Officials of the union that represents New York City firefighters said yesterday that the Fire Department has done an inadequate job of cleaning trucks that might have been exposed to toxic substances when the World Trade Center collapsed. þþFive of the 200 fire trucks that were present when the buildings fell have tested positive for the presence of asbestos and either have, or will be, decontaminated, fire officials said. þþBut the union, the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said that it did not believe the testing went far enough to detect the presence of contaminants and urged the department to decontaminate the remaining vehicles, which are being used again. The union said its concern grew yesterday when it learned that federal environmental officials had decided to destroy hundreds of private vehicles recovered at ground zero because of high asbestos levels.þþÿWe have a lot of guys with respiratory problems and they are riding around with all kinds of dust in the rigs,ÿ said Thomas Manley, the union's sergeant-at-arms and health and safety liaison. ÿThere is no doubt that some of it's asbestos.ÿ þþFire officials disputed the union's position, saying that an independent consultant had thoroughly tested the air quality in each of the trucks and had determined that no safety hazards existed. þþThe trucks that did not need decontamination have been cleaned, fire officials said, and the department is seeking additional federal money to cover additional cleaning. But full-scale decontamination is not required, they said.þþ
Source: NY Times
