April 29, 2002

Hon. Christie Whitman
Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator Whitman:

The challenges presented by the tragic events of September 11, 2001 were unprecedented in the long history of New York City and of America. From the hours after the attacks through today, our city and our country have risen to meet almost all of these challenges.

Unfortunately, there is one challenge that has yet to be met. Residents and workers in Lower Manhattan are uncertain and anxious regarding outdoor and indoor air quality and may be facing serious health hazards. In November of 2001, I chaired an Assembly hearing to analyze the response of the appropriate city, state and federal agencies to the environmental emergency near Ground Zero. While the first hearing yielded a good deal of progress, I felt that the issue of air quality remained unresolved even seven months after the attacks. As a result, my Assembly colleagues and I convened a second hearing on April 12 of this year.

At that hearing, Kathleen Callahan, the Acting Deputy Region Two EPA Administrator, testified that your agency was considering paying for the cleanup of residential and office buildings in Lower Manhattan. I believe that this decision 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. Still, I welcomed Ms. Callahan's testimony as a positive step.

However, there has been no follow through by EPA since the hearing more than two weeks ago. The time for promises and half-measures is long past. I am asking that you direct your staff to commence the cleanup of building interiors throughout Lower Manhattan as mandated by the Presidential directive.

I hope you will agree that the importance of this issue requires your personal attention. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to further explain the position of those of us who live and work in Lower Manhattan. I look forward to your response and hope that we can quickly resolve a critically important environmental challenge stemming from the events of September 11.