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Air Today . . . Gone Tomorrow Article
Critics Question Safety
of Plan to Raze Contaminated Site
By David A. Dunlap, New York Times,
January 26, 2005
At the Deutsche Bank building opposite ground zero, a new look at hard-to-reach spaces
-shafts, ducts, conduits and upper elevations of the exterior - has confirmed the presence
of high levels of asbestos, lead and other contaminants, a consultant to the Lower
Manhattan Development Corporation said Monday night.
The findings were disclosed at a public information session where neighbors, union
representatives and environmental advocates expressed concerns about a plan to dismantle
the 40-story bank building, which is at 130 Liberty Street and was badly damaged on Sept.
11, 2001.
Federal, state and city regulators have not yet responded to the plan, issued a month ago
by the development corporation, which will need government permits before it can demolish
the building. It is not clear when exactly that work will begin.
Critics said they worried that workers inside the building would not be sufficiently
protected. "Workers are essentially, and unfortunately, the canaries for the
community," said David M. Newman of the New York Committee for Occupational Safety
and Health, a nonprofit coalition including labor unions.
Paul Stein of the New York State Public Employees Federation was one of several speakers
who questioned the efficiency of the emergency warning system. "If you're not at your
computer or phone, you may not get the information," he said, suggesting the need for
sirens, Klaxons or loudspeakers around the demolition site.
Speakers also complained about the lack of coordination for demolition projects, including
another Deutsche Bank building at 4 Albany Street. Jennifer Hensley of the Alliance for
Downtown New York called on the governor and the mayor to name a leader for the new Lower
Manhattan Construction Command Center.
"Without the timely appointment of an executive director," she said, "the
command center is at risk of becoming obsolete before it is even operational."
The federal Environmental Protection Agency is concerned about the lack of information on
air monitoring and contaminant levels in the building's interstices, said Mary Mears,
chief of public outreach in the agency's regional office.
That is not to say the agency opposes the dismantling. "There are steps that can be
taken to reduce the environmental impacts from taking this building down," Ms. Mears
said.
She said the E.P.A. hoped to submit its comments with those of other agencies by the end
of the month.
Development corporation officials said that the "deconstruction" - a term they
use to emphasize the project's painstaking nature - would be done in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner, and that the final version of the plan would reflect
the concerns and comments of regulators and the public.
"People griping is better than people having no voice at all," said Kevin M.
Rampe, president of the corporation. The Monday session drew about 60 people to St. John's
University on Murray Street.
At the session, Edward Gerdts, a vice president at TRC, an environmental consultant to the
corporation, discussed a detailed new study of the building, which the corporation
acquired from Deutsche Bank in August for the purpose of razing it.
He compared contaminant levels with benchmarks set by the E.P.A., based either on the
estimated levels of contaminants before the 9/11 attack or on health-based cleanup targets
for residences. Though the benchmarks are not directly applicable to a commercial
demolition project, Mr. Gerdts said, they do provide some context.
Average concentrations of asbestos, lead and silica on the exterior were found to exceed
the benchmarks. Asbestos and lead exceeded the benchmarks in the heating, ventilation and
air-conditioning ductwork; in elevator and pipe shafts; and in conduits through the
floors.
Lead and silica exceeded the benchmarks in cavities behind the curtain wall. Silica
exceeded the benchmarks in cavities between interior walls. Asbestos and silica exceeded
the benchmarks in the fireproofing.
Generally, Mr. Gerdts said, contaminant levels were either consistent with or lower than
those found in an earlier study of surface areas around the building.
A summary of the new study is available on the corporation's Web site, www.renewnyc.com.
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