(snip)"The deconstruction is mostly an afterthought to neutralizing public anxieties, and probably class-action lawsuits. Indeed, the detail and meticulousness of the clean-up is the primary reason that since 2005, the workers inside, wearing spaceman suits, have dismantled only 14 floors, with the projected cost rising to an estimated $177 million, up from $75 million. This building's problems aren't malfeasance; they're hyper-feasance.
Normally, the bureaucracy and politics of this morass would grind on, the meter running as taxpayers foot the astronomical bill. Except that the story line changed dramatically on Aug. 18. The drama of this Ground Zero building in flames on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Manhattan and the tragedy of two firefighters dying inside a useless building has now created a rare opportunity to challenge the bureaucratic status quo.
This is the moment to ask: Is 130 Liberty Street as dirty, toxic and unsafe six years later as it was in the months after September 2001? And if it isn't, why are we wasting so much money, and now putting lives at risk to rid Ground Zero of this appalling reminder of that day?
The person who first sent the fire's aftermath in the direction of answers to these questions was Mayor Mike Bloomberg. At his news conference on the fire he said: "High-rise fires almost always burn up, not down, as this one did. We suspect that the effects of the negative-air pressure system, put in place as part of the containment operation, pulled the fire down several floors quickly, putting the base of operations on the 14th floor at great risk. And clearly, sealing stairwells gave firefighters few escape routes."
Negative air? Sealed stairwells?
The EPA-approved Implementation Plan of September 2005 mandated these measures and much, much more, such as daily decontamination chambers for the workers. And the reason for it all ultimately comes down to one word: asbestos. The argument then and now, made by EPA and embraced by local community groups, OSHA, two New York city and one state regulatory agencies is that the building was adjacent to Ground Zero, had a gash 15 stores high, and so was saturated with Ground Zero's toxic clouds. No doubt this is true, or was.
As part of the demolition plan, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) is obliged to monitor the air inside the building, on the ground and on nearby buildings. These 12 monitoring stations take readings every hour seven days a week. The results are published daily on the LMDC Web site.
The samples measure the presence in the air of the following toxins: asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, respirable particulate, crystalline silica, dioxins/furans, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the following metals: antimony, barium, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury (gaseous and particulate-bound), manganese, nickel and zinc. Anything evil missing in that list?
Test results: Effectively zero. From April 2005 until now, the 12 monitoring stations have picked up virtually no measurements that exceed levels set by EPA for any of these substances. The cost of these tests is several hundred thousand dollars--a month. What this suggests is that the ambient air in and around this building is clean.
Many other damaged buildings nearby were similarly penetrated by these 9/11 clouds, and they're inhabited now. So why not ratchet back the regulations to permit a more normal abatement and get this killer building out of sight in Manhattan?
The reasons why not add up to a case study in the routine paralysis we have imposed on ourselves, even as we claim to be living in a modern society. As litigation and publicity inflamed public fear of asbestos and other "toxic" chemicals, the relevance of science fell. "Air quality" has little to do with hourly measurements below scientifically safe limits. The standard now is the air quality in the Garden of Eden. One can overvalue rationality, but eliminate it altogether and what fills the vacuum is expediency. And for regulators and politicians, expediency translates into: Spend the money.
I suspect that Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who has actually walked through and seen the interior of 130 Liberty Street, and Mayor Bloomberg both know they are being taken for a $177 million ride by this six-year demolition job. But this is New York. It wouldn't be the first time. "(snip)




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