Memo re: DEP outdoor asbestos air monitoring, Oct 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

example, many building owners needed to remove asbestos-containing material from areas of the building under their control: exteriors, facades, hallways, foyers, laundry rooms and other public areas. New York City’s Asbestos Control Program (ACP) regulations require building owners and managers to use individuals licensed by the City and the New York State Department of Labor as asbestos investigators, asbestos handlers and asbestos workers[WHAT OTHER CATEGORY]. The regulations also require “clearance” air sampling prior to allowing public access to any area that was the site of asbestos-related work. [FOR THE MOST PART? WITH SOME EXCEPTIONS] It was DEP’s experience that building owners cleaning up after September 11* followed these regulations. Because the work was done under expedited schedules, in some cases building owners did not submit notifications in advance, as the regulations would normally require. In the vast majority of cases, where DEP observed some work that was improperly or incompletely done, building owners responded to DEP enforcement staff quickly and appropriately. As was the case before September 11*, if any person believes that asbestos is present at a worksite, or at any other site, and is not being properly handled, he or she should call (718) DEP-HELP and we will send an inspector to investigate.

A remaining source of concern for residents in lower Manhattan has been the clean-up within private apartments where building owners do not, generally, have any authority or responsibility to conduct clean-ups. Unlike building owners, who have experience in hiring and supervising contractors with the appropriate qualifications and licenses, apartment-dwellers often lack this professional experience and have, understandably, become confused and frustrated about how to handle this extraordinary situation. In response, my colleagues at the Department of Health developed a factsheet, “Recommendations for People Re-Occupying Commercial Buildings and Residents Re- Entering Their Homes.” This fact sheet, along with a few others on related topics, have been distributed very widely throughout lower Manhattan. These fact sheets offer general information on air quality issues as well as practical, “how-to” information on dealing with dust, debris and other potentially hazardous conditions that residents faced as they returned to their homes.

Continuing concern about indoor air quality has prompted a collaboration with the United States Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry [IS THAT A NAME] which we will discuss later in the presentation.

Finally, I have a few words concerning the potable water supply and the marine waters that surround the City. I’ll discuss the marine waters first.

As a result of the September 11'*’ attacks, DEP and EPA were concerned that rainwater washing off Ground Zero and into the sewers and the harbor would be highly polluted. As Chairman Michels knows, Manhattan’s sewers - as well as most City sewers - are combined sewers, meaning rainwater flooding into the sewers from the streets ends up in the same pipe as the sanitary flow. During a rainstorm, a percentage of this combined flow ends up at a treatment plant, and the remainder of the combined flow is discharged into surrounding waters through outfalls located at the bulkheads. In the case of lower

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