DEP Memo to City Council on WTC Matters

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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9. Since September 11“'. have standards been developed for determining what is “safe” in terras of levels of asbestos and other toxins? Please provide those standards and the basis for such level determinations.

10. In the future, would the federal government be requested to assist in the performance of indoor testing in the event of a chemical, biological and/or “radiological” attack?

11 Given the potential vulnerability of the closed ventilation systems of large office buildings and apartment houses and the ability of chemical/ biological (CB) agents to be delivered as aerosols that travel quickly through such ventilation systems and the potential for such agents to produce high mortality rates, what contingency plans has the City drafted to protect residents from the dissemination of such agents?

12. What is the City’s current position as to the type of indoor testing and residential clean­ up that would be undertaken in the event of a chemical, biological and/or “radiological” attack? Who has been given responsibility for issuing directives and position statements regarding clean-up should an attack occur?

B Outdoor Clean-UE

I. Did the City, State, and federal govenunents reach any understanding as to the division of responsibility for outdoor area inspection and clean-up? Provide details.

2 How did the City clean open spaces including parks and schoolyards? What monitoring was done and what is being done now in light of testimony from experts that grass and soil would tend to retain asbestos fiber throughout rainy or other weather until stirred up by, for example, children playing? Has there been any follow-up testing?

3. Did any city agency assess whether asbestos or other toxins in the area under the plume, but beyond the Ground Zero vicinity, landed in dangerous levels? If so, was this cleaned or monitored in anyway?

4. Please provide a listing of the locations of all air monitoring stations and the toxins that were measured at those stations throughout the period that fires were burning at Groixnd Zero. Provide results or summaries of results of those measurements.

5. After barges were used for debris removal, did the City conduct any “post-barge” debris assessments or sampling in or around Independence Plaza North (IPN) or other residential buildings in proximity to Pier 25 barge debris removal operations? If so, please provide the results of such an assessment; if not please explain.

6. Please provide a description of the practices implemented to minimize dust spillage or debris emissions from trucks and barges canying Ground Zero debris, including the responsibilities of inspectors or other oversight personnel enforcing those procedures .

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