WTC Gonzalez log sheet, November 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Page 1 of2

Hoffer, Mark

From: Katigbak, Mia on behalf of Lloyd, Emily Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 9:30 AM To: Katigbak, Mia Subject: FW; [email protected]

Executive Assistant to the Commissioner Department of Environmental Protection 59-17 Junction Blvd. Flushing, NY 11373-5108 (718) 595-6566

From: Anne Canty [mailtoi PH 'd Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 6:26 AM To: Lloyd, Emily Subject: [email protected]

Here's Juan Gonzalez' piece. One factual error, the info was up way on out website way in advance of what Feb '02.

9/11 air fears stifled Memo: City Hall divided over asbestos danger

Less than a month after 9/11, a top city Health Department official blasted an order from City Hall to reopen several blocks near Ground Zero, and warned that "air quality [for asbestos] at those locations is not yet suitable for reoccupancy," an internal memo shows.

"The Mayor's Office is under pressure from building owners and business owners in the red zone to open more of the city to reoccupancy," wrote Associate Health Commissioner Kelly McKinney in his startling Oct. 6, 2001, memo. At the time, McKinney was in charge of the city's environmental hazards program.

His memo reveals sharp disagreements between health officials and other Giuliani administration aides over how to handle environmental contamination after 9/11.

The memo was obtained under a Freedom of Information request by the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project.

McKinney and the Department of Environmental Protection - the city agency in charge of all asbestos testing - appear to have urged a cautious approach to reopening downtown.

In his memo, McKinney noted that DEP Commissioner Joel Miele was also "uncomfortable with opening the target areas" but said, "I was told the Mayor's Office was directing OEM [the Office of Emergency Management] to open the target areas next week."

8/25/2006

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