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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Wednesday, January 9, 2002

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal, state and local agencies have collected extensive environmental monitoring data from the World Trade Center site and nearby areas in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. Since September 11, EPA has taken samples of the air, dust, water, river sediments and drinking water and analyzed them for the presence of pollutants that might pose a health risk to response workers at the World Trade Center site and the public. The samples are evaluated against a variety of benchmarks, standards and guidelines established to protect public health under various conditions. EPA is collecting data from more than 20 fixed air monitors in and around ground zero and additional monitors in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The Agency is also using portable sampling equipment to collect data from a range of locations.

Results as of 4:30 p.m. on 1/9

Air: Fixed Monitors in New York:
Asbestos - EPA analyzed 144 samples taken in and around ground zero on January 1 through January 6. EPA also sampled for asbestos at two additional lower Manhattan locations on January 3 and January 4. All samples showed results less than 70 structures per square millimeter, which is the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) standard for allowing children to re-enter school buildings after asbestos removal activities. This brings the total number of air samples collected and analyzed for lower Manhattan to 4,508, with 30 samples above the standard (27 of these were collected prior to September 30, the other three were collected on October 9, November 27 and December 27).

Air: Fixed Monitors outside Lower Manhattan:
Asbestos - Samples were collected from additional asbestos monitors at Public School 154 (33 East 135th St., Bronx), Intermediate School 143 (511 W. 182nd St., Manhattan), P.S. 274 (800 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn), P.S. 44 (80 Maple Parkway, Staten Island) and P.S. 199 (3290 48th St., Queens) on January 3 and January 4. None showed exceedances of the AHERA re-entry standard.

Ambient Air Samples:

PM 2.5 - Monitoring for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from December 31 through January 5 at Chambers & West Streets, Park Row, and Wall Street. All 24-hour averages were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 65 ug/m3 for all stations. These results were also less than 40 ug/m3, a level on the EPA Air Quality Index indicating that air quality is unhealthy for sensitive populations (e.g., those with respiratory illnesses).

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from December 31 through January 5 at a location on Wall Street. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

Particulate Monitoring - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples on January 8 in the following locations: L (north east side of Stuyvesant High School); N (south side of Pier 25); and R (north west side of Stuyvesant High School). All readings were below the OSHA time-weighted permissible exposure limit for particulates.

VOCs - Sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was conducted on January 8 in the direct area of the debris pile at ground zero. To protect workers at the work site, EPA takes grab samples of VOCs where smoke plumes have been sighted. The results are snapshots of the levels at a moment in time. OSHA's protective standards set a permissible exposure limit (PEL) averaged over an 8-hour day.

Samples taken at the North Tower debris pile exceeded the OSHA standards for both benzene and 1,3-butadiene on January 8. All samples taken at EPA's Wash Tent (West St. and Murray), Austin Tobin Plaza and the South Tower debris pile showed no detectable levels of either benzene or 1,3-butadiene on January 8.

Direct Air Readings - EPA did air monitoring in and around ground zero for a number of compounds on January 8. Nothing of significance was noted.

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

EPA information about the events of September 11

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