Documents show Trade Center collapse may be contaminating Hudson River

Low levels of contaminants continue to be found in the Hudson River and its sediment following the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York.

Oct. 29, 2001

October 29, 2001 — Low levels of contaminants continue to be found in the Hudson River and its sediment following the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York.

Chemicals and metals have also been found in the soil and the air around the site of the buildings which collapsed after two passenger planes slammed into them Sept. 11, the Associated Press reported.

Government officials have said there is no immediate risk to people away from the Trade Center rubble. Workers at the site are using protective equipment.

The New York Environmental Law and Justice Project obtained hundreds of pages of documents compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under a Freedom of Information act request.

These documents, the results of daily monitoring of the area since Sept. 11, show the existence of soil and air contaminants including dioxins, PCBs, lead and chromium. At some times these levels have exceeded EPA standards, the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project reported.

For more information, visit the web site of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project at http://www.nyenvirolaw.org/. For information from the EPA, visit its special section on the World Trade Center attacks at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/wtc/.