FEMA responses to EPA proposal circulation, May 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

EPA/NYC lagl^ Air Approach - Request to FEMA March 10,2003 (359pm) ' '

1. Direct Assistance to Residents and Residential Buildings Owners

a) Cleaning followed by air asbestos testing.. b) Testing for airborne asbestos within residences or building areas. c) (Should testing results identify an airborne asbestos problem, arrangements can be made rapidly to have professional clean up done.) d) Providing HEPA vacuums to residences who request to perform their own cleaning on an ongoing basis. Projected Cost. Needs to be determined. Status ofRequestfor FEMA mission assignment. At Washington headquarters for FEMA review. (Looking at alternative funding methodologies.)

2, Targeted Sampling to Determine if There are Occupied Locations Require Additional Cleaning

Objective: To determine whether there are levels of airborne asbestos in excess of benchmarked level in a geographic sample of indoor environments in Lower Manhattan. Program: EPA will collect airborne asbestos samples within a variety of residential buildings in different geographic areas of Lower Manhattan, south of Canal Street. Projected Cost: $3000 per location sampled. Estimate 25- 50 locations. Status ofRequestfor FEMA mission assignment. Brad believes that we do not want to go with this until we see how many complaint come m. On hold.

3. Pilot Building Cleaning Effort to Confirm Cleaning Techniques

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of clean up techniques which have been recommended for apartment clean up, that is, wet wiping, wet moping and use of HEPA filtered vacuums, in preventing inhalation exposure to asbestos and other fibrous materials, as well as other potential indicator compounds. Program: EPA will clean one unoccupied building to confirm and test the techniques. Projected Cost. $5 million. Status ofRequestfor FEMA mission assignment: Interagency agreement being drafted and returned to Brad in next few days from Washington. Appears to be a go.

4. Cleaning of Debris-Laden Unoccupied. Uncleaned Buildings

1

NYC-WTC_000162081