EPA letter to Congress regarding 114 Liberty cleanup, September 2003

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

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* * UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 1 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

OFFICE OF SOLID WASTE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE

September 3,2003

The Honorable Jerrold Nadler U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515

Re: EPA/NYCDEP clean-up of WTC dust at 114 Liberty Street

1. They left visible dust with high levels of asbestos after the clean-up and pronounced the building safe to re-occupy. 2. They ignored residents’ own testing which contradicted their claims. 3. They ignored the presence of silica, a known human carcinogen, at hazardous levels. 4. They refuse to re-clean.

Dear Congressman Nadler

As requested, the following are my comments on the letter dated 8/4/03 from both the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). My comments also address EPA’s 4/18/03 letter and report on the 114 Liberty clean-up, as well as the 4/24/03 letter from the NYCDEP transmitting EPA’s report to the residents.

These letters reviewed the cleaning and testing measures undertaken by EPA/NYCDEP at 114 Liberty St. in lower Manhattan in April of2003 after the World Trade Center (WTC) collapse. The letters also addressed subsequent testing by residents on their own initiative at 114 Liberty St. after the EPA/NYCDEP had completed its abatements.

My comments arise from my personal concern over misrepresentations by EPA and their deviations from their criteria for the clean-up of WTC contaminants The conclusions and opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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