Letter re: WTC Asbestos Cleanup Complaint, June 6, 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Complaint No. 404925 (NYCDEP, Jan. 29, 2002) ’p.2

5. If an employer does not test dust that is likely to contain asbestos and the dust is disturbed, OSHA may find the employer to have violated the law. (The OSHA definition of due diligence is from OSHA's Standards Interpretation letter, "Questions concerning OSHA's Asbestos Standard." dated September 5,1996.) 6. If dust is tested and found to contain more than 1 percent asbestos, the employer must file an Asbestos Inspection Report or an Emergency Asbestos Project Notification with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection Asbestos Control Program. If the dust is more than 1 percent asbestos, the employer must hire a licensed asbestos abatement contractor to conduct the clean-up. (See Title 15, Rules and Regulations of the City of New York, Chapter 1 - Asbestos Control Program.) If Rockrose had tested the dust as required by law, they would have found that the dust contained between 1% and 2% of asbestos as shown by the enclosed test data.

My complaint is that Rockrose has not exercised due diligence as an employer by: 1. Having suspected the presence of asbestos. Rockrose did not, or has not publicly admitted to, testing the large quantities of dust in the building’s common areas or apartments for asbestos. 2. Having their employees, the doormen and maintenance personnel, clean asbestos containing materials without the benefit of training or protective equipment.

Narrative:

I want to share my experiences at 333 Rector Place after 9-11-01, as they reveal that WTC dust has been improperly cleaned up, or only partially cleaned up, and it continues to be disturbed by Rockrose employees to this date. On September 11, 2001, my husband Stephen Swaney and I were living near the WTC in Battery Park City at 333 Rector Place, Apt. 9S, New York, NY 10280, a building managed by Rockrose Development Corporation.

September 11. 2001 Felt I had to do something....Since we lost electrical power after the buildings collapsed, I couldn’t vacuum the large amount of dust that had come into the apartment through the open sliding glass door. So I scooped up dust from coffee table into a paper bag. Also started to clean the floor with wet paper towels. Mostly futile since dust was so light and airy.

September 28 Rockrose hired GCI Enviroiunental Advisory, Inc. to collect ambient air samples in Apt. 9S and in the common areas at 333 Rector during September 24-26. In October, I called Paul Susa of GCI for details: He told me that the monitor was placed in the kitchen, the room furthest from the windows, for 2 hours. No one had occupied the apartment since 9-11, so there was no active air movement. They only tested for airborne asbestos, no other contaminants. They did not take any dust samples.

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