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Deutsche Bank Fire: Answers Still Elusive Ever since the Deutsche Bank building caught fire Aug. 18, burning out of control and killing two firemen, Downtown residents, among others, have demanded to know how the disaster was allowed to happen. But few answers have been forthcoming. The tangle of regulatory agencies, public development corporations and multiple layers of private contractors make those answers hard to come by, and those living near the building are yet to be reassured that the building site will be safer in the future. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation—which owns the building and is responsible for its deconstruction—announced on Sept. 18 that work to seal the building was finally beginning, one month after the fire, and would likely take three weeks to complete. It also made a “tentative commitment” to first decontaminate the building before taking the rest of it down. The struggle to get this far illustrates the interagency gridlock that has frustrated residents eager to improve the safety of the building. On August 29, EPA Regional Administrator Alan Steinberg wrote a letter to LMDC Chairman Avi Schick, expressing dismay that 11 days after the fire, the building remained unsealed and open to the elements. Steinberg received no formal response to his letter, and wrote again on Sept. 7 to reiterate his concerns, particularly since he had learned that work had begun on the site without it being sealed and without prior notice to regulators. “I am concerned that these work activities and the implementation methods utilized by the LMDC in this breached building may cause a release of contaminated dust and debris,” Steinberg wrote. As evidence that recommencing work on the building without first resealing it could be risky, Steinberg pointed out that on Aug. 27 and 28, an air monitor mounted on the scaffolding surrounding the building recorded elevated levels of dioxin. The dioxin levels did not exceed the target level (the concentration thought to be dangerous to humans over 30 years of continuous exposure) and was not at all elevated at test sites farther from the building. But Steinberg said the readings showed that working in the Deutsche Bank building without sealing it can lead to the release of dangerous materials. The LMDC referred all questions about the dioxin leak and the dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency to Errol Cockfield, a spokesman for the Empire State Development Corporation. Cockfield declined to comment on the record about the EPA’s letters or the dioxin, saying he did not want to get into a “media battle” with the federal agency. In an emergency meeting with Community Board 1 early last month, Schick said that his corporation had to balance the recommendations of the EPA with those of other regulators, including the New York Fire Department. EPA spokesman Mary Mears rejected the suggestion that fire safety and environmental safety were mutually exclusive goals at the Deutsche Bank building. On Sept. 18, Community Board 1 issued its formal response to the fire and its aftermath, voting unanimously to adopt an eight-page, 27-item resolution demanding transparency and responsiveness from the LMDC as it hires a new contractor and proceeds with the deconstruction. The resolution also calls for an Emergency Notification and Evacuation Plan to be put in place before demolition proceeds. Recent developments suggest that while progress can be made on the site, the politics that surround it are nearly as labyrinthine as the building itself, and potentially as toxic. The contractor responsible for the work has been fired, but the selection process for its replacement remains mysterious. The dismantled standpipe has been repaired, tested and approved, but details of a fire plan remain sketchy. Following the reassignment of three mid-ranking Fire Department officials pending investigations, the Firefighters Union called the suspended fire officials scapegoats. Real responsibility for the blaze, it said, lies at the top of the department. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and U.S. District Attorney Robert Morgenthau have launched investigations into the cause of the blaze, prompting City Hall to hire a top-notch defense lawyer and urge firefighters to confer with his team before answering Morgenthau’s questions. For her part, CB1 chairwoman Julie Menin, who sits on the LMDC’s board of directors, pledged to keep safety at the forefront of the corporation’s decision-making. “It’s my job,” Menin said. “The reason I’m on the board is to make sure that residents’ concerns are addressed.” [Home][Back][Search] [Advertise][Contact] The Tribeca Trib · 401 Broadway, 5th Floor · New York, NY · 10013 · 212.219.9709 |