Can we ask them to test for signs of explosives?

Schenectady company to analyze 9/11 debris

By CHRIS CHURCHILL, Business writer

First published: Wednesday, July 18, 2007

SCHENECTADY -- Nearly six years after the terrorist attack that felled the World Trade Center towers, questions remain over whether the dust and debris that rained down on lower Manhattan have contaminated New York City neighborhoods.

A small company in Schenectady is helping to answer those questions.

Northeast Analytical Inc. has been selected by the Environmental Protection Agency to analyze samples being taken from apartments and businesses in lower Manhattan, in an area south of Canal Street.

Specifically, Northeast is testing the samples for lead and contaminants called polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. It's the only company chosen by the EPA to do so, although other companies will test for asbestos or airborne pollutants.

If contamination is found, apartment or business owners will have their property professionally cleaned for free.

The EPA announced the voluntary program in December, following years of complaints from New York City residents about supposed government inaction on the possible contamination.

"The residents of New York City have been waiting a long time for this to be done," said Ann Casey, a chemist and program development manager at Northeast.

The Schenectady company began testing the samples Tuesday, Casey said, and expects the work to take about a year. The contract is worth an estimated $500,000, she added.

The EPA says it has $7 million available to spend on the program, and admits the amount may not be enough.

Mary Mears, a spokeswoman for the agency, on Tuesday said the EPA will test homes nearest to the World Trade Center first.

"It's not clear that we'll be able to cover everyone who is signed up for the program," Mears said. "It's going to depend on what we find."

The EPA stresses, however, that many apartments and businesses in lower Manhattan have been repeatedly tested and cleaned.

And the agency hopes the latest round of testing will provide, in the words of regional administrator Alan Steinberg, "peace of mind to the people who live and work in lower Manhattan."

The EPA also is describing the latest testing its final cleanup phase in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

But some want more. U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, for example, has called the latest testing program "totally inadequate."

"More than five years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the EPA's work to address the environmental health consequences of those attacks remains unfinished," Clinton said in a written statement released last month, adding that "there has also been a familiar pattern in which the agency has sought to downplay the potential risks and convey false assurances regarding World Trade Center contamination."

Chis Churchill can be reached at 454-5442 or by e-mail at cchurchill@timesunion.com.

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