EPA Releases Draft Plan for Sampling Trade Center Dust

EPA is seeking comments from the public on its draft plan for sampling dust inside lower Manhattan buildings and testing it for chemical contamination. The aim of the sampling is to determine if buildings have contaminants from the collapse of the World Trade Center towers at "levels of concern." J. Paul Gilman, science adviser to the EPA administrator and chairman of the agency's World Trade Center Expert Technical Review Panel, says dust will be sampled in residences, schools, offices, public buildings, and commercial spaces. "We'll analyze the data and determine if the chemicals found in this urban environment are at levels of concern," he says. The review panel is determining the geographic extent of the WTC collapse's impacts on indoor environments. The plan is available at http://www.epa.gov/wtc/ panel/.