February 2004 News Stories (Back to Archived News Stories) (Back to Main News Page)
In one of the largest-ever raids involving the PA, scores of law-enforcement officers last month executed a massive search across the metropolitan area, seizing documents and computer files from homes and offices of contractors, sources said.
Officials are investigating allegations that the companies received 9/11 or other public funds to remove asbestos that wasn't there, or otherwise deceived the PA about work they were paid to do, sources said.
The investigation is also looking at whether PA engineers took payoffs to look the other way, sources said.
The Manhattan district attorney, the city's Department of Investigation and the PA's inspector general are jointly conduct- ing the probe, officials said.
Companies were hired to remove asbestos for the construction of the temporary WTC PATH train station - a 9/11 rebuilding project that included work at Ground Zero, Hudson River tunnels, and the Exchange Place PATH station in Jersey City. Other companies were hired at various PA jobs in New York and New Jersey.
The asbestos investigation comes amid charges in a lawsuit by an electrical subcontractor that the main contractors for the WTC PATH project engaged in profiteering, fraud and misuse of 9/11 and other public funds.
The Post has reported that the PATH project was plagued by construction cost overruns that hiked the initial $300 million contract to $460 million, including millions in extra fees and bonuses for the main contractors. The PA had pushed to open the WTC station Nov. 23, a month ahead of schedule.
The overruns prompted state Comptroller Alan Hevesi to launch an audit of the cost increases, and to check whether the project had proper oversight. Also, the PA's inspector general has assigned forensic auditors to investigate the costs, officials said.
Copyright 2003 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.Deutsche Bank reached agreement yesterday with the state, insurers and downtown rebuilding officials on the fate of a 40-story skyscraper near the World Trade Center site that still stands despite being badly damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The tower at 130 Liberty Street, which is draped in a black shroud to hide a deep 24-story-long gash in its northern facade, would be demolished, according to several executive and government officials who had been briefed on the negotiations. The grim remnant of the attack on the trade center would become the site of a new park, and possibly, an office building and an underground garage for the hundreds of buses that are expected to bring tourists to a trade center memorial.
"This constant reminder of that dark day will be gone," said Madelyn G. Wils, president of Community Board 1 and a director of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. "Everyone will feel relieved that this building will be coming down. It'll give us room for a park, a church and maybe an office building."
Rohini Pragasam, a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank, declined comment. George E. Mitchell, a former United States senator, played a central role in resolving what had been a long dispute between Deutsche Bank and two of its insurers over the building. The building also became a sore point with downtown residents and employers anxious to have it wiped from the scene, the executives and officials said.
Gov. George E. Pataki appointed Mr. Mitchell, a Democrat, four months ago to mediate the discussions. But by mid-December, the two sides were at an impasse.
Mr. Mitchell then put his own proposal on the table and set a deadline for an agreement. The proposal involved government purchase of the property so that it could be incorporated into the trade center site. But rebuilding officials needed an assessment of their potential environmental risks. After several extensions, Mr. Mitchell ultimately set his deadline for today, which was met with hours to spare. "The governor had a lot of confidence that George Mitchell could bring this to a resolution" said Lisa Dewald Stoll, a spokeswoman for Mr. Pataki.
Built in the early 1970's, the 1.4-million-square-foot tower was known as the Bankers Trust Building until Deutsche Bank merged with Bankers Trust a few years ago. Today, it is considered uninhabitable.
Under the terms of the agreement signed yesterday afternoon, two insurance companies, Allianz and AXA, would pay Deutsche Bank $140 million toward its insurance claim for the property, according to the executives and officials. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation would then buy the property from the bank for $90 million and take over a $45 million contract to demolish the structure. The insurers would be responsible for any demolition costs above $45 million.
Early on in the dispute, Deutsche Bank said it would cost $1.86 billion to demolish the tower and build a new one. Aside from the physical damage, the bank said the building suffered from water damage and mold. But the two insurers countered that the building could be salvaged and repaired for about $170 million.
Last year, the bank settled with the two other insurers, Zurich American and Chubb, that provided coverage for the property. But it sued Allianz and AXA for their portion of the coverage, about $857 million.
The Deutsche Bank property will now be added to the 16-acre trade center site, allowing planners to spread a proposed 10 million square feet of commercial space over a bigger footprint.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Frist says will bring up asbestos bill by April, Reuters, at Forbes.com, February 27, 2004
http//www.forbes.com/markets/bonds/newswire/2004/02/27/rtr1279646.htmlWASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist said on Friday that good progress had been made on a bill to reform the asbestos litigation system, and he planned to bring the legislation to the Senate floor by the end of March or the first week of April.
"I will begin floor action on an asbestos bill either the last week of March or the first week of April," Frist told the Senate.
"I've made this a personal priority, in that the U.S. Senate must resolve this issue," the Tennessee Republican said.
Frist has been trying to jump-start stalled legislation to end asbestos lawsuits, which number in the hundreds of thousands, and establish a fund to pay the claims, supported by asbestos companies and insurers.
Last year asbestos companies and insurers agreed to a fund of at least $114 billion in talks sponsored by Frist's office, but Democrats have said this was inadequate.
Labour unions have said that tens of billions more dollars would be needed to pay the claims of people with asbestos-related diseases.
Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists have concluded that inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases. Thousands of lawsuits by victims have driven dozens of companies into bankruptcy proceedings.
Frist said talks between interested parties had continued in recent weeks and some progress was made, in particular on setting up the administrative procedures for an asbestos compensation fund.
"I'm prepared to have the talks go on another 30 days, through the end of March, but at some point, the talking must end," he said.
He said Democratic leaders had expressed their interest in working on consensus legislation.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
NYCOSH Announces 2004 Award Recipients Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Roger Toussaint, Omar Henriquez, Guillermina Mejia and the WTC Medical Screening Program, NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, Vol. VIII, No. 8, February 26, 2004
http//www.nycosh.org/Update20_Jan-Mar_2004.html
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will be honored by the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) at a May 14, 2004 awards celebration. In addition to Senator Clinton, the evening's honorees will be
· Roger Toussaint, President of Transport Workers Union Local 100,
· The World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mt. Sinai,
· Omar Henriquez, Immigration Campaign Coordinator, Service Employees International Union Eastern Region,
· and Guillermina Mejia, Principal Program Coordinator for Safety and Health, District Council 37, AFSCME (who will receive the NYCOSH Karen Silkwood Award)
"Each of our five honorees has shown an unswerving commitment to protecting and promoting the workplace safety and health of workers and volunteers in the New York City area," said William F. Henning, Jr., chair of the NYCOSH Board of Directors. "Our awards ceremony will be an important opportunity for a broad cross-section of the occupational safety and health community – including political leaders, labor union officials, occupational healthcare workers, immigrant rights activists and rank-and-file safety and health activists – to share ideas and to socialize."
The May 14 event will also celebrate the 25th Anniversary of NYCOSH. "Our experience has shown how effective it is when trade unionists, safety and health activists and professionals, political leaders and community groups all work together to promote occupational and environmental safety and health," said Lenora Colbert, co-vice Chair of the NYCOSH Board.
After learning that she would receive a NYCOSH award, Senator Clinton said, "It is an honor to receive an award from NYCOSH, because like me, NYCOSH is a staunch supporter of policies to ensure that workers have safe and healthful workplaces, and I know that occupational safety and health are priorities that we both share. From defending OSHA's ergonomics regulation, to providing Ground Zero workers with the best medical care available, it has been a pleasure to work with NYCOSH and I look forward to working with them in the future."
Union president Toussaint emphasized the practical effect of safety and health activity, saying, "In transit, safety and health translates directly into members' lives. We deeply appreciate the contributions NYCOSH has made on this front, for all the working people of New York and in transit in particular."
The biggest recent occupational safety and health challenge in New York City has been protecting the workers and volunteers who worked in Lower Manhattan during the months after 9/11 and providing medical care to more than 4,000 of them who are sick as a result of their exposure to the toxic atmosphere and the psychological trauma at Ground Zero. NYCOSH is honoring The World Trade Center Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program at Mt. Sinai Medical Center for taking the lead role in making medical evaluation and treatment available to those victims of 9/11. One of the co-directors of the Program, Dr. Robin Herbert, said, "It has been an honor to work with the brave men and women who served New York City during our time of need. We sincerely hope that our medical screening program will assist these workers in finding the medical care they need to heal their wounds and move forward in their lives. We would like to thank the labor movement and New York legislators for their tremendous efforts to obtain the funding that made this program possible."
The other co-director of the program, Dr. Stephen Levin, added, "Without the work of NYCOSH and other safety and health activists, the New York State Occupational Health Clinic Network would not be here to provide all workers, including WTC responders, the vital health services they so desperately need. We are honored to receive this award and to continue to work with NYCOSH to serve the working people of New York City."
One of those being honored by NYCOSH, SEIU Immigration Campaign Coordinator Omar Henriquez, served on the NYCOSH staff up until 2002. Upon being informed the he would receive a NYCOSH award, he reflected how his immigration-related work was also safety and health-related, saying, "I am certain that the recent decrease in injuries and fatalities among immigrants workers is the result of the extraordinary and effective work of the national network of committees for occupational safety and health. NYCOSH has been at the forefront of this battle, and I am proud and privileged to have been part of this great team effort."
Every year NYCOSH awards one rank-and-file safety and health activist the Karen Silkwood Award, named for a rank-and-file martyr to the cause of occupational safety and health. Silkwood, who was a member of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers was killed (many believe murdered) in 1974, when she was in the midst of blowing the whistle on unsafe conditions at a nuclear fuel processing plant in Oklahoma. This year's Karen Silkwood Award recipient, Guillermina Mejia, is Principal Program Coordinator for Safety and Health, District Council 37, AFSCME. She made this observation on NYCOSH's relevance to her work
"NYCOSH has been a great resource and partner for me in ensuring the well-being of DC 37 members. Through NYCOSH's timely information and updates on safety and health issues, their efforts to promote legislation that has a positive impact on the work environment, and its excellent development programs, I am better prepared and equipped to address the concerns and needs of DC 37 members."
"This awards ceremony promises to be a very memorable occasion," said NYCOSH Executive Director Joel Shufro. "With such an outstanding group of award recipients, we expect all of our constituencies – labor, law, medicine, public health, environmentalists, government, immigrants, youth -- to be very well represented in the audience. It will be a wonderful opportunity for representatives of diverse interests to exchange ideas."
For information, please call 212-627-3900 ext. 10
As residents asked the government for more time and information before construction begins on the World Trade Center site, the business community urged that rebuilding start immediately to hasten Lower Manhattan’s economic recovery.
Many residents, business leaders and politicians have called for balance in the rebuilding process. But as Downtowners digested the 2,000-page study on World Trade Center redevelopment released by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, it became clear that some favored a quicker pace than others.
Community members spoke about the study, called the draft generic environmental impact statement, or d.g.e.i.s., at two public forums held on Feb. 18 at Pace University. More than 100 people attended the afternoon session, and 60 people testified at that session.
"The d.g.e.i.s. is a major step toward a revitalized Lower Manhattan, but I do want to emphasize the importance of moving construction of the site forward as rapidly as possible," said Jen Hensley, director of intergovernmental and community affairs for the Downtown Alliance, which runs a business improvement district.
Construction workers also came out in force to spur the process.
"The time has come to cut through the red tape and start rebuilding the site," said Joseph Llanos, a member of the electrician’s union Local 3 I.B.E.W. who said builders would mitigate the effects of large-scale construction on the surrounding neighborhood.
Residents criticized the L.M.D.C., a city-state agency, for failing to fully consider the cumulative impact of the many large construction projects that will take place in and around the 16-acre World Trade Center site within the next decade. They voiced concerns about the noise and pollution that the rebuilding will bring, as well as the lack of open space in the site plan.
Caroline Martin, a Tribeca resident, called the environmental impact study "rushed" and "inaccurate." Like many residents, she said the study should have taken into account the demolition both of Fiterman Hall, a Borough of Manhattan Community College classroom building that was heavily damaged in the trade center collapse, and of the Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty St.
Irene Chang, counsel for the L.M.D.C., said the study could not address the Deutsche Bank situation because the mediation between the company and its insurers, currently being brokered by George Mitchell, is confidential. An L.M.D.C. spokesperson confirmed the draft generic environmental impact statement assumes that the Deutsche Bank site has been annexed, however.
Residents called for a number of provisions that would ease the effects of construction on the neighborhood. They recommended that the use of ultra-low-sulfur fuel on the site’s construction equipment be extended to all contracts, including those with Con Edison and Verizon. Community members also called for strict enforcement of the city’s anti-idling law, which prohibits buses from idling while parked for more than three minutes.
Special care must be taken to protect residents who have alread been exposed to 9/11 contaminants, some experts said.
"The population around the World Trade Center is an especially susceptible population," said George Thurston, an associate professor in the department of environmental medicine at New York University School of Medicine. He said adverse health reactions increase proportionately with increasing pollution, and called for the L.M.D.C. to go beyond simply mitigating effects. For example, the corporation could make a large-scale change by converting all buses on the site to natural gas fuel, Thurston suggested.
While the environmental impact study did not predict any "significant adverse air quality impacts" in 2009, when the first phase of construction is scheduled to end, or in 2015, when the whole project is slated for completion, L.M.D.C. officials and consultants have acknowledged the peak construction year of 2006 will bring increased noise and air quality issues.
"I would just suggest that anyone who’s looking for a long vacation, take it in 2006," said Madelyn Wils, chairperson of Community Board 1 and an L.M.D.C. board member, at the monthly full board meeting of C.B. 1 last week.
Community Board 1 passed a 10-page resolution on the draft generic environmental impact statement, in which members made recommendations in 10 categories including the environment and construction. In the latter category, the community called for the creation of a Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center to coordinate construction projects and ensure that schedules are arranged to minimize disruption. They also requested that an L.M.D.C. representative be available on-site 24 hours a day.
At a meeting last week, L.M.D.C. officials said they were investigating whether a command center would be possible. Gov. George Pataki first called for such a center last October.
Community Board 1 also asked the L.M.D.C. to clarify the corporation’s assumptions about open space on the World Trade Center site. L.M.D.C. officials have said the site plan provides for 5.5 acres of new open space.
However, an urban planner at the Feb. 18 hearing called that figure incorrect. Diane Dreyfus said the redeveloped World Trade Center site represented a net loss of open space compared with the pre-9/11 configuration and stated there was a 13 percent error in the amount of open space the L.M.D.C. predicted for the site. She said when she converted the open space square footage listed on d.g.e.i.s. charts to acres it did not match the L.M.D.C. acreage claims.
"The things that are called parks in the World Trade Center plan are merely sidewalks with fancy names," Dreyfus said.
William Kelley, the L.M.D.C.’s planning project manager, said sidewalks are not included in the W.T.C. open space figures. L.M.D.C. officials did not return a request for comment on the open space acreage estimates by press time.
C.B. 1 criticized the environmental impact statement for failing to gauge the full effect of delivery truck, commuter bus and tour bus traffic. Jen Hensley, the Downtown Alliance worker who also serves as a C.B. 1 member, said at the Feb. 18 hearing that the Alliance is concerned the number of tour buses visiting the site could be greater than expected. The L.M.D.C. and the Port Authority has said that 100 tour bus spaces are necessary at the site.
Public comment on the draft generic environmental impact statement will be accepted until 500 p.m. until March 15. A final generic environmental impact statement will be prepared in April, an L.M.D.C. official said, and the public will have another chance to comment on that.
Back to TopDear Libby, by Jeff Woods, The Missoula Independent, February 26, 2004
Promises are made to be broken…Love, EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency converged on Libby like a liberating army in moon-suits four years ago, promising to save the populace from deadly asbestos dust. Now, the cleanup budget is tightening, wages for asbestos-removal workers have been slashed, and Libby is back to begging for help.
Town officials say that when the sun is shining at just the right angle, you can still see asbestos-laden vermiculite glistening in the yards of homes where children play in Libby, a Superfund toxic waste site. More than 1,000 homes and businesses remain to be cleaned.
"We aren’t asking for a lot," says Gayla Benefield, an advocate for Libby’s victims who lost both her parents to slow and painful asbestos-related disease. "We just want the EPA to live up to the promises that they made to us."
Ignored for years by the outside world, Libby’s heartbreaking story has become well known. From vermiculite mined in this pretty mountain town of 12,000 people, the W.R. Grace Corp. sold insulation, fireproofing and gardening materials around the world for 30 years.
Trouble was, the vermiculite was loaded with tremolite asbestos, a virulent form of the fibrous mineral that causes lung cancer and pulmonary fibrosis. The dust was spread throughout Libby on the clothing of miners and blown into the air from the mine’s processing plants. People not only insulated their homes with vermiculite in Libby, but the mine gave away ore residue and unwitting residents hauled off great piles of these tailings to spread in their gardens and to use as backfill on their properties. It was even laid down on the high school track.
When Grace started losing lawsuits filed by sick residents, the corporation spun off its profitable assets and went bankrupt in 2001, leaving the town and taxpayers holding the bag.
The death toll is 200 so far in Libby, and nearly 2,000 locals have been diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases. Residents fear that the longer the cleanup takes, the more people will take ill.
More than 180 residential and commercial properties have been cleaned, including the mine’s old processing plants and the school track. But this budget year, the Bush administration gave the Libby cleanup $4 million less than the $19 million dispersed the year before and $6 million less than the local EPA requested. That means the families of Libby will remain at potential risk—not for five more years as originally promised, but for as many as 12, residents say.
The EPA contends this year’s cleanup budget is smaller only because Libby received more money than it should have gotten during the last budget year. But that explanation is "semantics," one EPA official acknowledges.
"I’m extremely disappointed," Mayor Tony Berget says. "The faster we can clean this up, the better."
"I’m worried that more people will get sick," says one resident involved with the cleanup, Gordon Sullivan. "We’ve got yards in Libby that look like diamond fields. They’re just shining with asbestos. Kids from the neighborhoods walk across these properties every day."
In another slap at Libby last month, cleanup workers learned at 4 in the afternoon that their hourly wages would be cut starting the next day, from a minimum of $24 to $14. With workers complaining, the EPA now is considering raising their pay back to $19 an hour. Still, residents are afraid the pay cut will damage morale and undermine the quality of the cleanup.
At the peak of the cleanup last summer, 120 people were working for EPA contractors in Libby, and these were some of the best jobs in the economically depressed town.
"We have a very dedicated workforce," Sullivan says. "These are people who really give a hoot. Why is the EPA hurting their pride?"
Sullivan, who used to work for the Anaconda company in Butte, is paid through an EPA grant to advise townspeople on technical matters involving the cleanup. Now, he is going door-to-door asking businesspeople to sign a resolution urging the EPA to add funds.
"The response has been good so far," he says. "There are some businesses who are openly opposed. When your town is designated a Superfund site, that places a huge stigma on the community. But that’s one of the primary reasons that we need to get this place cleaned up as fast as we can so we can get back on our feet and get the economy growing."
Libby’s families are also writing letters in a "we-want-our-town-back" campaign. They hope to present the letters personally to new EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt. Sen. Max Baucus is calling on Leavitt to visit Libby to hear from residents personally, and the senator "is extremely frustrated at what appears to be a decreasing momentum in getting Libby a clean bill of health for the long term," Baucus spokesman Barrett Kaiser said.
Libby isn’t likely to receive much satisfaction from Leavitt. The former Utah governor isn’t frequently mistaken for an environmentalist. Under Leavitt, for example, Utah tied for last place in enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
Even if Leavitt did want to help Libby, how much could he do? The Bush administration has allowed the Superfund program to become short of money, and the pace of cleanups across the country has slowed dramatically in the last two years.
The EPA is telling residents not to worry, but the message is less than reassuring. Wendy Thomi, an EPA official based in Helena, points out that at least Libby isn’t as dusty as it used to be.
"People who worked in those processing plants will tell you that they could not see their hand one foot in front of their face," Thomi says. "That’s how dusty it was. There’s nothing in Libby today that approximates that kind of exposure. But nobody can really guess at how many people will get sick."
Environmental Fears at Ground Zero Hearing, by Anthony DePalma, New York Times, February 19, 2004
http//www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/nyregion/19rebuild.html
The controversy that has surrounded nearly every aspect of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site spilled over to the project's impact on the environment yesterday as New Yorkers had their first chance to express concerns publicly about traffic, air pollution and the availability of public space.More than 100 people showed up at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, a few blocks from the redevelopment area, to pick through details of the 2,000-page draft environmental impact statement for the redevelopment.
While electricians, small-business owners and other workers encouraged the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to begin work on the project right away, many residents of Lower Manhattan wanted the process delayed until all aspects of the decadelong construction project are studied more thoroughly.
Caroline Martin, who represented the Family Association of TriBeCa East, said the impact statement did not sufficiently address such important issues as air monitoring.
"The final environmental impact statement should include a detailed plan for air and sound monitoring around the periphery of the site during construction, with the hourly readings posted," Ms. Martin said. She also asked for more time to study the 2,000-page document, which was made public on Jan. 22.
The current deadline for comment is March 15.
Ms. Martin asked for an extension to May 15.But Joseph Llanos, 46, an electrician from Wappingers Falls, N.Y., said there had already been too many delays.
"The time has come to cut through the red tape and start rebuilding the site," said Mr. Llanos, one of several members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who spoke at the hearing. "The construction industry is an important part of the New York City work force and it needs to get back to work.
"Environmental impact statements are required for all major buildings in New York, but this one is different. Because the site is so large - 16 acres - and the project will take so long to complete, the environmental assessment is considered generic, taking into account the impact of several buildings yet to be designed.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has proposed a set of design guidelines with energy conservation measures and environmental safeguards that would cover all buildings on the site. But several speakers doubted the standards could be effectively applied.
Andrew Winters, the corporation's director of planning, design and development, said it had not yet been determined how to enforce those guidelines. "That's what we're working on right now," he said.
Throughout the afternoon, speakers said the impact of the project had not been sufficiently studied.
"This is a rush job," said Jenna Orkin, a member of the steering committee of 9/11 Environmental Action, a neighborhood organization, "The rebuilding project shows signs of repeating the reckless behavior of the cleanup operation."
The availability of open space was another frequently voiced objection. Diane Dreyfus, an urban planner, said the city would end up with only 60 percent as much open space as existed before.
Some of the most unexpected comments came from Dr. Robert Jarvik, the inventor of the first artificial heart. Dr. Jarvik, who had submitted a competing design for the victims' memorial, criticized the winning design, saying that the extraordinary amounts of both water and electricity it would use had not been fully acknowledged.
"I know something about how pumps work," said Dr. Jarvik. "This design should not be built."
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
Ground Zero Impact Study Criticized, By Errol A. Cockfield Jr., Staff Writer, New York Newsday, February 19, 2004
http//www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-bzlmdc193677556feb19,0,1318979,print.story
Critics sharply attacked a draft environmental impact statement concerning the rebuilding at Ground Zero yesterday, challenging the report's main conclusion that the project poses no adverse effects.
The backlash surfaced during two public hearings at Pace University on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's environmental review.
The study examined two major areas. First, how the 12-year physical construction of the site will affect Lower Manhattan, and second, how the completed World Trade Center site will affect the people living and working in the downtown area.
In all, the report by the LMDC, the agency overseeing the rebuilding of Ground Zero, encompasses more than 2,000 pages and takes into consideration the impact of everything from new open spaces on the site to the shadows cast by new towers.
Jenna Orkin, a member of the steering committee for 9/11 Environmental Action, took issue with a primary finding that air quality would not reach harmful levels because of construction at the site.
Orkin said the federally mandated study's look at air quality had relied on data from the Environmental Protection Agency, whose own inspector general had found the the agency's Lower Manhattan review was flawed. "People have done independent testing and found contaminants in their ventilation systems," she said.
While LMDC officials concede there are some unavoidable consequences, such as traffic woes, truck congestion and limited light, the document concluded the redevelopment - beginning this fall and running through 2015 - would have no adverse affect, bringing economic benefits that would reenergize Lower Manhattan, the city and the region.
But Catherine McVay Hughes, a member of Community Board 1 who lives one block away from the site, said the study failed to look at the environmental ramifications, including air quality, of adjacent buildings that were also damaged and have to be rebuilt.
Overall, the study found that traffic in and around the site will increase by five percent once the site is redeveloped with a memorial, 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, four office towers and a new PATH transit hub.
With the memorial expected to draw 9 million people a year when it first opens, the streets of Lower Manhattan also will be flooded by even more people.
LMDC officials said they will be able to widen some crosswalks to ease congestion, but not others.
Though critics say the LMDC has rushed the review process - it released the draft study on Jan. 23 and held what will be the only two public hearings at Pace University yesterday - business groups and organizations representing construction workers and electricians praised the agency for expediting a process that will bring much-needed jobs.
"New York City will be revitalized by stopping the delays and starting this reconstruction project now," said Joseph Llanos, an electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.
Now in Previews, Political Theater in the Street, by Michael Slackman and Colin Moynihan, New York Times, February 19, 2004
http//www.nytimes.com/2004/02/19/politics/campaign/19ROVE.html
Karl Rove, the political adviser to President Bush, made a brief visit to a Manhattan nightclub yesterday and netted the Bush-Cheney re-election effort about $400,000. But Mr. Rove also caught a glimpse of what might greet Republicans when they come to New York for their national nominating convention this summer. Mr. Rove was the guest speaker at a fund-raising reception at the club, Eugene, on 24th Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas. Marvin Bush, the president's brother, also attended the event. "Fabulous, fabulous," Mr. Rove said as he left after giving a 20-minute talk to several hundred people gathered inside. But while Mr. Rove was inside, more than 100 protesters were outside, standing behind blue police barricades chanting slogans, waving placards and offering a bit of street theater that confused the police. At one point, as hundreds of guests with invitations waited to pass through velvet barriers to enter the club, a small group of men in bowler hats and women in gowns marched up, chanting, "Four more wars" and "Re-elect Rove." As the group approached, a man who appeared to be a security agent of some type, was overheard whispering into a microphone "We've got two groups. One for and one against." Actually, it was two against. The person was confused by a group that calls itself Billionaires for Bush, a collection of activists who use satire to make a political point. Indeed, members of the Sierra Club, who were protesting on the other side of the street were also confused and began shouting at what they thought was a pro-Bush contingent. " We want the truth and we want it now!" the Sierra protesters shouted. The billionaires shouted back, "Buy your own president!" It took a few minutes, but the police finally realized what was going on when they escorted the group behind the blue barricades as well. Still, the show was not over. A black town car pulled up and out stepped a man whom who the crowd assumed to be Mr. Rove. "There is Karl Rove," people shouted. Reporters, photographers and television cameramen swarmed the man, but the police pushed them back. Another man lifted the velvet rope to let him enter. But the would-be Mr. Rove walked over to the crowd of protesters and began shaking hands, when finally, again, this was seen to be a joke. It was not Mr. Rove, but an actor playing the part. Each of the groups has said it planned to stage similar events when the Republican National Convention comes to New York City from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. None of this dampened the enthusiasm of those who attended the event. It was organized by some of the Bush campaign's select fund-raisers, called Mavericks, who included Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's daughter, Emma Bloomberg, and Gov. George E. Pataki's daughter, Emily Pataki. Mr. Bloomberg also attended, slipping in and out of a service entrance. Those in attendance said Mr. Pataki did not show up. Andrew Prisco, 23, who said he lives in Manhattan and works in financial services, said Mr. Rove told the audience, which he estimated at about 700, that the two most important issues facing the nation were terrorism and the economy."It was very inspirational," Mr. Prisco said.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times CompanyExperts Weigh In On Environmental Impact Of New World Trade Center, by Amanda Farinacci, NY1.com, February 18, 2004
http//www.ny1.com/ny/Search/SubTopic/index.html?&contentintid=37425&search_result=1#
Now that we've seen the World Trade Center site plan, the Freedom Tower design and the memorial design, what affect will rebuilding the site have on Lower Manhattan? New Yorkers had a chance to weigh in, and NY1's Amanda Farinacci tells us about some of their concerns.It's over two thousand pages long – in two volumes – and it details the expected environmental impact of redeveloping the World Trade Center site.
While there were more pages than participants at Wednesday's public hearing, there was no lack of opinion on the aggressive plan to rebuild lower Manhattan.
"Now, even though the development has positive aspects, but for the local residents, they're going to suffer the negative impacts," said George Thurman of NYU.
The LMDC released the hefty document to the public back in January. It covers a wide array of issues surrounding construction at the site, including transportation, neighborhood access, security, health, and public spaces.
It sets two milestones to finish the first phase in 2009 and to complete the project in 2015. The agency expects 2006 will see the worst of the construction.
"There needs to be community representation on the Lower Manhattan construction command center, which would be an inter-agency that was formed which would really be coordinating the construction downtown," said Julie Menin of Wall Street Rising. "We also believe that regarding noise, there should be constant noise monitoring, there should be constant air quality monitoring."
"The report does not talk about any air quality monitoring in place, so what we really need to establish is an air monitoring program that will actually establish what happens," said resident Catherine McVay Hughes.
Urban planner Diane Dreyfus says the LMDC used square feet to measure the amount of open space at the site when they should have been using acres. She says the mistake means 13 percent less open space at the site.
"If you consider yourself a World Trade Center worker in the WTC and you're going to work with the 5000 people going to the memorial and the other millions of people going into the building, your space will be between 3 and 6 feet. That's not a heck of a lot of space," said Dreyfus.
The concerns weren't limited to the site plan but also the feasibility of the memorial. Michael Arad's "Reflecting Absence" features two cascading pools of water at the footprints of the towers – a design some say doesn't make much sense.
"With memorial falls, a curtain of water only a 1/2 inch thick would require a flow of 15,000 gallons per second, equal of 20 percent of America's falls. Like Niagara, the falls would throw up a cloud of mist that would spread with the wind," said Richard Jarvis.
The LMDC will continue to accept written public comments until March 15. The agency expects to release a final environmental impact statement sometime later this spring.
Copyright © 2004 NY1 News. All rights reserved.
High Rate of Respiratory Symptoms in Police at World Trade Center Site, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins in Newswise.com, Februay 13, 2004
http//www.newswise.com/articles/view/503264/
More than three-fourths of New York City police officers responding to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center developed a cough or other respiratory symptoms, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).
Officers who arrived at the site before the towers collapsed were most likely to have abnormal results on lung function testing, according to Dr. Steve H. Salzman and coauthors of Beth Israel Medical Center.
After September 11, Dr. Salzman and colleagues offered respiratory health assessments to members of New York Police Department's special Emergency Services Unit (ESU), one of the first units to respond to the World Trade Center attack. Of 350 officers in the ESU, four percent died when the towers collapsed. Two hundred forty officers were evaluated about two months after the attacks, on average.
Overall, 77.5 percent of the officers developed respiratory symptoms, most commonly a cough, after working at the World Trade Center site. By the time they were evaluated, the symptoms had resolved in three-fourths of affected officers.
In the remaining one-fourth, respiratory symptoms persisted or got worse. None of the ESU officers took medical leave from work because of their respiratory symptoms.
Even when symptoms were present, few of the officers had abnormalities on physical examination, including chest x-rays. Twenty-nine percent had abnormal results on spirometry—a test of lung function—although the abnormalities were generally mild.
Officers with previous respiratory disease or symptoms were more likely to have abnormal spirometry results, as were those with more intense exposure to conditions at the World Trade Center site. The abnormality rate was about 40 percent for ESU officers who arrived before the first tower fell, compared with 25 percent for those who arrived after both towers collapsed.
People near the World Trade Center site on or after September 11 were exposed to "a complex mixture of particulates and gases" resulting from fire and the collapse of the towers. A previous study found respiratory abnormalities in firefighters working at the site, including a three percent rate of "WTC cough" severe enough to require medical leave.
As was found in the study of firefighters, this study of police responders to the September 11 attacks also finds a high rate of respiratory symptoms. The symptoms soon resolved in most cases, although a substantial minority of officers still had symptoms months later. Rates of lung function abnormalities appear highest for officers with the most intense exposure those who were at the site when the towers collapsed. Dr. Salzman and colleagues emphasize the need for long-term follow-up of rescue workers and others exposed to the World Trade Center site.
ACOEM, an international society of 6,000 occupational physicians and other healthcare professionals, provides leadership to promote optimal health and safety of workers, workplaces, and environments.
© 2004 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.
The Bloomberg administration is reasserting itself into the rebuilding at Ground Zero, setting a special city planning session next month.The hearing is significant because it's one of the city's only chances to play a formal planning role in the World Trade Center site - which is owned by the Port Authority and under the sway of Gov. Pataki.
City Planning Commission chairwoman Amanda Burden notified lower Manhattan rebuilding officials about the March 1 session in a letter last week.
If the commission finds problems with the logistics at the Trade Center site and the memorial design, it could complicate matters.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which is overseeing the rebuilding, would need two-thirds of its board to approve the plans - and Bloomberg appointed half the board members.
One source described the city's move as an administration attempt to "flex its muscle."
The commission is set to examine the Trade Center memorial, designed by Housing Authority architect Michael Arad, and a draft environmental impact study on the Ground Zero site plan.
After that, the commission will "formulate recommendations ... to the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.," Burden wrote to LMDC President Kevin Rampe in a letter obtained by the Daily News.
Asked for comment, Rampe said only, "We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the city to realize the site plan."
City officials declined to comment.
But one city official, who asked not to be identified, said, "We feel that we really have to take a look at this, and the city has a lot of expertise to bring to bear on this issue."
Some state officials noted that Burden sent the letter Feb. 5, less than a week before the city unveiled financing details on another major project - the proposed redevelopment of Manhattan's West Side, which requires major help from the state.
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Bush Proposes Cutting Research On Toxins, by John Heilprin, Associated Press, February 5, 2004
http://salon.com/news/wire/2004/02/05/toxin_cuts/index.html
Feb. 5, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the same day a poison-laced letter shuttered Senate offices, President Bush asked Congress to eliminate an $8.2 million research program on how to decontaminate buildings attacked by toxins.
Buried in documents justifying Bush's 2005 budget proposal released Monday is an Environmental Protection Agency acknowledgment that his proposed cut "represents complete elimination of homeland security building decontamination research."
The agency said in the documents that Bush's proposal will "force it to disband the technical and engineering expertise that will be needed to address known and emerging biological and chemical threats in the future."
The toxin ricin was discovered in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's office Monday. Intensive testing of the Tennessee Republican's office mailroom in the Dirksen Senate Office Building has so far failed to locate the deadly poison's origin.
The discovery -- the second such attack on Senate offices since 2001 -- came the same day the president's budget was released. The EPA this week joined the FBI and 100 Marines from the corps' Chemical Biological Incident Response Force to investigate, clean up and collect all mail from all congressional offices as a precaution.
No comment was immediately available from officials at the White House, the EPA or Frist's office.
But Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., whose office was the target of an anthrax-laced letter in October 2001 when he held Frist's job, said he was surprised by Bush's proposal to eliminate the research program.
"It is a stunning example of the budget choices this administration has made, where tax cuts for elites are more important than public health or adequate homeland security," Daschle said Thursday.
In 2001, the EPA oversaw the first government building decontamination of its kind a $23 million cleanup of anthrax bacteria found in Daschle's office mailroom. The nine-story Hart Senate Office Building was closed for three months before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared it safe.
Around the nation, five people were killed and 17 sickened after coming into contact with letters containing anthrax. Anthrax-laced envelopes were mailed in the fall of 2001 to government and news media offices, including those of Daschle and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
The EPA also worked with postal officials and other experts to decide how best to decontaminate the Brentwood postal facility in Washington and the Trenton postal facility in Hamilton Township, N.J.
The EPA gained responsibility in 1998 for cleaning up buildings and other sites contaminated by chemical or biological agents due to terrorism. Environmentalists said eliminating the research program would be irresponsible.
"When it comes to the EPA budget, these people are so reckless with the red pen that they'll chop out even programs essential to protecting Americans from terrorist attacks," said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, an advocacy group. "Building decontamination has been EPA's homeland security role."
Asbestos Costs U.S. Companies $70 Billion So Far -- Rand, by Susan Cornwell, Reuters, at Forbes.com, February 6, 2004
http//www.forbes.com/business/newswire/2004/02/06/rtr1250156.html
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies have paid out an estimated $70 billion on some 730,000 asbestos personal injury claims, making it the most expensive type of litigation in U.S. history, according to the RAND Institute for Civil Justice.
More than 8,400 companies have been named as defendants in the lawsuits dating back to the 1970s, involving almost every kind of industry, Stephen Carroll, the senior economist who worked on the study told Reuters Friday.
Carroll presented the new estimates recently in a briefing to the British Law Institute in London. The numbers, which cover the period through the end of 2002, will be part of a new updated study that is to be published by RAND this spring.
The lawsuits had driven 66 companies into bankruptcy by the end of 2002, Carroll said in a telephone interview. He said some companies may have been overlooked, because there is no master list of bankruptcies in the United States.
"I would wager there are a substantial number of smaller companies that have dissolved, liquidated, and yet they are sufficiently small that they didn't pop up on anyone's radar," he said.
RAND, based in Santa Monica, California, first did a study of the dimensions of asbestos litigation in 1982, when just $1 billion had been paid out on 21,000 claims, Carroll said.
An update published in 2002 that covered the period through the year 2000, found companies had paid out $54 billion on some 600,000 claims. So the amount spent has grown by $16 billion in just two years, according to RAND.
The rising costs of asbestos litigation is a major concern of President Bush, who has called for legislation to curb asbestos claims. Republicans have been trying to jump- start stalled legislation on Capitol Hill to end the lawsuits and establish a fund, supported by asbestos companies and insurers, to pay victims' claims.
Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist has said he will schedule Senate action on an asbestos reform bill by the end of March, but its prospects are uncertain.
Last year, Frist proposed a $114 billion fund to pay claims, but Democrats said it was inadequate and the bill was never brought to the Senate floor.
Asbestos was widely used for fireproofing and insulation until the 1970s. Scientists have concluded that inhaled fibers are linked to cancer and other diseases.
Transaction costs, including lawyers fees and expenses, have consumed more than half of total asbestos spending, Carroll said.
People with mesothelioma, an incurable cancer linked to asbestos, got 20 percent of dollars paid to claimants, while people with nonmalignant conditions got 60 percent.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service
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