Draft EPA OIG report excerpts on WTC indoor response, Oct

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

• Obtain permits for the collection, transportation, and delivery of regulated waste to staging areas or disposal locations owned or operated by the City, and

• Comply with hazardous waste management standards at the site, during the transportation of waste from the disaster site to staging areas or disposal locations owned by the City of New York, and in connection with the temporary storage of such waste at these staging area or disposal locations.

Transfer of Debris to Barges

Once debris was loaded onto trucks at Ground Zero it was transported to piers and unloaded on barges that carried the debris to landfills. The manner in which these trucking and barge operations were conducted was discussed at hearings held by the EPA Superfund Ombudsman, Congress, New York City Council, and New York State Assembly. Concerned citizens and local elected officials testified at these hearings that trucks hauling debris from Ground Zero were not marked as carrying hazardous material, nor were they covered in such a manner to prevent dust from escaping. In addition, people testified that the wetting of debris at the barge operation at Pier 25, which was located north of Ground Zero and near Stuyvesant High School and residences, was inconsistent and resulted in the release of dust into the air. Parents of children at Stuyvesant High School and other members of the public raised concerns that these barge operations were re-contaminating Stuyvesant High School and other buildings in that area.

EPA officials told us that they asked New York City to consider alternatives for the placement of the barge, and while New York City officials were understanding of the concerns of the residential and school communities located nearby, viable alternatives were not available. Thus, emphasis was placed on ensuring use of appropriate work practices during unloading of debris-carrying trucks and transfer to barges. Further, the EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator advised us that EPA sampled for the potential air quality impact of these barge operations from September 22, 2001, through May 31, 2002, and found that “99.83% of samples were below the screening level.” She further noted that the New York City Department of Education collected daily air samples at Stuyvesant and other nearby schools from October 4, 2001, to end of June 2002, and found that “the overwhelming majority of daily sampling has resulted in no structures detected.”

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY We contacted the president of a consulting firm hired by the Stuyvesant High

11

NYC-WTC_000153508