Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today called on federal Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman to commence cleanup of building interiors throughout Lower Manhattan, where residents and workers remain deeply concerned about the effects of substances spread throughout the area by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September 11.

"The time for promises and half-measures is long past," Silver wrote in a letter to Whitman. "Residents and workers in Lower Manhattan are uncertain and anxious regarding outdoor and indoor air quality and may be facing serious health hazards."

Shortly after the terrorist attacks, Silver chaired an Assembly hearing to analyze the response of the appropriate city, state and federal agencies to the environmental emergency near ground zero. Seven months after the attacks, the issue of air quality was still a major concern for residents and workers, and Silver and other Assembly members convened a second hearing on the matter April 12.

At the April 12 hearing, EPA Region Two Acting Deputy Administrator Kathleen Callahan testified that the EPA was considering paying for the interior cleanup of residential and office buildings in Lower Manhattan. In his letter, Silver noted that there has been no follow through by EPA since the hearing more than two weeks ago.

"I believe that the decision to clean building interiors should have been made several months ago in accordance with the Presidential directive that requires the EPA to clean all buildings contaminated as a result of an act of terrorism, and I am asking the agency to commence the cleanup of building interiors throughout Lower Manhattan as mandated by the Presidential directive," Silver said.

Silver is a life-long resident of Lower Manhattan, and his legislative district includes the World Trade Center site and the downtown financial district. His office is located a few blocks from ground zero.

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Note: A copy of Speaker Silver's letter to Administrator Whitman is attached.