Air quality concerns and plume modeling inquiry, September 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Page 1 of 1

Avaltroni, Robert From: Grob, Shauna Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 5:00 PM To: Avaltroni, Robert Subject; FW: Questions and concerns

Bob -- Please respond or have someone at EPA respond. If forwarding to EPA, could you just let Ms. Paukowits know to whom.

Thanks.

Shauna —Original Message— From: CarrieAnn Paukowits [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 4:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Questions and concerns

Dear Commissioner Ward:

As a resident of New York City and a professional meteorologist and air quality scientist, I am extremely concerned about the government’s response to air quality issues in New York City. A year ago. New York City faced not only what may be its greatest tragedy, but also what may be the single most destructive air pollution event in its history. Since that day, I have been struggling with many questions, and I hope you can alleviate my fears and concerns over the way the tragedy was handled by the federal, state and local environmental agencies.

Since September 11, 2001, I have been concerned that there seemed to be no modeling of the plume from the World Trade Center. Such modeling could have warned residence ahead of time or in real time of situations when the plume would most greatly effect them. In addition, I am not aware of any analysis of emissions from the melting steel or other building materials that were burned or released into the air, other than asbestos. Perhaps most troubling is that the government used the asbestos monitoring results to convince local residents and workers that the air was safe. This hypothesis was based solely on asbestos, with no mention of the particulate and dust in the air. The respiratory effects of particulate matter can be extremely dangerous, especially in those with pre-existing conditions. Also, the monitoring stations closest to the World Trade Center measured asbestos concentrations exceeding the indoor air standards almost continually. That is a very serious problem, yet, when I spoke to people who worked at the site, they indicated that they did not wear their masks because asbestos is dangerous only when inhaled at such levels over a period of years. As you know, asbestos concentrations at these levels are unhealthy. I believe that he workers should have been warned not to take the situation lightly.

I understand that no person, agency or city could have been prepared for such a tragic event. I also understand that some of these issues may have been out of the control of the DEP. I would like to know if my air pollution concerns were studied, or if DEP can indicate why they were not. A New York Conservation Education Fund survey conducted in early 2001, more New York City residents (38%) named air pollution as the key environmental issue in their community than any other issue. I am very interested in learning more about how the DEP handles air quality issues, and how the DEP is changing and improving to deal with air quality issues in the future.

Sincerely,

CarrieAnn Paukowits

CarrieAnn Paukowits Meteorologist/Air Compliance Analyst MES Co., Inc. 165 Broadway Amityville, NY 11701 631-691-3395, ext. 18 fax: 631-691-3550

9/18/02

NYC-WTC_000152843