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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Friday, January 18, 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 1:00 p.m. on 1/18

Air: Fixed Monitors in New York:
Asbestos - EPA analyzed 38 samples taken in and around ground zero on January 14 and January 15. EPA also sampled for asbestos at two additional lower Manhattan locations on January 11 and January 12. 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 4,854, with 31 samples above the standard (27 of these were collected prior to September 30, the other four were collected on October 9, November 27, December 27 and January 14).

Air: Fixed Monitors outside Lower Manhattan:
Asbestos - Samples were collected from additional asbestos monitors at Intermediate School 143 (511 W. 182nd St., Manhattan), Public School 154: 333 East 135th St, Bronx, 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 13. None showed exceedances of the AHERA re-entry standard.

Staten Island Landfill:
Air (Particulates) - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples of particulates on January 16 at the Staten Island Landfill. There were no significant readings.

Ambient Air Samples:
Particulate Monitoring - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples on January 17 at Location L (northeast side of Stuyvesant High School), Location N (south side of Pier 25) and Location R (northwest 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 17 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 on January 17 at EPA's Wash Tent (West & Murray Streets), Austin Tobin Plaza, the South Tower debris pile, and the North Tower debris pile showed no detectable levels of benzene, and levels of other VOCs did not exceed OSHA standards.

Direct Air Readings - EPA did air monitoring in and around ground zero for a number of compounds on January 17. Nothing of significance was noted.

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

EPA information about the events of September 11

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