Emergency declaration draft for WTC cleanup, May 2002

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY WHEREAS, on September 11,2001, an unforeseen terrorist attack resulted in the tragic destruction ofthe World Trade Center; and WHEREAS, as a result of said catastrophe, buildings in surrounding areas were damaged, if not destroyed; and WHEREAS, in the aftermath, to minimize further destruction and implications ofthe attack, various remediation activities were immediately instituted; and WHEREAS, as a follow-up to such activities performed in October and November of2001, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), in conjunction with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), performed site visits at buildings in the surrounding vicinity; and WHEREAS, it has been determined necessary to provide residents and residential building owners who are concerned that apartments may have debris/dust from the WTC impacts remaining, a means of getting professional contractor clean up support; and WHEREAS, debris removal from the immediate areas ofdestruction in the WTC complex is nearing completion; the remaining unoccupied, uncleaned buildings must be cleaned; and WHEREAS, the above-referenced debris may be characteristic of the debris from the impact of September 11, 2001,; and WHEREAS, USEPA, has determined that an expedited clean-up of debris-containing buildings is necessary to protect the health and safety of the public and to ensure that the air quality of the affected area is as pure as possible; and WHEREAS, such clean-up will require the services of asbestos-remediation firms and air monitoring consultants; and WHEREAS, the area earmarked for such clean-up shall be divided into four (4) sectors, each requiring a remediation contract; and WHEREAS, four air monitoring Contracts are anticipated to cover all four sectors; an d WHEREAS, funding for such clean-up shall be provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): and WHEREAS, the immediate action required cannot be met through normal procurement methods; and WHEREAS, the aforementioned circumstances affect the health and safety of the inhabitants of the City ofNew York. NOW, THEREFORE, for the aforementioned reasons, pursuant to the authority conferred by Section 315 of the New York City Charter and Section 3-06 of the Procurement Policy Board Rules, I hereby determine that an emergency exists; and I FURTHER DETERMINE that emergency contract(s) must be let in the most expeditious manner possible to ensure that necessary asbestos remediation in the affected area can occur, to monitor and ensure the air quality of the City of New York. Dated: March 20,2002

NYC-WTC_000162100