NYC-WTC_000195194

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

to address disposition of personal belongings. This caused slight delays to cleaning efforts. It was necessary to adjust the cleaning schedules to minimize the delays.

Parking. Although an arrangement had been made with the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) for EPA and its subcontractors to park vehicles on Cedar Street, the NYC Police Department ticketed vehicles without regard to established verbal agreements. Time expended to respond to tickets was significant. Communications with the OEM were helpful at times.

Building Contractor Coordination. The Baldwin Realty Company, the resident management company of the building owner, had not performed any repairs on the building since September 11, 2001, because the entire area had been off limits to the public. Shortly after the study began, the management company’s repair and maintenance contractors commenced activities including: replacement of windows, doors, sashes, and suspended ceilings; repair of the elevator; and removal of refrigerators and stoves. EPA and its contractors were required to closely coordinate activities with these contractors to avoid interference with the study, and to ensure that areas were cleaned and sampled before the contractors commenced their work. At onset of the project, meetings were scheduled to discuss activities and to provide a schedule of cleaning activities. The intent was to clean and clear areas prior to the performance of any maintenance activities. Prior to commencing cleaning, signs were erected and caution tape was placed around the areas undergoing cleaning, to avoid interference by other contractors. Unfortunately, work conducted by window repair and floor contractors created dirt and debris that necessitated re-cleaning of some units. This situation occurred between sampling events only once, in Unit 5C, between the collection of air samples for asbestos.

Health and Safety Concerns PPE. The only health and safety concern related to PPE was fogging goggles. Fogging goggles caused personnel some degree of visual difficulty. The problem was solved by applying an anti­ fogging agent to the lens of the goggles. The requirement for goggles was downgraded to a requirement for safety glasses when it was determined that the amount of dust produced was not irritating to an employee’s eyes.

Personal Air Sampling. A very small percentage of the personal air samples for asbestos were overloaded -with dust and could not be analyzed by the laboratory.

Baseboard Heating Cleaning. Intensive labor was required in order to remove visible dust fi-om the baseboard heating systems.

Stress. Heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat stroke were a major concern due to the extreme heat experienced during cleanup activities. The heat stress hazard was mitigated by mandating frequent breaks to replenish fluids and lower core body temperatures.

Heavy Lifting. All units contained heavy objects that were moved, disposed of, or lifted to enable cleaning underneath. The Site Health and Safety Officer frequently instructed WRS employees relative to proper lifting techniques. All personnel were directed to obtain assistance when lifting objects over fifty pounds. The non-functioning elevator resulted in a quantity of heavy lifting that significantly exceeded what had been anticipated at project commencement.

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