by AMY WESTFELDT
The owner of a toxic, condemned skyscraper damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks released new plans to clean the building of contaminated waste and take it down, nearly six months after a fatal fire halted most work there.
Round-the-clock safety managers, accessible stairwells and a strict no-smoking policy are among dozens of additions to the government owner's plans for the former Deutsche Bank tower announced Thursday.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. had sought approval from many government regulators who wanted to make sure the building would be safe for first responders and a community worried that toxic debris left there since Sept. 11, 2001, could pollute the air.
The new plan would allow contractors to first clean several floors of the 26-story tower of toxic dust before taking the building down. Contractors will wait to clean two stairwells dedicated for firefighters so that the stairwells remain accessible during the project, the LMDC said.
The agency had been cleaning lower floors of toxic debris while dismantling the building in an attempt to bring it down sooner. Removing the tower has been delayed by years while the owners sought approval to take it down and by labor disputes.
The building, originally 40 floors, has been condemned since the World Trade Center's south tower collapsed into it on Sept. 11. Hundreds of body parts were discovered in the building over the past two years.
An Aug. 18 fire, believed to be started by careless smoking, killed two firefighters and stopped the dismantling project again. Prosecutors investigating the blaze have empaneled a grand jury to consider criminal charges.
LMDC officials say they hope to take the building down this year; a new subcontractor, hired to replace the fired John Galt Corp., has several weeks of preparatory work before cleanup can resume. The general contractor in charge of the project, Bovis Lend Lease, has replaced all its supervisors on the job since the fire.
 |
