NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document
WTC RESIDENTIAL DUST CLEANUP PROGRAM
COMMON AREA AND HVAC FACT SHEET
People living south of Canal, Aden and Pikes Streets in lower Manhattan who are concerned that
dust from the coUapse of the World Trade Center may stdl be present in their residences may
request assistance from EPA. Assistance offered includes the evaluation and cleanup (if
necessary) of the common areas and Heating, Ventdation and Air Conditioning systems (HVACs)
of residential housing (thisfact sheet) as wed as the cleaning and/or testing of individual
residential units (See separate fact sheet: Cleaning & Testing).
Cleanup work will be conducted by contractors and workers (the Cleanup Contractor) certified by
New York State and New York City. Separate, third-party contractors, also licensed by New
York State, will oversee the cleanup work and will conduct all testing (the Project Monitor).
Further oversight will be provided by EPA personnel. AU personnel involved in this program wiU
carry appropriate photo identification.
Owners and managers of residential buddings and coop boards can request to have their budding’s
common areas cleaned and HVAC system evaluated and cleaned, if necessary. If a tenant
association makes this request, EPA wdl seek agreement by budding owner or manager. The
Agency encourages tenant associations to work to coordinate residents' requests within a given
budding.
After receiving the request, common areas such as the budding lobby, haUways, stairways and
elevator interiors wdl be cleaned. Other common areas including laundry rooms, utiUty rooms,
compactor rooms, and elevator shafts wdl be evaluated and cleaned as needed.
Unless EPA approves otherwise (based on the circumstance of an individual budding), no
residential, common space or HVAC system wdl be cleaned untd the exterior of the budding has
been cleaned. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is cleaning budding
exteriors. EPA wdl then evaluate, and if necessary clean, an HVAC system upon agreement from
the budding owner or manager. FinaUy, EPA wdl clean residences and common spaces.
The Project Monitor will provide daily oversight of cleaning operations. EPA staff will also visit
the buddings to oversee work. When cleaning is completed, the Project Monitor wiU do a visual
inspection. If any dust is seen, the residence wdl be re-cleaned as necessary. Once the visual
inspection finds the residence to be dust fi-ee, final air sampling wdl be authorized. Air samplers
are run for approximately eight hours. These samplers draw in a measured volume of room air
and coUect dust particles from the air on a filter. Ilie coUected dust is then examined in a
laboratory for asbestos.
EPA wiU notify budding residents and owners of the results of the post-cleanup airborne asbestos
testing as soon as possible. Our goal is to provide this in writing within one month.
NYC-WTC_000163253
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