EPA to Scale Back Testing at Ground Zero (Nadler: "breathtaking slap")

WP: EPA to Scale Back Testing at Ground Zero
By Michael Powell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2005; Page A10


NEW YORK, Nov. 29 -- The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it will no longer test for World Trade Center dust contamination in Brooklyn and north of Canal Street in Manhattan, a reduced testing plan that has outraged many politicians and health advocates.

The $7 million testing plan also excludes buildings slated for demolition. The EPA will test for four toxic contaminants -- asbestos, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known as PAHs, and man-made vitreous fibers -- released when the twin towers collapsed in the 2001 terrorist attacks.

If enough apartments or offices test positive for contamination, the EPA will send in cleanup crews. The agency lacks authority to require landlords to conduct cleanups.

"This testing and cleanup plan is a breathtaking slap at the residents and workers of Lower Manhattan," Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Tuesday. "Once again, EPA is quite callously demonstrating that the health and safety of those affected by 9/11 are simply not a priority."

The fires at Ground Zero burned for three months, and western Brooklyn sat directly within the smoke-and-dust plume from the World Trade Center. But EPA officials said that their tests have not been able to distinguish between World Trade Center contamination and the dust and detritus of normal urban life....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112901793.html

as it does about the pollution from the world trade centers.