Draft EPA OIG report excerpts on WTC indoor response, Oct

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

Public Did Not Believe Air Was Safe A telephone poll"* conducted in March 2002, after many news articles were published questioning the air quality information that the government had issued, found that 70 percent of those surveyed did not believe environmental protection and other government agencies when they said the air quality around the WTC site was safe. The poll surveyed 511 randomly dialed residences from the five boroughs of New York City. We contacted one of the principals of the polling organization, who told us the answers to the lone question asked about air quality were consistent among all groups polled.

Respirator Use at Ground Zero Lacking

A widely publicized aspect of the WTC response was the lack of respirator use by rescue and construction crews. It was beyond the scope of this review to determine the extent that respirators were not used and why this occurred. However, we reviewed EPA’s efforts to provide respirators, reviewed accounts of respirator use in various articles and reports, and inquired about respirator use and availability during our interviews with EPA, other Eederal agencies. New York City, and non-governmental officials. Our limited work in this area indicated that respirators were generally available but were not worn for a number of reasons. A significant factor was the desire to save lives without regard for personal safety in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Other reasons appeared to include the respirators’ interference with the ability of emergency workers to communicate, lack of training, lack of enforcement of safety measures at the site, and conflicting messages about the air quality at Ground Zero.

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

4 Blum and Weprin Associates, New York Daily News, March 2002, margin of error plus or minus 4.5 percent.

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