Memo on preserving WTC documents, Sept 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

TO: All DEP Employees

FROM: Commissioner Christopher O. an

Department of DATE: September 25, 2003 Environmental Protection RE: Preservation of World Trade Center Documents S9-17 Junction Boulevard Flushing, New York 11373-5108 I had written you earlier this year requesting that any documents relating to the destruction of the World Trade Center and the clean-up activities in Lower Manhattan be retained. I have been asked again by the City of New York’s Christopher O, Ward Corporation Counsel to reiterate the requirement that all DEP employees who were Commissioner involved in the relief and clean-up of Lower Manhattan following September 11, 2001 retain any and all written and electronic records relating to this effort. The City is currently defending more than two thousand claims arising from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and there is the potential for additional claims to be filed in the future. As a result of this litigation, the City must preserve and protect all documents concerning the attacks and their aftermath, including data in electronic form.

DEP has also been directed to retain any and all records and data that may have been collected concerning the condition of the environment in the areas of Lower Manhattan surrounding the World Trade Center, immediately before and in the months after the events of September 11. This would include records and data relating to the condition of the air, water system and sewer system, as well as records and data relating to sewer discharges to the surrounding receiving waters and records relating to any sampling done in such waters.

This means you may not delete, erase or otherwise destroy any data relating to any aspect of the attacks or the City’s response from your computers, PDAs, agency electronic data systems and any personal electronic equipment that you use in conjunction with your work. If you have any doubt about preservation, you must preserve the data. Specifically,

• Do not delete any e-mails or any documents from your personal computer concerning any aspect of the events of September 11, 2001, or their aftermath. • Contact Robert Cudnotta, Assistant Commissioner, Information Technology, at (718) 595-7805 before discarding or salvaging any computers or hardware. • Do not recycle or re-use computer tapes or re-writable disks. Use a new disk if necessary and preserve your older disks with any information already on them.

It is vital that all employees comply with this directive immediately. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Hoffer, DEP’s General Counsel at (718) 595-6528. Thank you for your cooperation.

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