EPA Announces Plans for Wtc Dust Cleanup

EPA announced last week that it will test homes and commercial spaces in Lower Manhattan for dust from the Sept. 11, 2001, collapse of the World Trade Center. The agency will offer to clean up areas that have what the agency calls “contaminants of potential concern,” including asbestos and lead, if they are found to be above EPA standards. The plan sparked controversy, however, because it excludes some Manhattan areas and all Brooklyn neighborhoods that were downwind of the smoldering rubble from the twin towers that were destroyed by terrorists. Some residents and federal lawmakers are also criticizing EPA for announcing that it will disband its WTC Expert Technical Review Panel, which helped formulate the cleanup plan, after a final meeting on Dec. 13. E. Timothy Oppelt, the EPA official who is interim chairman of the panel, says the agency believes that it is more important to move ahead with the sampling and cleanup after 21 months of investigation. “Let's not make this a research project,” he tells C&EN.