EPA Says First Air Test Results Show No Asbestos Contamination By Ronald Drenger As the Environmental Protection Agency’s indoor cleaning and testing program inched forward last month, agency officials announced that almost all the Downtown apartments that had been tested for asbestos in the program’s first two months were free of contamination. The EPA said that only three of 255 apartments had asbestos levels over the federal agency’s safety threshold. The other apartments had no asbestos or levels below the safety limit set by the EPA for the program. (The EPA would not say where the contaminated apartments were found. But according to representatives of Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s office, who met separately with the EPA, they are on Vesey, Fulton and Pearl streets.) The EPA called the results “encouraging,” but agency officials noted that it is too early to draw broad conclusions from the data. As of the end of last month, 4,869 apartments had been registered for cleaning and testing, and 1,164 for testing only. “We should continue getting apartments as clean as they can be,” said Kathleen Callahan, the EPA’s assistant regional administrator for New York. Aside from the asbestos air tests, the EPA is also doing surface wipe tests for dioxin, lead and metals in up to 250 apartments. Callahan said she was unsure how many had been done and that the first results from those tests would not be available until the middle of this month at the earliest. The EPA was also waiting for the results of air and dust tests at 114 Liberty Street, an unoccupied building where the agency did a pilot study of different cleaning methods. EPA critics took little comfort in the results. Nadler called the agency’s test results “incomplete,” “unsubstantiated” and “misleading,” saying the agency should test dust samples as well as air inside all buildings, release raw data to the public, and submit its data for independent review. Other elected officials, along with some Downtown residents and Community Board 1, also continued to complain that the cleanup had begun too late and should include commercial and public spaces, schools and parks. They also urged the EPA to test for other contaminants besides asbestos. Callahan reiterated the EPA’s position that “the cleaning and testing methods we’re using will be effective for asbestos as well as other materials.” She said the program could be modified as more data becomes available. The EPA is posting summaries of test results on its website. As the program moves forward, the agency plans to display block-by-block data. Residents can request only testing and if asbestos levels over the limit (.0009 asbestos fibers per cubic centimeter of air) are found, the resident can request a cleaning. The cleanup is going slower than expected, Callahan said, with agency contractors completing as few as six apartments on some days instead of the planned 20. Work in large buldings has been slowed by time-consuming evaluations of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Where necessary, the agency also has to arrange to clean the system before cleaning individual apartments. Callahan said the EPA was also having trouble making appointments with residents, many of whom were not calling back after being contacted. “The real problem has been with scheduling,” she said. “We’re having a very difficult time getting agreements on setting up appointments.” Residents below Canal Street can request a free cleanup and/or testing through Dec. 28, by calling 877-796-5471 or through the EPA’s World Trade Center web page, www.epa.gov/wtc. A Q&A on the residential cleanup and testing program, including descriptions of different EPA methods, is posted here.