Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Sept. 11 still having environmental effects, say agencies,
insurers
Security
Greenwire
04/15/2002
Molly Villamana, Greenwire staff writer
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 and subsequent anthrax caused a barrage of
new environmental issues, most immediately the questions of who would be in
charge of the cleanups, when would areas be considered clean, and what safety
measures could be taken to prevent environmental damage. On Friday, lawyers
attending the American Bar Association's national spring conference on the
environment in Washington heard from panelists that financing and cleaning up
the destruction remain ongoing concerns.
After the planes struck the World Trade Center, the U.S. EPA immediately asked
who would be legally responsible for the cleanup. President Bush instated the
National Contingency Plan to put the Federal Emergency Management Agency in
charge, with EPA as organizer. Marianne Horinko, head of EPA's Office of Solid
Waste and Emergency Response, said the agency's plans outlining potential
disasters did not come close to dealing with an attack of such magnitude, and
Sept. 11 was largely a learn-as-you-go experience. EPA did not have a procedure
for dealing with anthrax contamination through the postal system either, but
Horinko applauded her agency for quickly establishing and implementing cleanup
plans.
Agencies beyond EPA were also faced with unprecedented environmental
implications, such as members of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies. Combined, they represent over 300 public agencies, including New York
City's water agency, and treat 18 billion gallons of wastewater daily.
After Sept. 11, the New York Department of Environmental Protection had to
quickly reassess its water treatment plan to deal with the unknown chemicals
flowing into the city's storm sewers. Rain expedited the flow, resulting in the
city reversing its 100 percent reuse policy for biosolids. Instead of giving
farmers the organic material left after the water was treated, the agency began
to place it in landfills. Alexandra Dapolito Dunn, general counsel for AMSA,
said the unknown chemical component made the material too unsafe to distribute.
And instead of processing and recirculating the water used to decontaminate
sites where anthrax was discovered, New York bottled 10,000 gallons of
contaminated water. The city will not accept the water until the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and/or EPA establish a protocol to treat it and
determine if it is safe to be processed. Until then, the water remains at a
storage facility, Dunn said.
Boca Raton, Fla., faced the same question of what to do with its water from
decontaminating the American Media Inc. building. The city decided to treat its
water with chlorine. Boca Raton and New York had the same problem and questions,
but without a national plan the cities could take separate actions. CDC and EPA
are working together to formulate a protocol for anthrax while discussing
procedures to deal with other chemical threats. Until that time, local
authorities are making the decisions, which Dunn added need to be made carefully
and with counsel involved.
Insurance agencies are also learning how to operate in the new environment,
juggling the question of whether to cover terrorist attacks and if so to what
degree. Karl Swanson, vice president and division counsel at AIG Environmental,
said AIG was familiar with providing insurance for "normal" pollution problems
but entered new territory when it began covering the Brentwood postal facility
in Washington.
Swanson said such cleanup processes will be an inexact science, making it
difficult for insurers. Some agencies have instated a terrorist exclusionary
principle where their insurance would not cover terrorist attacks, but AIG is
now allowing some companies to buy back that principle, which would cover a
limited area, typically one square mile from the attack, Swanson said.
EPA is hoping Congress will continue to allocate resources to the agency,
including financial support, to allow cleanup to continue. Horinko said the
agency also asked for further clarification about who is to be in charge of
large cleanup projects such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Dunn said
additional funds are also needed for the sewerage agencies. Prior to Sept. 11,
Congress had been discussing funding to protect the water supply, and now these
bills include money for security at sewer plants as well.