[GreenYes] Today's news on the WTC

["Marjorie J. Clarke" <mclarke@shiva.hunter.cuny.edu>]

Actually, yesterday's tonnage figure was 171,382.  A few days ago it was 
150,155 tons and 10,172 trucks.  I've heard the eventual total will be 1.2 
million tons, which means we are more than 10% through the wreckage.  Yet 
they say the work will continue for a year.  Either that prediction is 
wrong or it's going to start slowing down.  In the early going, I'd 
estimated 6500 tons per day, and the pace obviously picked up since then 
(no surprise, since the bucket brigades were replaced entirely by machines 
about a week ago).  FEMA has taken its last search and rescue team 
out.  There are still fires burning.

The interesting news this morning is that apparently the "Mafia" did move 
in in the first few days after the disaster to "own" the wreckage, forcing 
people to pay them for the privilege of working there and for taking the 
scrap metal.  It's long been known that this sort of thing is commonplace 
on construction sites (demolition sites too?)  The authorities are now 
cracking down to check each and every truck that leaves.

The Mayor has decided to try to thwart at least profiteering when it comes 
to the families by giving each one a wooden urn with "soil" from the 
site.  From what I am hearing, this "soil" contains asbestos-laden concrete.

Maggie Clarke, Ph.D.
Environmental Scientist and Educator
http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/~mclarke/index.htm
New York City 
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