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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Saturday-Monday, January 19-21, 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 10:30 a.m. on 1/22

Air: Fixed Monitors in New York:
Asbestos - EPA analyzed 86 samples taken in and around ground zero on January 14 through January 16. EPA also sampled for asbestos at two additional lower Manhattan locations on January 14 through January 16. 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 4,946, 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) from January 14 through January 16. None showed exceedances of the AHERA re-entry standard. (A sample was not collected from P.S. 274 on January 14 due to an equipment malfunction.)

Staten Island Landfill:
Air (Asbestos) - Fifty-six air samples collected from January 16 through January 18 were analyzed for asbestos. All samples were below the school re-entry standard.

Air (Particulates) - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples of particulates on January 17 and January 20 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 11 through January 18 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 January 11 through January 18 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 18 at Location N (south side of Pier 25) and Location R (northwest side of Stuyvesant High School), and on January 20 at Location L (northeast side of Stuyvesant High School) and Locations N & R. All readings were below the OSHA time-weighted permissible exposure limit for particulates.

VOCs - Sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was conducted on January 18 through Janueary 20 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 18 through January 20 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. (The January 19 South Tower sample was not analyzed due to an equipment malfunction.)

Direct Air Readings - EPA did air monitoring in and around ground zero for a number of compounds from January 18 through January 20. Several readings noted during the morning monitoring period of January 19 were above the carbon monoxide NAAQS (8-hour average) of 9 ppm. Otherwise, nothing of significance was noted.

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

EPA information about the events of September 11

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