City Council to Hold Hearing on Debris Barges

The City Council ‘s Environmental Protection Committee, Health Committee and Select Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment will hold a joint public hearing on the debris barges at Pier 25, and the government’s handling of WTC environmental issues, on Friday, March 8. The hearing will take place in the City Council chambers at City Hall and will begin at 10 a.m.

Residents who live near Pier 25, where debris trucked from Ground Zero gets loaded by crane onto barges, and parents whose children attend nearby schools have complained about dust and noise from the operation, which runs 24 hours a day.

"Either the barge has to move or there has to serious, immediate dust and noise suppression improvements," said councilmember Alan Gerson, who represents Lower Manhattan and chairs the newly created Lower Manhattan Redevelopment. Committee. "It’s unacceptable for it to continue in the current manner. It’s endangering people’s health. I’m confident that the hearing will bring to light that dust is spewed from the barge."

Gerson noted that elevated levels of lead were recently found on the side of Stuyvesant High School that faces Pier 25, and inside Stuyvesant and P.S./I.S. 89. Stuyvesant is a block away from the pier, P.S./I.S. 89 is across the street from Stuyvesant, and P.S. 234 is a block to the east.

"It may have been acceptable in the days immediately after the attack," he said of the work at Pier 25, "but now we have to protect residents, who are also victims of 9-11."

The city’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), which manages the city’s response to the World Trade Center disaster, has said that the 24-hour barge operation is necessary in order to complete the cleanup as quickly and efficiently as possible, and that Pier 25 is the best place for it. OEM has also said that measures are taken, like spraying water on the debris and the streets, and putting tarps on the trucks, to prevent dispersal of potentially hazardous dust.

City officials have said that the barge won’t be moved until the debris removal is completed. At a parents’ forum at P.S./I.S. 89 earlier this month, Lou Mendez, a representative of the city’s Department of Design and Construction, which coordinates the trucking and barge operation, said that the task will continue through June or July.

Community Board 1 and downtown’s elected officials, led by Congressman Jerrold Nadler, for months have also called on the city to create a single agency to handle all environmental and health issues stemming from the attack on the World Trade Center. They say the city’s response to environmental concerns has been insufficient, and that confusion over the responsibilities of different existing agencies has led to a lack of accountability.

Mayor Bloomberg, and earlier, Mayor Giuliani, have resisted the calls.

Members of the public who want to speak at the hearing should call Gerson’s office, at 788-7722, or can sign up at the event.