11 and dered by the White House National Security Council November 13,2001. Almost none was available when and Council on Environmental Quality, or CEQ. the EPA pronounced the air safe to breathe. Speaking yesterday on WNYC radio. Sen. Hillary Within minutes after the collapse of the first Rodham Clinton, who has called for a Senate investi­ World Trade Center tower, "it was very apparent to gation of the White House’s role, said, “Time and us that this tragedy was a public health and environ­ again the government said to us — I mean months mental crisis. 'Riat was really apparent on Day One later — “it’s safe’. I think it would be very important as we, like others, struggled to breathe,” Dr. Isaac to find out what was the collaborative process in the Weisfiise, assistant commissioner in the New York 4 White House. Who did change those press releases?” City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Acting EPA Administrator Marianne Horinko de­ said in an interview this week. The city agency, as clined to identify who at the White House was in­ well as the EPA, scrambled to collect debris dust sam­ volved. “Why would we purposely mislead people ples on Sept. 11, testing them first for lead, and re- about a national tragedy?” she asked. She charged Bults were available Sept. 12. The following day, the that the internal EPA report was “pure political con­ only new data concern^ asbestos; about 26 percent jecture” motivated by unstated ill in the agency’s of collected samples showed levels above the regulato­ inspector general’s office. ry standard. By the time Whitman declared on Sept. The key player in the White House campaign to 18 that "the air is safe to breathe,” various agencies soften concerns about New York’s air was, according had collected and analyzed data for lead, asbestos, to Washington sources, CEQ director James Con­ benzene and mercury. naughton. He had worked for the law firm Sidley The pulverized concrete and glass had an inordi­ Austin Brown & Wood, in'its environmental practice nately high alkali content — not unlike salt — group, until shortly before the attack, and had repre­ and analysis of the first sample didn’t occur until sented mining companies accused of pollution ofiens- Sept. 28; most of the data would not be available es. Calls to the White House for conunent were not re­ until October. turned, nor were interview requests to the National "The issue of the dust in general was a concern Security Council. early on, even if it wasn’t supported by data,” Weis- The EPA, in its written rebuttal to the internal re­ fuse says, "because it was obrious people were chok- , port, insists that residents of downtown Manhattan ing.” were imder the guidance of the city health depart­ Months later, a team of EPA scientists ran exj^ri- ment, not the EPA. Decisions regarihg when it was ments on mice exposed to Ground Zero dust. Since safe to return to homes and offices, how best to clean human inhalation of such a concoction > had never ' those facilities, and what precautions ought to be been studied, there was no way to know how much taken were the result, the rebuttal says, of “guid- would be too much for a human lung. ■ ance” that was “provided by New York City.” The scientists exposed wild mice to various doses But almost fix>m 9/11, Weisfuse said, the EPA was ____ ofthe_dustanddiscOTereda4irectdoBe/reBponserela- ; in conference calls witb-city and state health agen- tionship: The lower the dose of dust, the milder the des, during which “data was reviewed” and policy J symptoms. At higher doses the animals got Reactive was discussed.. '

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