Draft DOHMH proposal submission to FEMA, August 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

DRAFT 8/28/02

1.0 PROJECT OVERVIEW

Within New York City, a level of anxiety persists among lower Manhattan residents, office workers, and the public in general relative to the human health risks associated with environmental conditions resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC). There is a need for a thorough, scientifically based characterization of indoor and outdoor environmental exposures and associated potential human health effects for various contaminants. In addition, there is a need to provide information to the medical community relative to health risks for lower Manhattan residents and workers.

Addressing the above issues will help alleviate public anxiety and provide public health and safety as well as economic benefits. Additionally it will help to restore public confidence in City, State, and Federal government efforts.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) will use existing staff to administer, oversee and direct this project. DOHMH will outsource the entire funded amount to retain a New York City-based specialized professional environmental engineering firm (Outsourced Firm) with extensive relevant experience to implement the project.

Assistance and coordination with other data generating agencies will be required. Identified agencies include but are not limited to the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), New York City Department of Design and Construction (NYCDDC), New York City Board of Education (NYCBOE), and Consolidated Edison Company of New York. Identified agencies will be asked to provide DOHMH with available data and will be included in the data evaluation review process.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

2.1 Task 1 - Downtown Manhattan Indoor and Outdoor Air Characterization

The Outsourced Firm will develop a characterization of lower Manhattan indoor and outdoor environmental exposures and potential biological effects for various contaminants (e.g., lead, mercury, asbestos). Specific activities include:

• Compile, analyze and summarize existing WTC environmental and biologic sample results. Outsourced Firm will utilize the USEPA WTC Response database as a starting point and will review and utilize any existing summaries of the results in the USEPA database or elsewhere including one authored by USEPA. Outsourced Firm will also analyze other available data sources for possible inclusion in the study.

• For comparison purposes, research and summarize information on urban background levels in the literature as well as generated by the USEPA Background Study.

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