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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Saturday - Monday, January 12 - 14, 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 5:00 p.m. on 1/14

Air: Fixed Monitors in New York:
Asbestos -EPA analyzed 175 samples taken in and around ground zero from January 7 through January 11. EPA also sampled for asbestos at two additional lower Manhattan locations on January 7 through January 10. 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 4,727, 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 P.S. 154: 333 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 7 through January 10. None showed exceedances of the AHERA re-entry standard. (Note: A sample was not collected from P.S. 44 on January 10 due to an equipment malfunction.)

Staten Island Landfill:
Air (Particulates) - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples of particulates on January 12 at the Staten Island Landfill. There were no significant readings.

Ambient Air Samples:
PM 2.5 - Monitoring for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from January 6 through January 10 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).

PM 10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from January 6 through January 10 at a location on Wall Street. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

VOCs - Sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was conducted on January 11 and January 13 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.

All samples taken at EPA's Wash Tent (West & Murray Streets), Austin Tobin Plaza, the South Tower debris pile, and the North Tower debris pile either did not exceed OSHA standards, or showed no detectable levels, of benzene on both January 11 and January 13.

Direct Air Readings - EPA did air monitoring in and around ground zero for a number of compounds on January 13. Nothing of significance was noted.

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

EPA information about the events of September 11

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