Protestors gathered at 1 Liberty Place on Monday to demonstrate the Deutsche Bank demolition.
The 40-story tower at 130 Liberty St. was badly damaged and contaminated with World Trade Center debris on 9/11. It is being cleaned and demolished by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to make way for the new World Trade Center.
The deconstruction has come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks. Workers recently stopped a painstaking search for human remains on the building’s roof after asbestos was found in areas previously deemed clean. The Environmental Protection Agency, which approved the cleanup and demolition plan, has not signed off on the floor-by-floor demolition phase of the building, which is expected to begin next month, because of changes to the plan.
Workers have fallen in two separate incidents and the subcontractor, the John Galt Corp., has been criticized for its connection to the Safeway Environmental Corp., a construction company with reported links to organized crime.
Concerns about the environmental impact of 9/11 reach beyond Deutsche Bank. On Wednesday, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution criticizing the E.P.A. for a testing and cleanup plan for Lower Manhattan. The plan does not go far enough in testing residences and businesses for remaining Trade Center dust, councilmembers maintain. “It sent a clear message to the federal government that the city is not satisfied with its efforts to date,” said City Councilmember Alan Gerson, who represents the area. “We’re not going to accept Russian Roulette with the health and safety of residents and workers.”
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