Newspaper excerpt on asbestos lawsuits, undated

z o icnnunibi^j^i inuns z -< o

s'2 co

o o tn Asbestos Targeted -i A’.!''

fell ad “0 c CT o' "0

as o ho Ob o CD In Cleanup Effort ,1 1

8R 1'^ f- IH r < ■■ 9L O o o c 3 CD EPA’s Whitman: ‘No reason for concern Ml 3

Ry Hugo Kugiya STAFF WRITER ' taminated with ashpstos but declined tn name which ones. While levels are generally Inw in 511 Hundreds of aaheatos cleanup workers repre- th® area and in buildings, st rict removal prnce- senting more than a dozen local unions and sev- ‘’’"S??," ‘r'"±’W’ "’"L f ,r oral contractors continued the massive and deli- , 'Y^ te ^te task of removing the contaminant yester- viterdav. ‘Were addressing this situa- 4 damaged by the collapse of j^ave trained labor who have the World Trade Center. ^11 the permit.s and know all the proper tech- |A- *4^ , , , nieantime. Christine Todd Whitman, ninues tor doing this kind of work . . .There is head of the U.S. Environmental Protection no substitute for manpower in this kind of Agency, said yesterday that there is no reason work." for concern,” saying that the latest measure- Fried said LVI was hired to clean up asbes- ments of debrw and air at ground zero and in tos-contaminated buildings damaged bv Hurri- area.s tested in the financial district show the cane Hugo, and during both the Bay Area and amount of asbestos is at or below background l.os Angeles earthquakes. M levels, which sho defined as 1 percent, or less of In most eases, the buildings are first sealed. the total sample. Compressors then create negative air pressure few While there is no doubt the debris from the so no dust escapes. Workers primarily use vacu- collapse contains asbestos and that some was um cleaners with special filters and disposable released into the atmosphere. Whitman said cloths to wipe the area clean of asbestos. Fried the situation is better than she had hoped. She said his company hires an independent labora- said the EPA has regularly sampled dust, air tory to test the work area for asbestos before and the persistent plume of smoke and parti- and after the cleanup. In addition, the building des rising from the wreckage. The highest re- owners ns well as the Occunationnl Safety and corded reading was 4.5 percent. Whitman said. Health Administration conduct their own tests After taking readings from ns far away ns Brooklyn and New Jersey, the EPA is concen- trating on a 10-block area surrounding ground zero, with help from 24-hour air monitors. Whitman said die is concerned about any read- to verify results. Workers are supposed to wear ae®’*? a«'ts and respirators and get decontami- nated before exiting the work area. J^e abatement workers progress, like that gj.5? rn ing above 1 percent. Generally, asbesto^-relat- oillT _ 1.. and shifting debris, amd David noscow, spokes- ed disease anses only from prolonged expo- j. Laborers' International Union of ,'S-h'',isrr

sure, a though there is no level of exposure America, the umbrella organization of that IS known with certainty to he safe. unions Nonetheless, some building owners them- upor some, it's a situation thev've never been selves have hired companies to clean up the « Roscow said from Ijis Vegas, where the dust and debris blown into their buildings, ,„Lnri is holding a convention. ^44,,—.. treating the material as asbestos. Whitman said the EPA has also been moni- LVI Services Inc., based in Manhattan, the toring the harbor water and drinking water for largest abatement and environmental cleanup lead and industrial contaminants, hut. no pol- company in the country, according to its presi- hitants have been detected. AP Pholn dent Burton T. Fried, has been hired by Veri- In the future, she said, samples will probably Angelo Campos uses an Industrial vacuum cleaner to clear dust and ash 7.on tn clean its headquarters next to the World also be taken from the tunnels, such as the Hol- from Pearl Street in lower Manhattan. EPA head Christine Tnrirt w/hitman Trade Center site. He said he expects his com- land and Batterv, tbroneh which dehrie hoc