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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Friday, February 22, 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 2/22

Staten Island Landfill:
Air (Asbestos) - Twenty air samples collected on February 16 were analyzed for asbestos. A sample taken at one of the Wash Tents (Location W-11) showed 78.7 structures per square millimeter, which exceeds the AHERA school re-entry standard. All other samples were below the school reentry standard.

Metals - A total of 10 samples were collected on January 22 and January 29. All metals were either not detected or were below applicable EPA Removal Action level guidelines, OSHA PELs, and the NAAQS for lead.

Ambient Air Samples:
Particulate Monitoring - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples on February 21 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.

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from December 18 through December 23, from December 25 through December 31, on January 3, from January 8 through January 12, and on January 20, 22 and 24 at a location on Park Row in lower Manhattan. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted on December 20 and 21, from December 23 through December 31, on January 3, on January 8 and 9, on January 11 and 12, and from January 20 through January 24 at Chambers & West Streets in lower Manhattan. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from December 24 through December 31, on January 3, from January 8 through January 12, from January 20 through January 22, and on January 24 at a location on Albany Street in lower Manhattan. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted on December 18, from December 20 through December 23, from December 26 through January 2, and on January 4 and January 5 at Public School 274 (800 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn). All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

PM10 - Monitoring for particulate matter (particles less than 10 micrometers in diameter) was conducted from December 18 through December 23 at the Coast Guard Building (Battery Park) in lower Manhattan. All 24-hour average values were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 150 ug/m3.

Dioxin - A total of 6 samples were collected from January 28 to February 4 from several locations in lower Manhattan. All samples collected were below the EPA Removal Action guidelines (based on a 30-year exposure).

PAHs - A total of 20 samples were collected on January 8 and January 10 at various locations in lower Manhattan. PAHs were not detected.

VOCs - Sampling for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was conducted on February 21 in the direct area of the excavation area 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 February 21 at EPA's Wash Tent (West & Murray Streets), Austin Tobin Plaza, and the North and South Tower excavation areas showed no detectable levels of VOC's.

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

EPA information about the events of September 11

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