EPA To Sample WTC Dust From 150 Manhattan Buildings

[hatrack]

And it only took 3.5 years.

WASHINGTON -- "Dust samples from 150 New York buildings in lower Manhattan and part of Brooklyn are to be gathered by the Environmental Protection Agency to find out how much indoor contamination might remain from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

EPA officials released their near-final plan Tuesday, which they say will be used in deciding what should be cleaned and whether to launch a broader sampling and cleanup effort. E. Timothy Oppelt, an EPA official in charge of agency research, said that by doing more sampling the agency can find out how far the contaminants extend and "whether or not they are present at levels of concern" that would require cleanups. "If they are, we will clean those units - entire buildings if necessary - that pose a concern," he said.

The EPA said samples will be analyzed for lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), asbestos and manmade vitreous fibers (MMVF).

EDIT

Residents and workers in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn sued the agency last year, saying it improperly allowed thousands of people to return to their homes and businesses and made misleading statements about air quality after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Of most concern to those filing suit were "potentially hazardous levels of asbestos and possibly other carcinogens and toxic substances." EPA defended itself by praising the staff's monitoring and sampling of air, dust and river and drinking water as "remarkable feats." It says it provided thousands of respirators for response workers and cleaned and tested thousands of homes in lower Manhattan."

EDIT

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apwashington_story.asp?category=1152&slug=Ground%20Zero%20Sampling

[skylarmae]

1. isn't letting the EPA test samples like the fox guarding the chicken

coop? Can we believe anything from the EPA at this point? IMHO, no!

I'll be surprised if the government ever takes responsibility for anything about 9/11. Whether its the lack of concern about bin laden or why our radar and military were so totally ineffective that morning, to what toxins were actually present on cite and near vicinities, etc. etc. etc.....

[mcscajun]

2. I used to work in a building south of the WTC.

We weren't allowed back in the building for the two weeks immediately following the attacks. When we did return, most of the buildings in the immediate area were still covered in dust. I still remember a shoe store only a block and half away (east) where not only were the window and awning still awash in gunk, but the dust was still deep inside the store, covering all the merchandise.

Our building, being several blocks south, had no visible dust.

For a couple of weeks, there was no 'air monitoring'; then after much employee concern, air monitoring devices appeared in the hallways. They sampled the air for weeks into months. I don't know whose equipment it was, where the samples went; all I do know is management repeatedly assured us (backed of course by the EPA assessment) that the air was okay.

My internist (here in NJ) has a much different opinion: he made some comment about long-term effects and birth defects coming from people exposed to that 'stew'. I can't imagine that there wouldn't be a problem for anyone who was exposed in those first few days and weeks, and of course, those who labored in 'the pit' for months. That 'dust' was an amalgam of concrete, plastics, paper, metals, wood, fabric, whatever chemicals were used to treat all of the preceding substances, and horribly, pulverized humans. Are our bodies equipped to process these kinds of foreign substances in the air we breathe?

I should also point out that prior to the '93 bombing of the WTC, I actually worked in the South Tower, on the 45th floor.