Context of 'October 2-3, 2001: No Jet Fuel in Soil and Water at Flight 93 Crash Site'

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) begins monitoring ambient outdoor air for asbestos. [New York City Department of Health, 9/12/2001] Couriers transport the air samples to laboratories, which immediately analyze them and obtain results within hours. [Environmental Protection Agency, 7/15/2004 ] The samples are tested using the outdated polarized light microscopy (PLM) technology (see September 12, 2001). [Kupferman, 2003 ]

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection recommends in a memo to building owners in Lower Manhattan that they use the polarized light microscopy (PLM) method to determine the asbestos contamination level in their buildings instead of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which is far more accurate (see November 20, 1990). [Wall Street Journal, 5/9/2002 ]

It is reported that soil and groundwater around the spot where Flight 93 crashed show no signs of jet fuel contamination. About a week after 9/11, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) started taking soil samples from the 50-foot hole dug around the crash crater, to check for contamination by the plane’s fuel and other hazardous materials. Three test wells have also been sunk to monitor groundwater. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/17/2001; WTAE-TV, 10/2/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/3/2001] According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Flight 93 had about 37,500 lb of fuel remaining when it crashed. [National Transportation Safety Board, 2/13/2002, pp. 8 ] Some of the first people who arrived at the crash site reported that there was an “incredibly strong” and “overpowering” smell of jet fuel in the air. [Longman, 2002, pp. 213; Kashurba, 2002, pp. 32, 40, 43 and 64] Yet, so far, no contamination has been found in either the soil or the groundwater. Betsy Mallison, a spokeswoman for the DEP, says that whether it burned away or evaporated, much of the jet fuel spilled at the site seems to have dissipated. [WTAE-TV, 10/2/2001; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 10/3/2001] DEP Secretary David Hess says most of the hazardous fluids must have been consumed by the crash’s fire. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/17/2001] Yet some of the first people who arrived at the site say they only saw a very small fire, if any at all, at the crash crater. [Longman, 2002, pp. 213; McCall, 2002, pp. 30-31]

Joel A. Miele, Sr., commissioner of the city’s Department of Environmental Protection, claims his agency has “bent over backwards to be as conservative as possible in our testing… and there is no significant danger” to anyone’s health. “People are safe, not just at the site, but at the perimeters,” he adds. [Newsday, 10/26/2003 ]

The City of New York posts the results of its transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tests on air asbestos levels on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection website. The data does not match the results that had been given to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation back in November (see November 13, 2001). Test results indicating excessive asbestos levels have been either deleted or changed to “not detected.” [Environmental Protection Agency, 7/15/2004 ]