September 11, 2001 was a difficult day for almost everyone in these United States. The moment that first plane hit, it was certain that the events of that day would continue to raise questions for many years to come. Of course there would be questions such as how, who, and why it happened, but the overarching question my community board faced was how it would affect our environment today and tomorrow. This is not the senseless rhetorical question one might think. It is a real concern that the affect of air contamination from the collapse of the World Trade towers may linger for a very long time. The central focuses of the meeting were several statements made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the week following the 9/11 disaster. In these statements, the EPA stated that the area surrounding the disaster zone was clean and contained uncontaminated, breathable air (Simpson). The EPA believed there were minimal levels of asbestos and even lesser levels of heavy metals, diesel fuel, dioxin, and PCB's in the air. But it would later be revealed nearly one year later, that there did in fact exist strong amounts of asbestos in the surrounding areas of the disaster zone:.
Some residential living spaces located in the immediate vicinity of the WTC complex were impacted with dust and debris following the attack. Samples taken by EPA of dust and debris from streets of lower Manhattan contained asbestos at levels greater than 1% in approximately 35 % of the 160 samples taken between September 11, 2001 and October 10, 2001. This is a regulatory standard used to determine if material is asbestos containing. FEMA funded a study conducted by the Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and NYCDOHMH of residential interior spaces around the WTC site. This study showed the benchmarks for asbestos in air were not exceeded. There was asbestos in some residual dust found in some of the homes.
