Panel agenda for Air Quality After 9/11 conference, March 2004

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

aggressive sampling, and/or not pulling the specified volume of air during sampling) so as to bias the laboratory test results.”

“It also appears that EPA does not want the trouble and added expense that would be entailed by additional abatements at 114 Liberty, even to the extent of misrepresenting test results in its reports and statements to FEMA. This was done even to the extent of knowingly exposing residents at 114 Liberty Street to silica, a human carcinogen, at levels higher than EPA’s criterion and the NIOSH benchmark as well. This was also done at the expense of dismissing resident testing of dusts for asbestos which proved that visible dust accumulations were still present, and at higher asbestos concentrations than backgroimd.”

“EPA has also been misrepresenting the health effects of silica in all its WTC-related documents, concealing the fact that it is a federally recognized human carcinogen, and that it causes chronic conditions similar to those being reported as “WTC cough.””

In her report, the Inspector General came to the following conclusion and made four

recommendations containing measures that must be taken by EPA before buildings in Lower

Manhattan can be given a clean bill of health.

“EPA, in cooperation with FEMA and New York City, initiated a large- scale indoor cleanup. In our opinion, this cleanup should meet the minimum criteria for protecting human health that EPA has established for Superfund cleanups. Also, the indoor cleaning and testing program should employ aggressive testing in all residences and treat buildings as a system. Additionally, EPA should evaluate the potential health risks for pollutants of concern in work spaces for geographic areas north of Canal Street, in Brooklyn, and any other areas where meteorological data show pollutants of concern may have been deposited.”

“We recommend that the EPA Administrator ensure that EPA Region 2:

6-1. Submit the revised “World Trade Center Indoor Air Assessment: Selecting Contaminants for Potential Concern and Setting Health-Based Benchmarks” document to TERA for a second peer review.

6-2. Implement a post-cleaning testing program to ensure that, in addition to asbestos, the indoor cleanup program has reduced residents’ risk of exposure from all of the identified COPCs to acceptable limits.

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