NYC-WTC_000195741

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

if any, governmental response.’'^ In fact, most tenants have repeatedly expressed extreme frustration when describing their attempts to access help from DEP.

A particularly problematic issue is the fact that there is an inherent conflict of interest for building owners to actually do testing, which is expensive, because it might result in them having to hire a professional hazardous materials contractor to do proper remediation, which is even more expensive. Tenants have been forced to go on rent strikes to compel their building owner to test and remediate properly?^ and at least one building (80 John Street) has already gone to court.’’ In the case of 50 Battery Place, the landlord (DeMatteis Battery Park Associates, LLC) gave a considerably larger rent reduction to those tenants who didn't go on a rent strike than those who chose to settle the case. Needless to say, those tenants who stayed in the suit to pursue proper testing and remediation were given no rent reduction at all.’*

In a related problem, building owners may use testing methods that are either incapable of finding the type of hazardous materials emitted from the World Trade Center (see above-mentioned reference to problematic DEP-recommended testing approaches), or, if one takes a more cynical view, specifically designed to find nothing dangerous that would require expensive remediation. For example, in the case of Tribeca Tower (105 Duane Street), building management argued that by doing “200 ambient air tests” it had acted “extremely responsive[ly], despite the fact that tenants (supported by private contractors and an EPA scientist) have argued that hazardous materials in settled dust won’t show up in air [passive] tests, and that only sensitive dust sampling or. aggressive air sa yield IlSftfiil infnrmatinn

With no guidance other than the lenient DOH guidelines, individual residential tenants were left to their own uninformed devices when deciding how to deal with the WTC dust in their apartments.*® One resident described the chaos that reigned:

’^‘OfFicial Transcript,” EPA National Ombudsman First Investigative Hearing on World Trade Center Hazardous Waste Contamination,” February 23, 2002. See for example testimony of Ms. Dawn Pryor, resident, p. 183-196 and Ms. Mary Perillo, resident, p. 197-228. ” “Official Transcript,” EPA National Ombudsman First Investigative Hearing on World Trade Center Hazardous Waste Contamination,” February 23, 2002. See specifically testimony from downtown residents and business owners. “ Drenger, Ronald, “Tenant-Landlord Battles Heat Up Downtown,” Tribeca Trib, January 4, 2002. ” Rayman, Graham, “Tenants vs. Landlord In WTC Cleanup Case,” Newsdc^ (Queens Edition), September 15,2001. Press Release, "Silver, Nadler Denounce 'Shameful' Landlord in Rent Dispute," April 5,2002. ” Drenger, Ronald, “At Tribeca Tower, Tenants Press Health Concerns,” Tribeca Trib, January 4,2002. Johnson, Kirk, “With Uncertainty Filling the Air, 9/11 Health Risks Are Debated,” New York Times, February 8,2002.

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