WTC Car Return Hits EPA Roadblock

Date: March 14, 2002

Source: News Room

Concerns about asbestos-tainted dust have halted New York City's plan to return hundreds of cars towed from streets around the World Trade Center to their owners. A New York Daily News report about the dangerous coating of asbestos on the cars prompted federal environmental officials to step in. In a recent article, The News revealed that tests on the vehicles show that as much as 3% of the dust is asbestos, more than three times the level that triggers federal cleanup rules. Many of the cars have little body damage < and thus nothing would stop scheming owners from rinsing them off and selling them to unwitting buyers. A New Jersey company that examined seven cars estimated it would cost $3,600 to professionally clean each one.

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