NYC-WTC_000195741

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

Repeated assurances of air quality “safety” have resulted in vast numbers of downtown residential and commerial indoor spaces being cleaned as if the dust did not contain hazardous materials, despite the fact that official documents note that the law requires a contrary presumption. Hearing such assurances stopped many residents and employers, or building owners or managers, from looking for special cleaning or remediation procedures. This problem was compounded by the fact that about 40% of downtown residents reported receiving absolutely no instructions or protocols for cleanup or hazardous materials remediation.^® They simply went about doing a “normal” house or office or building cleaning for their indoor spaces.^*

As Andrew Mark, a resident of Pine St. in downtown Manhattan, testified at an EPA Ombudsman hearing, “Never did I receive anything from the EPA that said, 'Gee, just to play it safe, why don’t you take the following precautions.' Nothing, nothing. We were never told. A) to leave the area, B) take any precautions whatsoever in terms of minimizing the potential impact.” Mr. Mark went on to testify that as he wasn’t aware that the dust could contain hazardous materials, he had his regular cleaning lady—clearly not a trained professional in hazardous material removal—clean the dust from his apartment. (^12^ri^/,_sudx.space&.caiuxQLfre-cnnsideced..pcoperly.j:emedxated_Qr_safe

However, even where building owners, managers and tenants understood that this situation wasn’t “business as usual,” there were still many problems.

With respect to indoor common spaces, where building owners and managers were made responsible for testing and remediation, there have been mixed results. While some building owners and managers have dutifully attempted to clean the common areas, many have failed to do the job (or do the job appropriately). Presumably, this is because such a job was beyond their financial or other capacity to do so, and the Citv's lax enforcement made it easy to avoid getting caught wb^n tbAy Aid ohirV tbo rPcpzAnclbnity

Irresponsible or unscrupulous building owners and managers have no doubt found it quite easy to skirt the NYC DEP’s scant enforcement measures - either by remediating improperly or not taking any action with respect to testing or remediation. Even as tenants in these buildings have found e? ly high levels; nf hayardnus materials in common spaces through their private hiring of professional contractors, their numerous calls to the NYC DEP “helpline” to report building owners’ inaction has produced little,

” "A Community Needs Assessment of Lower Manhattan Following the World Trade Center Attack," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New York City Department of Health, December 2001. " Ibid. ” EPA National Ombudsman Second Investigative Hearing on World Trade Center Hazardous Waste Contamination,” February 23, 2002. Testimony of Andrew Mark, resident, p. 436-438. ” Lyman, Francesca, “Yearning to Breathe in a Toxic Zone: Four Months on, WTC Attacks Still Haunting New Yorkers - And Their Health,” MSNBC, January 11,2002. See specifically comments by Mr. Steve Swaney.

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