Daily Environmental Monitoring Summary

Sunday and Monday, November 4 & 5, 2001

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal, state and local agencies have collected extensive environmental monitoring data from the World Trade Center site and nearby areas in Manhattan, Brooklyn and New Jersey. Since September 11, EPA has taken samples of the air, dust, water, river sediments and drinking water and analyzed them for the presence of pollutants that might pose a health risk to response workers at the World Trade Center site and the public. The samples are evaluated against a variety of benchmarks, standards and guidelines established to protect public health under various conditions. EPA is collecting data from more than 20 fixed air monitors in and around ground zero and additional monitors in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. The Agency is also using portable sampling equipment to collect data from a range of locations.

Results as of 6:00 p.m. on 11/5

Staten Island Landfill:

Particulate Monitoring - Samples collected on October 30 using portable monitors showed an overall increase in daily and maximum concentrations from the previous day's readings. The instruments take readings every ten seconds and log the average, minimum and maximum readings every 15 minutes. While maximums have been increasing, the averages have not increased dramatically. This indicates that the increases in the maximum levels are mainly for brief periods of time and are not significantly affecting the averages.

Ambient Air Sampling:

PM 2.5 - Monitoring for fine particulate matter (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) was conducted on November 2 at Pace University, the Borough of Manhattan Community College, and the U.S. Coast Guard building located in Battery Park. All 24-hour averages were below the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 65 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) for all stations. These results were also less than 40 ug/m3, a level on the EPA Air Quality Index, which would indicate that air quality is unhealthy for sensitive populations (e.g., those with respiratory illnesses).