WTC security and emergency response newspaper article

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Say asbestos fear exaggerated By CLEM RICHARDSON moved and offices tested for cancer- ty, said there was little asbestos in the DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER causing asbestos. buildings in the first place. Fears that lower Manhattan is con­ H.A. Bader Consultants has “There was no asbestos used in the taminated with asbestos from the cleaned one 15-story building and building above the 30th floor,” Even­ World Trade Center collapse are over­ four floors of a 40-story structure. house said. “They decided it was not blown, says an environmental con­ Company President Howard Bader safe and they switched” to another sultant who has worked on the now- said his clients want the debris tested type of insulation. collapsed buildings. to see “what is in the air and what is The asbestos that was used was Sten Evenhouse, president of Test­ in the dust.” either removed or painted over, said er Technology Inc., chained that “We’re not finding much asbestos” Evenhouse, adding that “a lot of this asbestos removal companies may be in office air samples, Bader said, fear of asbestos is just industry hyping the dangers of asbestos con­ chiefly because asbestos particles hype.” tamination as a way of charging “only hang in the air for 12 hours or The towers and plaza were fully more for their services. less. You can stand in 2 inches of as­ open by 1976. The last of the com­ “Some of these companies are bestos, and unless something stirs it plex’s seven buildings was opened in charging a premium for their servic­ up you’ll be okay.” 1988. es when a routine cleaning might do Asbestos is of particular concern Ironically, Evenhouse said, the just as well,” he said. because research suggests that parti­ steel columns in the giant twin build­ Many downtown businesses cov­ cles one-sixth the diameter of a ings might have been better able to ered by ash and debris from the human hair are sufficient to cause withstand the intense heat from the Trade Center disaster have hired pri­ cancer over time if lodged in the devastating explosions that caused vate companies to clean their re­ lungs. their collapse if asbestos had been opened offices. But Evenhouse, who surveyed the used. Spokesmen for several companies Trade Center heating system in 1991 “Asbestos,” he noted, “is a better in­ said clients mainly want debris re- under contract with the Port Authoii- sulator.”

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