Toxic toll of debris uncertain

By Roger Witherspoon, The Journal News

More than 3 billion pounds of broken glass, jagged concrete, twisted steel and pulverized furnishings are all that remain of the World Trade Center towers.

Traces of asbestos and other cancer-causing compounds used in the 1960s are mixed in with dust and debris. And the sheer mass of material at the edge of the Hudson River overwhelms any standard environmental protection measures associated with construction projects, asbestos removal, storm-water protection and the airborne release of toxic particles.

"We are just beginning to look at what the ecological effects of this may be," said Mary Mears, Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman. "We are not ready to tell what the challenges are going to be, since we haven't dealt with anything of this magnitude before. We just don't know at this point."

And all efforts to deal with the environmental problems caused by the material are constrained by the search for victims and survivors.

Nothing can be removed - even toxic debris - without clearance from federal and state law enforcement agencies whose investigators are sifting through the wreckage.

In addition, there are security concerns: The EPA has quietly analyzed debris, drinking water, dust and air samples for possible radioactive contamination. Officials would not say if they were testing for possible radioactive medicines dispersed in the area, or if there was concern that the terrorists may have brought radioactive material on the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers.

The EPA has more than 225 employees supporting its regional office in an effort to track the spread of contaminants and organize the effort to remove and dispose of potentially dangerous materials.

The EPA mobilization began shortly after the Sept. 11 jet crashes sent a rain of dust through lower Manhattan. The agency's regional offices about four blocks from Ground Zero were among those evacuated. Most of the offices are still closed.

"We had air monitors tested in Brooklyn that night," said EPA spokeswoman Tina Creisher. "We knew by the next day what we were looking for in the way of toxins - lead, asbestos and organic compounds like benzene."

The agency set up air sampling centers around the 16-acre site, and 50 more throughout lower Manhattan. There were also mobile vans with air sampling equipment traveling throughout Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn, going wherever the prevailing winds carried dust from the disaster. That was especially important in the first days, when thousands of people were working frantically to search for survivors and few had protection from potential toxins.

"It looked like it had snowed," said Jason Cascone, a New York City firefighter who lives in White Plains and arrived at the site shortly after the second tower collapsed.

"The white dust was 4 inches deep, and it was still coming down. We didn't have masks, and just a few of those dust filters that didn't do much good. We were breathing a lot of stuff."

Exposure posed risks for thousands of emergency workers. Asbestos fibers were found at toxic levels in dust samples taken from the site and surrounding neighborhoods. Air readings from a distance, however, showed little contamination, indicating the primary danger was to the rescue workers.

Asbestos fibers cause mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs linked to other cancers and lung diseases.

Buildings for 16 square blocks around the World Trade Center were scrubbed with high-pressure hoses. Dust was sucked up using 10 vacuum trucks, which each had a 3,000-gallon capacity. All evacuated apartment and office buildings in the area must be vacuumed and scrubbed before they can be reoccupied.

In addition, the EPA has had to test the city's water systems throughout lower Manhattan to determine if runoff from the 10-story pile of rubble has tainted the underground distribution system.

Many of the nearby buildings also have water towers on their roofs. These, too, had to be individually tested for contamination and cleaned before they could be restored to service.

In the first 10 days, a bucket brigade cleared nearly 80,000 tons of rubble. That wreckage was trucked to the Fresh Kills landfill in Staten Island. The landfill, which was closed a year ago, received a special dispensation from the EPA to reopen. Whether the material will be taken to another landfill better suited to toxic waste is still being considered.

"We are still testing for PCBs and dioxin and anything else we can think of," Creisher said.

The agency has set up temporary barriers to reduce the amount of runoff into the Hudson River.

"We've tested the storm drains and the river," she said. "We found things in the river that surpass drinking-level standards. But we aren't going to drink that water in the Hudson River, so, under the circumstances, it is not something to worry about.

But the mountains of debris are another matter.

"The city has no way of getting rid of this stuff," said Mark McGowan, manager of health and safety for the environmental engineering firm of Malcolm Pirnie. "It doesn't burn, and it would be difficult for anyone to get rid of this quantity."

No matter where the material goes, "a landfill is not a waste disposal, but a waste storage facility," McGowan said. "They will have to map the location of this stuff very carefully so people messing around in the future know where it is."

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