Air Quality and The World Trade Center Disaster

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Air Quality and The World Trade CenterDisaster
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Region 2 and The World Trade Center Disaster

• What Happened on September 11- Our Experience
• What Challenges Did We Face
• What Was the Nature of the Monitoring Response
• Environmental Impact - What We Have Found
• What We Have Learned About Preparing for Disasters

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What Happened on September 11How a Disaster
Starts
Photo by John Ciorciari Taken From Region 2
Office Window
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What Happened on September 11The Aftermath
Photos by Jack Hoyt, an EPA volunteer
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What Happened on September 11The Aftermath
Photo by Ronald Voelkel
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What Happened on September 11The Aftermath
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What Challenges Did the EPA Face?

• A disaster so huge it outstripped available
  Agency resources
• Immediate impact on a huge urban population
• Potential exposures to pollutants that are not
  routinely measured and for which no health
  standards exist

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What Challenges Did the EPA Face? (cont)

• Determining which pollutants are out there in
  concentrations that were hazardous
• Facilities we take for granted like phones,
  utilities and office spaces, were lost
• A lot of people are going to want a lot of things
  from you before you are in any position to
  deliver them

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EPAs Air Monitoring InvolvementFirst Steps

• Response by Emergency Response Teams
• Starts within hours of collapse
• Crude sampling equipment for survey purposes
• Coordinate state, City and federal responses
• Divide responsibilities regarding Outdoor Air,
  Indoor Air
• Plan short and long term monitoring network
• Plan for data interpretation and distribution

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EPAs Air Monitoring InvolvementMONITORING PHASES

• Initial Hazard Assessment
• aimed at workers at ground zero
• within hours of collapse
• Longer Term Assesment
• week three onward
• aimed at residents, students and workers in Lower
  Manhattan

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EPA Air Monitoring InvolvementMONITORING PHASES
(cont.)

• Risk Evaluation
• week 8 to 6 months (more or less)
• aimed at New York City metropolitan area
  population

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EPA Air Monitoring Involvement WHAT MAJOR
SUBSTANCES ARE BEING MEASURED?

• Asbestos (ambient bulk)
• PM-10 / PM-2.5
• Crystalline Silica
• Metals including lead, mercury and chromium
• Dioxin and PCBs
• Volatile Organic Compounds including Benzene
• Phosgene and Cyanide
• Hydrogen Sulfide / SO2
• plus more

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EPA Air Monitoring Involvement STANDARDS
BENCHMARKS

• We used established standards where available and
  modified guidelines intended for other purposes
• NAAQS for PM, Pb, CO, SO2
• AHERA school re-entry standard for asbestos
• OSWER residential guidelines for dust/bulk
  material
• OSHA PELs(Permissible Exposure Limits) for lead,
  certain VOCs, asbestos
• Otherwise, we developed risk-based screening
  levels (e.g., dioxin, PCBs)

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EPA Air Monitoring Involvement Distributing the
Data

• Early on the Decision is Made to Load All Data
  Onto the Web
• www.epa.gov, September 11Response
• This Includes Reference Benchmarks for
  Interpretative Purposes

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(No Transcript)
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PM10 Daily Values
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PS64 PM2.5 Averages for August and September 2001
(pre and post attack)
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Park Row Dioxin Trend
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Environmental Impact - What We Have FoundWHAT
DID WE FIND?

• At Ground Zero levels of particles, benzene,
  asbestos are elevated and are a potential health
  threat to workers.
• EPA recommends workers use respirators at all
  times.

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Environmental Impact - What We Have FoundWHAT
DID WE FIND? (CONT)

• Elsewhere - although short-term irritant health
  effects may persist as long as smoke and dust are
  present near the site, levels of contaminants in
  the air and dust in the neighborhoods near the
  site are not high enough to cause long-term
  health effects.

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What We Have Learned About CRISIS MANAGEMENT

• You need to plan in the calm times prior to the
  disaster
• Chose an incident response model and stick to it
• a centralized response with clear lines of
  responsibility is critical
• work needs to be divided
• The incident response plan supersedes existing
  organizational lines

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What We Have Learned About CRISIS MANAGEMENT

• Data systems are very important and often
  overlooked
• In the publics eye its all about Risk
  Communication

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What We Have Learned AboutCRISIS RESPONSE

• Ensure that field and office staff are getting
  sufficient direction, support and resources to do
  their job
• Keep meetings SHORT!
• Responsibilities get blurred
• people need to be able to work outside of their
  normal areas of responsibilities

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What We Have Learned AboutPLANNING AIR MONITORING

• Inventory monitoring resources and develop plans
  to tap them
• Ensure different Agency elements understand each
  other capabilities
• Know the capabilities of other state, federal and
  city agencies and plan with them
• Establish benchmarks ahead of time
• Know background concentrations

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What We Have Learned AboutRISK COMMUNICATION

• Knowing the answers makes risk communication
  easier
• Data management and interpretation problems can
  undermine Agency credibility
• You need to get the data out there QUICKLY
• dont OVERSTATE what you know
• ESTABLISH teams to manage, interpret and post
  data

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What We Have Learned AboutPUBLIC OUTREACH

• The public will be skeptical of what you say
• Dont expect to be thanked
• Be prepared with as much information as possible

New York Daily News Wednesday, November 21, 2001
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Summarizing What We Learned PREPARING FOR
DISASTERS

• Plan Now
• Inventory Resources - people and monitoring
  equipment
• your organization and others
• Have a data processing plan
• Know your Background levels and Benchmarks