Asbestos News

Asbestos Dangers from September 11th

Excerpts from News Reports Everyone Should Read

Millions of New Yorkers, including law enforcement and rescue personnel, were exposed to asbestos dust when the World Trade Center towers fell on September 11, 2001. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have warned that no amount of asbestos or length of exposure is safe, and any exposure can lead to progressive, incurable asbestos disease.

Special EPA Team Told Not to Analyze Data

"There was vermiculite from Libby in that smoke [from the World Trade Center.] But, more importantly, there was a lot of asbestos—pure asbestos being used there. There were… an amazing amount of toxic materials. The EPA team that was in Libby had the largest collection of the most experienced scientists in the country willing to fly in here with their highly sophisticated analytical machinery, and they were told not to."

– Andrew Schneider, author of An Air That Kills [Transcript, NBC Today Show, 02/05/04]

Asbestos Spread Throughout Lower Manhattan

"In lower Manhattan, asbestos was found in indoor dust in 15 of 83 (18 percent) samples from residential units and common areas at levels ranging from less than 1 percent (<1 percent) to 1.5 percent. Asbestos was detected in 6 of 14 (43 percent) outdoor samples at levels ranging from <1 percent to 3.4 percent. Indoor settled surface dust contained SVF in 40 of 83 (48 percent) locations ranging from 2 percent to 35 percent of the dust content. SVF was detected in 11 of 14 (79 percent) outdoor locations at levels ranging from 1 percent to 72 percent.

"Low levels of asbestos were found in some settled surface dust, primarily below Chambers Street. Many of the lower Manhattan locations sampled had been previously cleaned prior to this investigation… more asbestos, synthetic vitreous fibers (e.g., fiberglass), mineral components of concrete (quartz, calcite, and portlandite), and mineral components of building wallboard (gypsum, mica, and halite) were found in settled surface dust in lower Manhattan residential areas when compared to comparison residential areas."

– Final Technical Report of the Public Health Investigation to Assess Potential Exposures to Airborne and Settled Surface Dust in Residential Areas of Lower Manhattan, 09/02, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

"Over 25 percent of the bulk dust samples that EPA had collected and analyzed by September 18 showed the presence of asbestos above the 1 percent threshold used by EPA to indicate significant risk… implementation of work practices to reduce asbestos emissions during transport of asbestos-containing debris appeared to be inconsistent… The majority of [Lower Manhattan] households had not been cleaned according to recommendations, possibly increasing the exposure to respiratory irritants."

– Report: EPA's Response to the World Trade Center Collapse, 08/21/03, p. 24, 43-44

Double the Level of Asbestos Considred Safe for Humans

"An Environmental Protection Agency memo claims city and federal officials concealed data that showed lower Manhattan air was clouded with asbestos after the World Trade Center collapse. And officials sat on the alarming information even as they told the public it was safe to return downtown, the internal memo says. Testing by the city Department of Environmental Protection showed the air downtown had more than double the level of asbestos considered safe for humans, claimed federal EPA environmental scientist Cate Jenkins… On Sept. 18, then-EPA administrator Christie Whitman said the public in lower Manhattan was not being exposed to 'excessive levels of asbestos.' That same day, city testing data, some of which was later made public, showed asbestos levels 50 percent higher and more above what her agency considers safe, the memo states."

– New York Post, 07/16/04

Full Impact of Contamination is Unknown

"Prior to initiation of the EPA-led cleanup, many WTC area residents had returned to their homes, and a study indicated most of them had not followed recommended cleaning practices. The full extent of public exposure to indoor contaminants resulting from the WTC collapse is unknown…We could not conclusively determine the extent to which required work practices regarding the control of asbestos were followed at the WTC site during demolition and debris removal. The specific impact on air quality of any variance from EPA's asbestos emergency work practices is unknown."

– Report: EPA's Response to the World Trade Center Collapse, 08/21/03

"In that the materials containing asbestos were used in the construction of the Twin Towers, the settled dust from their collapse must be presumed to contain asbestos."

– John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health [OSHA "Interpretation Letter," 01/31/02]

Hazardous Dust and Debris Wasn't Removed from Trucks Leaving Ground Zero

"Vehicles leaving the [WTC] site with debris, either dumps or lowboys with large sections of steel beams, are not deconned (decontaminated) and the dumps do not have covers over the loads. As a consequence, potentially hazardous dust and debris is tracked off site or is blown from the loads during transit."

– National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, October 6, 2001, Report

"Concerned citizens and local elected officials testified at these hearings that trucks hauling debris from Ground Zero were not marked as carrying hazardous material, nor were they covered in such a manner to prevent dust from escaping. In addition, people testified that the wetting of debris at the barge operation at Pier 25, which was located north of Ground Zero and near Stuyvesant High School and residences, was inconsistent and resulted in the release of dust into the air. Parents of children at Stuyvesant High School and other members of the public raised concerns that these barge operations were re-contaminating Stuyvesant High School and other buildings in that area."

– Report: EPA's Response to the World Trade Center Collapse, 08/21/03, p. 63

Lingering Concerns

"[G]iven the current lack of health-based benchmarks, the lack of research data on synergistic effects, and the lack of reliable information on the extent of the public's exposure to these pollutants, the answer to whether the outdoor air around WTC was 'safe' to breathe may not be settled for years to come."

– Report: EPA's Response to the World Trade Center Collapse, 08/21/03, p. 29

"Air sampling, the report found, showed dust in the plume above the towers had high alkaline levels (about 10 pH-the same as ammonia or detergent) and contained contaminants like asbestos, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (or PCBs)—in addition to pulverized cement and glass fibers… [D]octors who have treated or studied those who spent time at Ground Zero are urging continued long-term follow-up of the health impact of exposure to the contaminants as well as long-term treatment for those affected, some of whom risk developing more serious ailments like mesothelioma, a relatively rare form of cancer (with no cure) associated with asbestos exposure… It's not clear how many of those who were exposed to the contaminated air around Ground Zero have yet to come forward for treatment, but there is widespread agreement within the medical community that the number who are suffering lingering health problems from the September 11 attacks is greater than initially anticipated."

– Newsweek, 05/19/04

"Not only will veterans be adversely affected [by the FAIR Act], but so too will thousands of New Yorkers. On 9/11, when The World Trade Center collapsed, the air in New York City was filled with millions of asbestos particles, many of which were ultimately inhaled by those in the area. As such, there are countless victims among the firefighters, emergency workers, onlookers, etc.—victims within whose lung linings and/or stomach scarring and tumors will eventually develop, causing one of the most painful and prolonged deaths from cancer: mesothelioma. It is the same terrible disease that claimed the life of my late father, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt… If S. 1125 [the FAIR Act] is passed, the New Yorkers who become sick—which will come more than 30 years from now for many—will be unable to recover any compensation as the legislation denies same to those victims exposed to asbestos after 1982."

– James Zumwalt [Letter to Sen. Hillary Clinton, 04/05/04]

Alleged Fraud by Asbestos Clean-Up Crew

"Investigators have launched a sweeping probe into possible fraud by companies hired to remove asbestos from the World Trade Center site and other Port Authority facilities… Officials are investigating allegations that the companies received 9/11 or other public funds to remove asbestos that wasn't there, or otherwise deceived the PA about work they were paid to do, sources said… Companies were hired to remove asbestos for the construction of the temporary WTC PATH train station—a 9/11 rebuilding project that included work at Ground Zero, Hudson River tunnels, and the Exchange Place PATH station in Jersey City."

– New York Post, 02/29/04

April 2005