New York Times article on 9/11 lead tests, post-2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document New York Daily News - Juan Gonzalez - Juan Gonzalez: 9/11 air fears stifled Page 1 of 3 RUSH & MOLLOY ON YOUR CELL PHON GET HOT CELEBRITY NEWS WITH OUR NEW TXTRA NUGGET SERVICE ve WATCN IT! 24/7 News, Sports, Biz & Entertainment Videos REGISTER | HEADLINES HOME NEWS & VIEWS DAILYD NEWS Columnists SEARCH FOR SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT Current = 1 BIZ/MONEY I BOROUGHS Juan Gonzalez Buan Gonzalez is a Daily News columnist. Email: jgonzalez@ edit.nydailynews.com Past Columns Now you can visit our complete archive of Juan Gonzalez's news columns. Click below for the complete lineup and a free sneak preview of each column, plus info on our affordable purchase options! COLUMNIST ARCHIVE 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" McKinney, now a deputy commissioner at OEM, did not return repeated calls yesterday, nor did Miele. Other DEP records that have never received much attention show definite reason for concerns by McKinney and Miele. DEP's own tests for asbestos in the first week after 9/11, for example, revealed far higher asbestos contamination in lower Manhattan than officials ever DAI DIS CLAS CITY LIFE SPE CICK here! htt•//www.nwdsilvnews.com/news/col/igonzalez/storv/445988p-375415c.html 8/25/2006 NYC-WTC_000153776