DEP organizational chart for 9/11 emergency response, Sept 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

EPA chief Dust particulates — tiny mat­ ter that irritates the throat and lungs in people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma and em­

says water, physema are spreading. Most at risk are workers at the scene who endure long exposure. In a 20-mile radius from

air are safe ground zero — from Riverdale in the Bronx to Roslyn on Long Island and Roselle Park in New Jersey — the harsh odor made I By SUSAN FERRARO people check their stoves, don DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER face masks, slam windows shut. The city’s air and water are “1 stepped outside for a few safe, Environmental Protection minutes, and my eyes and throat Agency chief Christie Whitman are burning,” said Dr. Alan Fein, said yesterday, although the im­ top lung doctor at Long Island mediate area around the devas­ Jewish Medical Center in Nas­ tated World Trade Center com­ sau County. plex holds some potential dan­ ger. “It smelled like hell,” said Gary Restifo, 51, a dance teach­ I Two dozen tests for asbestos, lead and volatile organic com­ pounds were done within 10 blocks of the disaster site, as er who lives on W. 106th St. in Manhattan. “It’s a smell we’re not used to — strange, acrid, bit­ ter. I was nervous because of the I well as in Brooklyn and at Liber­ possible chemicals that might be ty State Park in New Jersey. in it.” Only one early test near the ca­ Melting synthetic materials 2 tastrophe indicated higher lev­ els. can produce carbon monoxide and other toxins, said Dr. Paul J? I “The President has said. Brandt-Rauf, an environmental > ‘Spare no expense, do every­ expert at the Columbia School 3 thing you need to do to make of Public Health. g sure the people of this city and Still, “the concentration de­ l-k down in Washington are safe as creases dramatically with dis­ far as the environment is con­ tance,” said Mount Sinai Medi­ cerned,’ ” Whitman said. cal Center environmental health 8 o The dangerous toxins have dis­ , expert Dr. Jacqueline Molina. sipated to low, nonthreatening levels, she said, but probably will rise again briefly as workers move more debris. But the air is not hazardous except for people with respiratory conditions. Shifting winds brought the stench of the terrorist attack into the homes of many and, with it, fears about the air and fine, gray grit suddenly under­ foot.

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