Memo: Response to public correspondence request, May 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Up to 35 percent of the samples tested by the EPA had enough asbestos fibers to require professional cleaning and the use of respirators. Tests conducted for the city found those levels of asbestos in only 6 percent of the samples. As recently as last month, private and public tests still detected asbestos in some lower Manhattan buildings. Tests by a New York University team also found minimal levels of chromium, dioxin, lead, nickel and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The U.S. Geological Survey found that the dust could be caustic when mixed with water, apparently because of a substance in concrete. And tests conducted for the city health department found fiberglass, a possible carcinogen, in nearly half of the samples.

Labor groups, environmentalists and downtown residents say that federal and local agencies downplayed potential risks posed by the dust, leaving residents confused. On Sept. 13, the EPA issued a statement that said: “Sampling of bulk materials and dust found generally low levels of asbestos ... the general public should be very reassured by initial sampling.” But EPA officials say they also warned residents and cleaning companies that they should presume the dust had asbestos levels high enough to require professional contractors with respirators to clean up heavy deposits. “We knew that there was asbestos in the dust and the recommendation was to use professional abatement contractors,” agency spokeswoman Bonnie Bellow said. “I never heard EPA say that,” said Jessica Leighton, assistant commissioner of the New York City Department of Health. “It was not the assumption we’re working under.” Instead, the city health department said as early as Sept. 17 that residents could clean their own apartments using wet rags, mops and high-efficiency vacuum cleaners. Leighton said that recommendation applied only to buildings where landlords had not detected enough asbestos to require professional cleaning. But that qualification wasn’t mentioned on many health department press releases and fliers posted on downtown buildings. And the distinction was lost on many residents, who cleaned heavy dust deposits in buildings that hadn’t been tested, said Madelyn Wils, chairwoman of lower Manhattan’s community board. “At the time when people were starting to get back into their homes, it was unclear,” she said. “There was no leadership from the city, state or federal government on this.” Artist Nancy Manter said she is recovering from pneumonia she developed after cleaning inches of dust from her apartment two blocks from ground zero. “Cancer, of course, is a huge concern,” she said. “You feel like you’re not being told the truth.”

Around Thanksgiving, more than 1,000 Southern Baptist volunteers cleaned apartments around Battery Park City through a program that sends volunteers to disaster areas. The city Office of Emergency Management coordinated their efforts and the health department provided volunteers with high-efficiency vacuum cleaners and the assurance that the dust was largely safe. Baptist and health department officials said. Many volunteers labored in paper masks considered inadequate for work with asbestos. Some had respirators that tightly sealed over the nose and mouth and purified air using a high-efficiency filter, but they were used sporadically or not at all, volunteers and Baptist officials said.

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