Draft EPA OIG report excerpts on WTC indoor response, Oct

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

School Parent’s Association to review environmental test results for Stuyvesant High School. He told us that ambient asbestos testing at the school was conducted in accordance with AHERA standards and elevated levels of airborne asbestos were not found. However, he said that elevated levels of particulate matter were recorded that could have come from the debris off-loading operation or diesel fuel emissions from the trucks transporting the debris. Also, he told us that lead was found in the school’s ventilation system, but it was not determined whether it came from the WTC fallout or from another source.

Asbestos Levels During Demolition and Debris Removal EPA and NYCDEP conducted extensive ambient air monitoring for asbestos around Ground Zero and Lower Manhattan after September 11, 2001. This sampling was conducted at up to 60 sites and provides some indication of the impact of the demolition and removal operations on air quality in Lower Manhattan. Excluding the month of September 2001 in which 30 exceedances of the AHERA standard of 70 s/mm2 were recorded, these sites for the most part recorded asbestos concentrations below 70 s/mm2. There were seven exceedances of the AHERA standard from October 2001 through May 2002. Two were near Stuyvesant High School. The seven readings above 70 s/mm2 are presented in the following table. Table 4-2. Ambient Asbestos Readings in Lower Manhattan In Excess of 70 s/mm2. Date Reading (s/mm2) Location ’ 10/09/01 104.99 Chambers Street 11/28/01 124.44 North Side of Stuyvesant High School 12/27/01 204.44 Albany and Greenwich 02/05/02 88.00 Liberty and Trinity 01/14/02 72.00 Pier 6 bus sign 02/11/02 213.33 Church and Dey 05/25/02 336.00 West Street (near Stuyvesant H.S.) ® Excludes four exceedances at worker wash tent. The above information shows the sporadic presence of asbestos in the ambient air in publicly accessible locations at levels of concern established by EPA for the WTC response (i.e., the AHERA standard) as late as May 25, 2002. New York City officials told us that in their view these ambient monitoring results indicated that the work practices at the site were generally successful in reducing asbestos emissions.

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