EPA Raises New Concerns Over Deutsche Bank Demolition Plans

By Barry Owens

The demolition of the shrouded former Deutsche Bank building, damaged by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, has hit a snag as the Environmental Protection Agency has concerns with details of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s “deconstruction” plan of the heavily contaminated building at 130 Liberty St.

Work was set to begin in June to dismantle the building, but the EPA voiced new concern this month that the plan, drafted by the LMDC, is not sufficient to safeguard the neighborhood from the World Trade Center dust and other contaminates inside.

Community Board 1, meanwhile, is calling on the EPA to take a more active role in overseeing the demolition of building and for the LMDC to revise its plan in accordance with the environmental agencies’ recommendations. The board adopted a resolution on the matter April 17.

“There has to be more oversight and accountably on the part of the LMDC,” Julie Menin, chairwoman of CB1, told the Trib. “They don’t have experience in environmental matters.”

Pat Evangelista, World Trade Center coordinator for the EPA, wrote to the LMDC in an April 11 letter that regulators were concerned about contractors plans to use concrete crushing equipment at the site, an external chute to move the debris, and plans to use some of that debris as backfill on the site.

“It is not clear to the regulators why the LMDC did not provide information to the regulators about the use of concrete crushing equipment long before,” Evangelista wrote. He requested that the agency provide answers as to why there appears to be a change in the demolition plan.

“The EPA requested additional information about the implementation of the deconstruction plan they approved in September of 2005,” an LMDC spokeswoman told the Trib in an email. “We have and will continue to provide any necessary and requested information and documentation. We do not anticipate that this will cause delays in the project.”

The 41-story tower has stood virtually untouched since Sept. 11, 2001.

“It is extremely frustrating,” Menin said. “This is the most toxic building in the city.”

Equally troubling to the board is that a subcontractor hired to do the job, John Galt Corporation, has no experience in asbestos abatement, according to the New York Daily News. The paper also reported this month that the corporation has ties with Safeway Environmental, a demolition company with a poor safety record, and an alleged connection to organized crime.

In its resolution, the board expressed “deep concern about the LMDC’s use of a company that lacks the appropriate qualifications and experience to properly conduct abatement and demolition.” The resolution also called for the EPA to evaluate all future contractors.

The LMDC said that Bovis Lend Lease, the construction company who has a $75 million contract to clean and dismantle the building, hired Galt as a subcontractor.

 “We feel confident in their selection,” an LMDC spokeswoman wrote.