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Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Friday, November 9, 2001

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 11/9

Air: Fixed Monitors in New York:
Asbestos - EPA analyzed 82 samples taken in and around ground zero from November 5 through November 7. 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 to1,881, with 28 samples above the standard (27 were collected prior to September 30 and one was collected on October 9).

Air: Fixed Monitors outside Manhattan:
Asbestos - Additional asbestos monitors have been placed at Public School (P.S.) 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). Asbestos samples collected on November 1 from these locations showed no exceedances of the AHERA re-entry standard.

Air: Fixed Monitors in New Jersey:
Asbestos - Four air samples were taken in New Jersey on November 5. All samples showed results less than school re-entry standard. This brings the total number of samples collected and analyzed in New Jersey to 181, with zero above the standard.

Staten Island Landfill:
Air (Asbestos) - Forty-eight samples were collected from November 6 through November 7. All but five of the samples showed results less than the school re-entry standard. During this period, four samples were not analyzed due to filter overloading and four locations had sampler pump failures deeming the results invalid.

Air (Particulates) - EPA used portable monitors to collect samples of particulates on November 8 at the Staten Island Landfill. No levels of significance were reported at three sampling locations.

PM 2.5 - Monitoring for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) was conducted on November 7 and 8th at Pace University, Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the Coast Guard building in Battery Park. 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).

Latest Available Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Resources on the World Wide Web:

EPA information about the events of September 11

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