The Upper East Side is all aflutter this week on the heels of a report released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration concerning carcinogen levels underneath Second Ave. As The Post first reported yesterday, OSHA found found higher-than-acceptable levels of silica in the Second Ave. Subway work area, 70 feet beneath street level, and fined three contracts a total of $8500 for “serious” health violations. The full report is available here.
Of course, with this news, Upper East Siders already complaining of Subway Cough and skeptical of the construction efforts, launched a new round of complaints. “My office is two doors down, and I don’t really trust the people who give out the information in terms of the safety of people who live here,” said Robert Allen said to NBC New York’s Andrew Siff. News cutaways during primetime shows on TV last night highlighted residents expressing similar sentiments.
The MTA, meanwhile, defended its claims that the air above ground is safe and noted that silica couldn’t be reaching the avenue anyway. “The levels of silica underground noted in these preliminary findings under no circumstance impacts air quality at street level,” Kevin Ortiz, agency spokesman, told The Post. “Silica does not float in the air but rather drops to the ground, so it is essentially impossible for it to impact the air quality at the street level 100 feet above.”
2 comments
Silica is a carcinogen? Better warn all the beachgoers…
Frankly, anything that the New York Post writes about I look at with considerable skepticism. Their “angle” of sensational writing is very seldom the whole truth, so in this case, I would have a tendency to give the MTA a little leeway. OHSA was testing workplace safety some 60 feet down from street level, not home owner environment safety, and yes, most construction sites are a hazardous place to work. In this case, workers were supposed to be trained to use their respirators properly and the contractor was taken to task because several workers were wearing them improperly. Just about all construction sites have hazardous areas, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is exposure to the general public. I would be far more interested in a study of the environment ABOVE ground from air sampling at 1, 2 or more stories but you know you won’t see that from the Post.