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EPA Accepts LMDC Plan to Deconstruct Former Deutsche Bank Building

Release Date: 09/08/2005
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(05101) New York, NY - After months of leading a concentrated federal, state and local agency review of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's (LMDC) plans to deconstruct the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accepted the final plan to first clean up and then take down the building. Throughout the process, EPA, the New York State Department of Labor, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York City Department of Buildings, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have worked to ensure that the building would be deconstructed following procedures that protect people's health. "We now have a plan that calls for the precautions needed to ensure that the deconstruction of 130 Liberty is done safely and in a way that protects the health of area residents and workers," said Regional Administrator Alan J. Steinberg. "We have worked diligently with our fellow regulators and LMDC to make sure the deconstruction project was well planned. Now we can take an important step forward in rebuilding Lower Manhattan." The Agency began its review of portions of the plan on December 13, 2004 and submitted its first formal detailed comments, which included extensive input from the other regulatory agencies, to LMDC in January 2005 [PDF 604 KB, 23 pages] . After LMDC and its contractors made substantial revisions to the plan and developed new aspects, EPA again conducted a review -- coordinating with its regulatory partners -- and submitted detailed comments to LMDC on July 26, 2005 [PDF 514 KB, 44 pages]. Since that time, EPA has reviewed and commented on subsequent revised submissions, and now has found the plan acceptable. EPA has taken the lead in coordinating regulatory agency review of and input into plans to demolish or deconstruct a number of Lower Manhattan buildings known to have been breached by the World Trade Center collapse and not fully cleaned or reoccupied. The agencies have made the building owners aware of their legal obligations to conduct the demolition/deconstruction work in a manner that protects people's health. EPA has reviewed and provided comments on plans for 4 Albany Street, 130 Cedar Street, 133 - 135 Greenwich Street, 21 - 23 Thames Street, as well as the Fiterman Hall building at 30 West Broadway. For more information on EPA's involvement in demolition or deconstruction activities in Lower Manhattan, visit our Web site at www.epa.gov/wtc .