(WTC) Dust tests brushed off

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 7, 2006

A new $7 million federal plan to test for World Trade Center dust in lower Manhattan was roundly criticized yesterday as too little, too late.

Under the Environmental Protection Agency program, apartment dwellers south of Canal Street and west of Pike and Allen streets will have two months beginning Jan. 1 to register for air and dust testing. EPA contractors would then test qualifying apartments for lead, asbestos, fiberglass and PAHs, a molecule created in fires, and if necessary, provide cleaning services.

Critics said the plan was similar to a 2005 proposal rejected by an EPA expert panel. They said it failed to include commercial buildings and ignored residents in other areas that might have been contaminated, such as residences north of Canal Street and in Downtown Brooklyn.

They also suggested that other compounds should be included and entire buildings should be tested, not just individual apartments. And they said the two-month registration window is too brief.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyepa075005884dec07,0,4745112.story?coll=ny-nynews-print

As usual, the EPA is a day late and a dollar short.

[Divernan]

1. 10s of thousands of people who work in the area are ignored.

The article mentions that ONE building, Deutsche Bank, was tested. The tests alone cost $32 million. With typical shallow reporting, the reported failed to find out/report WHAT the tests revealed, what cleanup measures were taken (if any) in response to the test findings, and what the costs of clean up were.

A friend started a new job in the Wall Street area a few months ago. I asked her whether the vents in her building had been cleaned post 9/11. She said the people she works with - very high-powered, high-paid financial experts, don't want to talk about the subject or face the reality of what crap they've been breathing for the past five years. As a new employee, she hesitated to rock that boat. I've sent her this article and hope she speaks up.