Residential site theft and human remains report, June 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Avaltroni, Robert iS® ■ From Ilan, Lee [[email protected] ] Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 9:39 AM To: ■Jim Alexander*: 'Lai-sun Yee'; Sumowicz, Alessandra; Miller, James; Blatchford, Laurel: Barowitz, Jordan; Kupferman, Susan; Benson, Sam Cc: 'Bruce Rottner’; 'Bob Avaltroni'; Lanaghan, Mark Subject: 125 Cedar Brouhaha

pri- At yesterday afternoon’s Lower Manhattan Task Force meeting. Bob Avaltroni of DEP reported some of the following information about work taking place and some residents’ personal items being stolen from 125 Cedar Street. I spoke with Bruce Rottner of DDC to clarity what’s been going on. (Bob, Bruce - if I get any of this wrong, please correct me.) Sheldon Silver is having a previously scheduled meeting with residents of 125 Cedar this afternoon - DEP will be there, EPA likely as well - and this issue may become politicized. EPA’s pilot location to study the effectiveness of cleaning techniques for WTC dust is close by (110 Liberty, a.k.a. 113-117 Cedar.) In the course of doing inspections to close out recovery operations around the WTC site, FDNY found human remains on the roof of 90 West Street. They looked at some neighboring buildings too and developed a scope of work for debris they found, including steel and large pieces of the towers’ facades, to be moved to the pit where FDNY would sort through it. Using this scope of work, DDC hired a contractor (called EROC, not “Iraq”) to move the debris; this has been going on in 8 buildings in the area for the past two days. DEP and EPA personnel who were in the area observed that the contractor’s staff were not wearing personal protective equipment and were not using wet wipe techniques after removing debris. Bruce notes the contractor had been instructed to have personnel wear half-face respirators with vapor cartridges and in some cases, more protective gear. DDC is having the debris is handled in the same manner as other WTC debris found in the pit. After FDNY inspection and clearance for disposal, it will be discarded as traditional construction material, in accordance with a Governors Order. Yesterday it came to light that some items are missing from people’s apartments. The building’s landlord and residents are very upset. It is likely that this afternoon’s meeting, rather than showcasing the responsible approach the government agencies are taking towards work in the area, will focus on the problems with the debris removal and the missing belongings. Hope this is helpful, Lee

Ms. Lee Ilan Senior Environmental Planner Mayor’s OfRce of Environmental Coordination 100 Gold Street, Room 2605 New York, NY 10038 Tel. 212-788-2929 Fax 212-788-2941 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] URL: <http://www.nyc.gov/html/moec> www.nyc.gov/html/moec

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